With Only Four Days Until The FCC Officially Repeals Net Neutrality, Entire Senate Democratic Caucus Urges Speaker Ryan To Immediately Schedule Vote On Bipartisan Senate-Passed Legislation To Overturn Trump Administration’s Disastrous Decision – Dems Launch New Website Tracking How Long Speaker Ryan Has Waited To #SaveTheInternet
It's Already Been 21 Days Since The Senate Passed Bill To Save Net Neutrality By A Strong Bipartisan Vote—And Only Four Days Until Net Neutrality Is Officially Repealed
In New Letter, All 49 Senate Dems Urge Speaker Ryan to Schedule A Vote On Senate Bill & Protect Middle-Class Families, Consumers, Farmers, Communities of Color, Entrepreneurs, And All Who Rely On The Free And Open Internet – Dems Also Launch New Site:
www.Democrats.Senate.Gov/SaveTheInternet
Senate Dems To Speaker Ryan: Put Middle-Class Families Over Special Interests and Schedule Vote to Save The Internet Now
Washington, D.C. – The entire U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus today sent a new letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan urging him to schedule a vote on the Senate CRA resolution to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) disastrous decision to repeal the agency’s 2015 net neutrality rules. Despite the resolution’s bipartisan passage in the Senate 21 days ago, Speaker Ryan has failed to bring the resolution to the House floor for a vote. In addition to the letter, Democrats have launched a new website –Www.Democrats.Senate.Gov/SaveTheInternet- highlighting Speaker Ryan’s obstruction by tracking how long he has stalled the Senate CRA resolution. The renewed push by Senate Democrats comes as the net neutrality rules are set to officially expire on Monday, June 11th.
In the letter—led by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL), Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation & the Internet Ranking Member Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Lead Sponsor of the CRA resolution Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)—Democrats emphasized the critical need to restore net neutrality regulations in order to keep the internet a level playing field and ensure the choice of what content consumers experience online and the speeds at which they experience it stays in the hands of consumers, not the big corporations and broadband providers. To this end, Senate Democrats note that Speaker Paul Ryan’s reluctance to schedule a vote comes at the cost of harming those who rely on a free and open internet such as small businesses, schools, rural Americans, and communities of color.
The text of the Senate Democrats’ letter to Speaker Ryan can be found here and the text is below:
Dear Speaker Ryan:
We write today to urge you to schedule a vote on S.J.Res. 52, a resolution to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) repeal of the agency’s 2015 net neutrality rules. This measure, which passed the Senate by a powerful 52-47 bipartisan vote, will restore internet protections and ensure consumers continue to experience a free and open internet.
The rules that this resolution would restore were enacted by the FCC in 2015 to prevent broadband providers from blocking, slowing down, prioritizing, or otherwise unfairly discriminating against internet traffic that flows across their networks. Without these protections, broadband providers can decide what content gets through to consumers at what speeds and could use this power to discriminate against their competitors or other content. Under this new regime, the internet would no longer be a level playing field. Instead, big corporations who could pay would enjoy the benefits of a fast lane and speedy delivery of their content to consumers while those who could not pay these tolls – such as startups and small businesses, schools, rural Americans, and communities of color – would be disadvantaged.
In issuing the 2015 net neutrality rules, the FCC delivered a message that the choice of what consumers can access online, and the speed at which they can access it, should be kept solely in the hands of those consumers, not the big broadband providers. By passing S.J.Res. 52, the Senate affirmed that message and stood with the nearly 86 percent of Americans across the country who disagreed with the current FCC’s December 2017 decision to repeal net neutrality and fear its impact on their livelihood. Now that the Senate has taken this critical step, it is incumbent on the House of Representatives to listen to the voices of consumers, including the millions of Americans who supported the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality order, and keep the internet free and open for all.
As we approach the June 11th formal implementation date of the FCC’s net neutrality repeal, we strongly urge you to take up and pass S. J. Res. 52. It is essential that you take this step to protect middle-class families, consumers, farmers, communities of color, entrepreneurs and all who rely on the free and open internet.
Sincerely,
Senate Democratic Caucus
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