H.R. 8743

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8743 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8743

To direct the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to develop 
recommendations for screen time limits for children to promote healthy 
development and well-being, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 12, 2026

Mr. Deluzio (for himself and Mrs. Houchin) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To direct the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to develop 
recommendations for screen time limits for children to promote healthy 
development and well-being, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Screen-time Management And 
Recommendations for Teens and Kids Act'' or the ``SMART Kids Act''.

SEC. 2. SCREEN TIME LIMIT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHILDREN.

(a) In General.--The Surgeon General of the Public Health Service 
shall develop recommendations for screen time limits for children to 
promote healthy development and well-being. Such recommendations shall 
be evidence-informed.
(b) Age-Based Recommendations.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
Surgeon General shall develop separate recommendations for--
(1) ages 0 to 2 years;
(2) ages 2 to 5 years;
(3) ages 5 to 8 years;
(4) ages 8 to 13 years;
(5) ages 13 to 16 years; and
(6) ages 16 to 18 years.
(c) Qualitative Recommendations.--In carrying out subsection (a), 
the Surgeon General may, in addition to the separate recommendations by 
age group required under subsection (b), develop recommendations based 
on qualitative factors, including whether certain types of screen time 
may be less harmful to children than others.
(d) Coordination With Independent Entity.--The Surgeon General 
shall develop the recommendations under subsection (a) in coordination 
with an independent entity to be selected by the Surgeon General. In 
making such selection, the Surgeon General shall ensure that the entity 
does not have a financial or other conflict of interest that might 
introduce bias into the process of developing the recommendations.
(e) Publication; Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Surgeon General shall--
(1) publish the recommendations developed under subsection 
(a) on the internet website of the Department of Health and 
Human Services; and
(2) submit to Congress a report containing such 
recommendations.
(f) Screen Time Limit Defined.--In this section, the term ``screen 
time limit'' means the maximum amount of time per day spent using an 
electronic device with a display screen.
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