Members of Congress are renewing the push to make daylight saving time permanent as most of the nation prepares to turn back the clocks one hour this Sunday.

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, said the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act would end an antiquated and disruptive practice.

“Each November, the practice of ‘falling back’ an hour disrupts our lives and robs us of daylight hours to enjoy ourselves,” he said in a statement Friday. “It’s time for Congress to take up this bipartisan legislation to make daylight saving time permanent and give Rhode Islanders an hour of afternoon sunshine back during the dark winter months.”

Whitehouse has co-sponsored the measure along with two senators, Florida Republican Marco Rubio and Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey, and others.

He argues that making daylight saving time permanent has economic and public health benefits.

Whitehouse said evidence suggests it can lead to greater economic activity, greater energy savings and lower rates of seasonal depression, not to mention fewer car accidents and robberies with more daylight in the late afternoon.

Daylight saving time generally runs from mid-March to early November. But in recent years, some 19 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions calling for year-=round daylight saving time, a change that would require congressional approval, Whitehouse said.

(AP)