WASHINGTON, DC - The House of Representatives today advanced S.J. Res 34, a Congressional Review Act resolution rolling back the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) flawed privacy rules. The Senate last week passed the resolution and #SubCommTech Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced an identical resolution in the House earlier this month.
The CRA allows Congress to nullify overreaching agency regulations by passing a joint resolution of disapproval. For decades, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had been America’s sole online privacy regulator and under the FTC, our internet economy and data economy thrived. In a bid to expand its own power, the Federal Communications Commission stripped the FTC of its jurisdictional authority and reclassified Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as common carriers. The FCC’s power grab created a dual track system in which the FCC applies its own set of rules for ISPs while the FTC monitors the rest of the internet ecosystem.
“The FCC’s broadband privacy rules will harm consumers by creating confusion within the internet-ecosystem and we are dedicated to ensuring the most effective and efficient privacy protections possible," said Chairman Blackburn. “These rules are nothing more than a big government power grab that will hurt hardworking taxpayers, and I’m thankful the House took an important step today in protecting consumers and the future of internet innovations."
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) concluded, “This resolution reverses overreaching, shortsighted, and misguided rules adopted by unelected bureaucrats at the Federal Communications Commission that do little to enhance privacy, but clearly add a new layer of federal red tape on innovators and job creators. Once these rules are reversed, the FCC can again work effectively with the FTC to ensure that our privacy framework allows the internet to flourish while truly protecting consumers."
