Sen. Cornyn arrives in Houston to promote protection measures as social media laws go in effect

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Congress may be poised to pass the first significant online protection for children and teens after the Senate passed two bills 91 to 3.

U.S. Senator Cornyn was in Houston on Tuesday to promote the measures and discuss social media's influence on children.

It's not often that there is such bipartisan agreement on an issue. Still, given social media's ubiquitous nature and its well-documented pitfalls, the Senate overwhelmingly supported bills that limit social media platforms' ability to interact with minors in various ways.

RELATED: New Texas laws, including social media restrictions, went into effect on Sept. 1

Texas' senior US Senator, John Cornyn visited Memorial High School to discuss how the legislation could help families. He listened to parents of children who were victims of vicious cyberbullying at other schools and talked with current students about their views on social media and the internet.

There is no federal law right now, and while Texas has a new cybersecurity law, a federal judge blocked part of it from going into effect over First Amendment concerns. Cornyn is aware of the obstacles to passing meaningful legislation to protect children.

"It is a very difficult challenge, which is why this is the first time we've actually passed federal legislation to deal with this problem," Cornyn said. "Many states, including Texas, have weighed into this only to find that the courts will strike it down as being impermissibly broad. So, I think this is going to be a long-term conversation with the courts and the legal system to figure out the parameters. "

The two bills are the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act. Despite passing the Senate, they still face potential opposition in the House, which has yet to vote on either bill. Cornyn is hopeful the House will also take a bipartisan approach and pass both bills.

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"I think it's just a matter of scheduling," Cornyn said. "You saw the big vote in the Senate. There are a lot of things in DC that are partisan and you see gridlock. This is not one of them. We saw an overwhelming bipartisan vote, and I think it's just a scheduling issue for the House."

If the House passes it and the president signs it into law, it would be significant.

Congress has not passed any significant internet reform regarding children and online data collection since the late 1990s.

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