[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 78 (Thursday, May 22, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL 
                               YEAR 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2014

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4435) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2015 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense and for military 
     construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for 
     such fiscal year, and for other purposes:

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Chair, I rise today in opposition to the Shimkus 
amendment and efforts to undermine the continued success of the 
Internet.
  The Internet has always been driven by consensus decision-making, or 
multistakeholder governance. This model brings together industry, civil 
society, government, technical and academic experts, as well the 
general public, to tackle issues around the design and operation of the 
Internet.
  Three time in the past two years, this body has voted to reaffirm our 
commitment to the multistakeholder model, including last May when 
Democrats and Republicans joined together to unanimously pass H.R. 
1580, a bill stating that ``it is the policy of the United States to 
preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs 
the Internet.''
  So what exactly is the problem with the amendment before us today? 
It's a U-turn. The Shimkus amendment would restrict NTIA's authority to 
continue what has been U.S. policy since 1998--transitioning the 
government's role in administering the domain name system to the 
multistakeholder global community. Although supporters of the amendment 
characterize it as a stand against anti-democratic nations seeking a 
greater government role in Internet management, the amendment could 
have the opposite effect of emboldening efforts by authoritarian 
regimes to seize control of the global Internet. Specifically, 
authoritarian regimes point to the U.S. government's continued 
oversight of technical Internet functions as evidence that global 
Internet governance and management should be under the control of a 
governmental or intergovernmental entity such as the United Nations.
  The Shimkus Amendment lacks a fundamental understanding of the U.S. 
government's role in the management of the global Internet domain name 
system. Contrary to assertions that the United States ``controls'' the 
Internet through an ongoing contract that the Administration is now 
proposing to terminate, NTIA's role has always been ministerial and 
largely symbolic. Simply put, the U.S. government has never had any 
legal or statutory responsibility to manage the domain name system.
  The world is watching and now is not the time to turn our backs on a 
governance model that has the enabled the Internet to flourish. I urge 
my colleagues to take a stand for a global Internet free from 
government control and vote ``no'' on the Shimkus amendment.

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