House Democrats Urge Chairman Pai to Keep His Hands Off Net Neutrality

WASHINGTON — Thirty-two members of Congress on Tuesday sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to abide by the Communications Act and follow the Net Neutrality rules passed by the FCC in 2015.

"Under the current legal framework governing your agency, Title II is the best, most flexible, and indeed the only authority for protecting the open Internet,” reads the letter from members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and other House Democrats, led by Reps. Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva.

Other signers include Reps. Donald S. Beyer Jr., Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Michael E. Capuano, André Carson, John Conyers, Jr., Peter A. DeFazio, Jared Huffman, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Barbara Lee, Sander M. Levin, John Lewis, Zoe Lofgren, Alan S. Lowenthal, James P. McGovern, Jerrold Nadler, Richard M. Nolan, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Beto O'Rourke, Chellie Pingree, Jared Polis, Jamie Raskin, Janice D. Schakowsky, José E. Serrano, Carol Shea-Porter, Mark Takano, Peter J. Visclosky, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Maxine Waters.

The letter is available here: https://goo.gl/Zj9Gbj

Free Press Action Fund Government Relations Manager Sandra Fulton made the following statement:

“The FCC made the right decision in 2015 to protect the open internet. Millions of people across the political spectrum demanded it, and thousands of businesses large and small knew it was the right move, too. The agency followed the law, classified internet providers as common carriers, and won in court just last year.

“The signers of this letter know that the Net Neutrality debate isn’t just an abstract battle between internet and cable companies, played out for the benefit of Beltway politicians. These rules are essential protections for communities of color, political dissidents, independent creators and people of all beliefs. People need a guarantee of their freedom to speak up without fear of blocking and discrimination by their internet service provider.

“Protecting the open internet using the good laws on the book today just makes sense. In the two years since the rules were passed, none of the doomsday scenarios predicted by Chairman Pai and his friends in the phone and cable lobby have come to pass. Quite the opposite: The internet has remained open for innovation, creativity and expression, and broadband investment has continued to grow as internet service providers reap sizable profits.

“Unfortunately, none of this evidence amounts to much in the eyes of a chairman who would rather please a handful of industry lobbyists than do right by the millions of internet users and innovators who demanded Net Neutrality. But the members of Congress on this letter know that people’s’ fundamental rights are at stake, and that the current legal framework protects those rights best.”