Ed Markey: “I rise today in defense of the mental health of children and teenagers in the United States of America. Our young people…”

“I rise today in defense of the mental health of children and teenagers in the United States of America. Our young people today are facing a devastating mental health crisis. I have said these statistics on the floor before, but they bear repeating because they come from the Centers for Disease Control in our country: One in three high school girls in the United States seriously considered suicide in 2021 and at least one in ten high school girls attempted suicide that year; among LGBTQ youth, the number is more like one in five attempted suicide. That is staggering, and it is unacceptable that Big Tech has knowingly contributed to these disturbing numbers. And let's just move on. Take it from the U.S. Surgeon General who, just a few weeks ago, referred to the young mental health crisis as an ``emergency'' and identified social media as an ``important contributor'' to that crisis. Over the next week, the U.S. Senate has a chance, finally, to do something about it, to stand up to Big Tech's lobbying machine and put an end to the invasive targeting and tracking of young people online. Today we have a procedural vote to move ahead on the Kids Online Safety Act, which includes my legislation partnering with Senator Cassidy, the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA 2.0.…”