[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 6, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H5042]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            IANA TRANSITION

  (Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, it is so exciting to have time to be in 
our district every day and work, listening to our constituents and 
hearing what is on their mind. I heard a lot about the lack of 
broadband expansion in rural America and, likewise, I heard a lot about 
and many questions arose about what in the world is it that the 
administration is doing trying to give away the Internet. People 
couldn't believe that.
  Of course, we have heard the administration's plan to cede control of 
this, for ICANN to move away from the Commerce Department, and they 
have assured us: ``Trust us.'' They have said: ``It is all going to be 
fine.'' But now we know they are contemplating and involving U.N. 
control contrary to what had been reported and planned and promised.
  The Wall Street Journal, in a recent column, August 28, ``An Internet 
Giveaway to the U.N.,'' said this: ``Authoritarian regimes have already 
proposed Icann become part of the U.N. to make it easier for them to 
censor the internet globally.'' The column also notes: ``an independent 
review within Icann called the organization `simply not credible' '' in 
its handling of domain name applications.
  Think about this: We cannot allow control for Russia or China over 
U.S. free speech.

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