Washington, D.C. - Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following remarks on the House Floor today during consideration of H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act:
We are here today to debate and vote on legislation that will keep the internet free and open. That sounds like a big deal, and it is.
The Save the Internet Act ensures that consumers have control over their internet experience rather than internet service providers (ISPs). This is just commonsense - each of us should be able to decide what videos we watch, which sites we read and which services we use. Nobody should be able to influence that choice - not the government and not the large companies that run the networks.
This legislation not only protects consumers from large corporations, but it also strengthens our economy by promoting innovation and small businesses. Net neutrality ensures that any business, no matter how small, gets the same internet at the same speeds as giant corporate interests. That’s only fair - there should not be favorites.
H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act, will return strong net neutrality protections to the internet. For over a decade, both Republican and Democratic FCCs have restricted ISPs’ ability to control consumer access to the internet and undermine small businesses’ ability to compete. The Trump FCC affirmatively gave up that authority in 2017, choosing the big companies over the people. The bill before us would return the FCC to its traditional role of overseeing the nation’s channels of communication.
The Save the Internet Act is a carefully crafted bill that balances the need to put a cop on the beat without weighing the industry down. We’re preventing blocking, throttling and paid prioritization and we’re giving the FCC the authority to stop harmful practices in the future that are unjust or unreasonable.
The American people - both Democrats and Republicans - overwhelmingly support restoring net neutrality. And that makes sense - we all want to control our own internet experience.
I thank Chairman Doyle for his leadership on this important measure. Let me also take a moment to recognize the hard work of the Committee staff - Alex Hoehn-Saric, Jerry Leverich, Jennifer Epperson, AJ Brown, Dan Miller and Phil Murphy.
I strongly urge all members to vote yes on the Save the Internet Act.
