WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) issued the following statement on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Restoring Internet Freedom Order going into effect today.
“The rhetoric around this issue often gets heated, but consumers need to know that today is not the end of the internet as we know it. In fact, the FCC’s order returns the internet we’ve always known, simply restoring the same set of light-touch regulations that allowed it to grow since its inception until 2014. By taking the internet out of the hands of government bureaucrats and rolling back burdensome 1930s-era rules, it will continue to flourish," said Walden and Blackburn.
They continued, “After repeated attempts to start good faith negotiations, it appears our Democratic colleagues are more interested in coming up with political slogans than legislative solutions. Congress should not politicize the future of the internet, and we will continue to work towards a bipartisan legislative fix to permanently protect consumers, innovation, and the open internet."
Chairman Walden, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chairman John Thune (R-SD), and former E&C Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) first put forward draft legislation in 2015.
Since 2015, the committee has made repeated efforts to push for a bipartisan compromise.
* House & Senate Begin Review of Draft Legislation to Protect Consumers and the Internet, January 2015.
* Calls Grow for Congress to Act for an #OpenInternet, February 2015
* Chairman Walden’s American Enterprise Institute Address, March 2015.
* #SubCommTech Reviews FCC’s Proposed Privacy Rules, June 2016.
* Committee sends invitations to CEOs of leading tech companies requesting they testify on ground rules for the internet, July 2017
* Chairman Walden’s State of the Net Address, January 2018.
* #SubCommTech Examines Current and Future Use of Data Prioritization, April 2018
