[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 9, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2564-S2565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Net Neutrality

  Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, competition is the lifeblood of the 
American economy. Competition is what makes capitalism work. It is 
competition that has established the United States as the world's 
dominant economic force for over a century.
  American competition is driven by innovation. We created the light 
bulb, the automobile, and the internet.
  We all know that the internet has revolutionized the way we 
communicate, learn, and do business. A free and open internet allows 
students in Houghton, Lancing, and Mount Pleasant to access research 
and to collaborate internationally. A free and open internet allows 
startups in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Flint to reach customers across 
the globe. A free and open internet allows a small bed and breakfast in 
Traverse City or Muskegon to reach millions of potential guests that 
they couldn't otherwise reach.
  While the internet has been a potent force for innovation and 
economic growth in recent decades, our economy has been facing some 
serious headwinds. I am deeply concerned that we are seeing increased 
business consolidation--big firms are getting bigger--and we are seeing 
fewer new small businesses and startups. A recent study found that 
across 900 different industries, over two-thirds have become more 
concentrated in the past decade. The formation of new companies is 
falling. The number of jobs created by new businesses has fallen, even 
as our workforce has grown.
  We have seen a large national internet service provider acquire a 
similarly large media company. We have recently seen the largest online 
retailer acquire one of our Nation's most successful grocery chains. 
Now we are seeing two of the four largest wireless carriers making 
preparations to merge.
  Certainly, consolidations and mergers are a part of our economy, but 
we need rules of the road to level the playing field, to help small 
businesses and startups to compete, and to drive innovation. This is 
exactly why we need net neutrality.
  Net neutrality protections prevented internet service providers from 
blocking, slowing, or prioritizing web traffic for their own financial 
gain. Without net neutrality, we could be subject to a two-tiered 
internet. Without net neutrality, large corporations, which keep 
getting larger and larger, can pay for a fast lane and buy the power to 
slow down or to block content. Without net neutrality, consumers, small 
businesses, and startups can be forced into the slow lane. Simply put, 
net neutrality keeps America competitive.
  Unfortunately, net neutrality is under attack by the Trump 
administration. In December, the FCC voted to repeal crucial net 
neutrality protections, despite the fact that 86 percent of Americans 
wanted the rules to stay in place. The decision to scrap these net 
neutrality protections is anti-consumer, anti-innovation, and anti-
competitive. It disadvantages small businesses, startups, and families 
all across our country.
  While the FCC vote to repeal net neutrality rules is over, we are 
still here in the Senate fighting. In fact, we are closer than ever to 
reinstating the rules of the road that will keep the internet free, 
open, and competitive.
  Fifty Senators, including the entire Democratic caucus, have signed a 
petition that would force a vote on legislation that would reinstate 
these crucial protections. With 51 votes, we could overturn the FCC's 
original repeal and move one step closer to restoring fairness.
  Students, artists, advocates, entrepreneurs, and other visionaries 
who could be inventing the future and creating the next big thing could 
once again be on an equal playing field with multinational corporations 
when it comes to using the internet.
  We need net neutrality to keep our economy dynamic, growing, and 
innovative. We need net neutrality to keep our startups and small 
businesses competitive.
  Five months ago, I stood here in this Chamber urging the FCC to 
abandon their dangerous vote. Now I stand here urging my colleagues to 
reverse this dangerous and disastrous decision.
  We have the power to do it, and we must. We need one more vote.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHATZ. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Ernst). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Under the previous order, all postcloture time has expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Engelhardt 
nomination?
  Mr. INHOFE. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) and the Senator from Arizona 
(Mr. McCain).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Donnelly) 
and the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 62, nays 34, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 87 Ex.]

                                YEAS--62

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins

[[Page S2565]]


     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--34

     Baldwin
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cortez Masto
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murray
     Peters
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Graham
     McCain
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the 
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________