Kim Likely Supports Efforts To Eliminate Daylight Saving Time

BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ - When and if the U.S. House votes on eliminating the bi-annual American ritual of changing clocks twice a year, it will almost certainly have U.S. Representative Andy Kim’s support, his spokesperson said.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill last month that would make daylight saving time permanent, Patch has previously reported. It was unclear at the time of this story’s posting when the U.S. House might discuss and vote on the legislation, NBC Chicago reported earlier this week.

A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Kim said the lawmaker from New Jersey’s 3rd district is almost certainly in favor of daylight saving time’s elimination.

“Congressman Kim supports a policy that does not require Americans to change their clocks twice-a-year,” Forrest Rilling, Kim’s spokesperson told Patch.

U.S. Congressman Donald W. Norcross, who represents New Jersey’s 1st congressional district, could not be reached for comment prior to this story’s posting.

Dr. Matthew J. Gettings, a family physician based in Marlton, said in an interview that there are several health benefits to eliminating of daylight saving time.

“Staying light later into the evening really disrupts our onset of sleep. And the lack of morning light really disrupts our ability to get back into those cycles,” he said.

“We know that traffic accidents, strokes and heart attacks increase in the 2 weeks following the shift, particularly when going into daylight savings time in the spring,” Gettings continued. “It [also] causes something a bit like jetlag, where you feel funny for a few days and you're not quite as ready for sleep as you should be.”

As the legislation awaits Congressional action, Kim’s spokesperson encouraged further dialogue on the topic.

“The Congressman is interested in hearing from his constituents how they feel about the matter before making up his mind on whether daylight savings or standard time is best for New Jersey working families.”

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