[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 80 (Wednesday, May 16, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2689-S2690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Net Neutrality

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, today is a monumental day. Today is the 
day the U.S. Senate votes on the future of the internet, the most 
powerful platform for commerce and communications in the history of the 
planet. Today, we show the American people who sides with them and who 
sides with the powerful special interests and corporate donors who are 
thriving under this administration.
  Today, we vote on my Congressional Review Act resolution to save net 
neutrality. Net neutrality may sound complicated, but it is actually 
very simple. After you pay your monthly internet bill, you should be 
able to access all content on the web at the same speed--no slowing 
down certain websites, no blocking websites, and no charging you more 
to exercise your 21st century right to access the internet. It is as 
simple as that.
  If that sounds like common sense, you are not alone. In fact, 
according to a recent poll, 86 percent of Americans support net 
neutrality. This isn't a partisan issue; 82 percent of Republicans 
support net neutrality.
  Every day, we are told that this country is more divided than ever, 
that our differences outnumber our similarities. Well, the American 
people agree on net neutrality. They agree that the internet is for 
everyone. They agree that we cannot afford to blindly trust a few 
internet service providers--AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Charter--to put 
consumers first. Yet, once again, the Trump administration has 
neglected the will of everyday Americans and given a gift to the rich 
and the powerful.
  In December, the Trump Federal Communications Commission eliminated 
the very rules that prevent your internet service provider from 
indiscriminately charging more for internet fast lanes, slowing down 
websites, blocking websites, and making it harder and maybe even 
impossible for entrepreneurs, job creators, and small businesses--the 
lifeblood of the American economy--to connect to the internet.
  The Trump Federal Communications Commission picked clear winners and 
losers when it repealed net neutrality. When the Federal Communications 
Commission decision takes effect on June 11, Big Telecom will have new 
tools to inflate profits, but Americans and small businesses that use 
the internet to do their jobs, communicate with each other, and 
participate in civic life will be left defenseless.
  Don't be fooled by the army of lobbyists marching the Halls of 
Congress on behalf of the big internet service providers. They say that 
we don't need these rules because the internet service providers will 
self-regulate. Blocking, throttling, paid prioritization--these harms 
are alarmist and hypothetical, they say. Well, that simply is not the 
case. These practices are very real, and in a world without net 
neutrality, they may become the new normal. But don't just take my word 
for it. Let's look at the facts.

[[Page S2690]]

  In 2007, an Associated Press investigation found that Comcast was 
blocking or severely slowing down BitTorrent, a website that allowed 
consumers to share video, music, and video game files. From 2007 to 
2009, AT&T forced Apple to block Skype and other competing services 
from using AT&T's wireless network to encourage users to purchase more 
voice minutes. In 2011, Verizon blocked Google Wallet to protect a 
competing service it had a financial stake in developing and promoting.
  There is no shortage of evidence that we need clear and enforceable 
rules of the road so that these discriminatory practices do not become 
commonplace schemes that consumers and small businesses must suffer 
through without any options for recourse.
  This isn't the first time Congress has had to step in to protect the 
integrity of the marketplace. In the 1800s, we didn't have the 
information superhighway. We had railroads. American farmers used 
trains to deliver their products to consumers, and powerful railroad 
trusts started charging certain farmers higher rates to move their 
goods. Congress stepped in and passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to put 
a stop to this price discrimination.
  Today, we have left the steam engine era, and we have moved into the 
search engine era. Internet service providers are the 21st century 
trusts controlling the channels of commerce. And in 2018, many American 
job creators aren't moving alfalfa seeds; they are moving kernels of 
ideas for the next big app, the next new startup.
  Net neutrality is about continuing the American tradition of 
promoting competition and providing the level economic playing field we 
need to continue to prosper in this rapidly changing global economy. 
But net neutrality isn't just an economic issue; it is also central to 
the health of our democracy.
  Over the past several months and years, Americans all over the 
country from all walks of life have mobilized and marched, fighting for 
progress and change--Black Lives Matter, the Women's March, the ``me 
too.'' movement, high school students demanding gun control, teachers 
calling for fair pay. Today citizens of all walks of life are carrying 
the torch of American activism, and they are doing it online.
  In 2018, this is how the American people are organizing. This is how 
the American people are doing the indispensable work of an active 
citizenry. This is how the American people are speaking truth to power.
  Asking individuals to pay extra to speak out for what they believe 
in, allowing companies to stifle or even block access to certain 
ideas--that isn't who we are as a country. It isn't consistent with the 
values of nondiscrimination. Net neutrality is the free speech issue of 
our time, and the well-being of our precious democracy depends on the 
public having equal, unfettered access to the internet.
  Today, the U.S. Senate will show its true colors. It will either heed 
the calls of thousands of small businesses that have written in support 
of this Congressional Review Act resolution and the millions of 
Americans who have sent letters, posted tweets, and made calls 
defending net neutrality or the Senate will give another present to the 
rich and the powerful.
  The Senate will either follow the example of Governors, State 
legislators, and attorneys general all over the country who are 
fighting to save the internet as we know it or it will let President 
Trump, once again, break his campaign promise of putting average 
Americans ahead of swampy special interests. It will either stand up 
for the principles that have allowed the U.S. internet economy to 
become the envy of the world or it will make another unforced error 
that threatens our long-term competitiveness.
  I urge my colleagues to make the decision our constituents--with one 
voice--overwhelmingly are asking us to make. I urge my colleagues to 
vote yes on this Congressional Review Act resolution to restore net 
neutrality, to restore the principle of nondiscrimination, to restore 
the protections for small startups, for individuals in our country so 
that they cannot be discriminated against online.
  This is net neutrality day here on the floor of the U.S. Senate. 
Today is the day of reckoning, when the Trump Federal Communications 
Commission is going to have their act judged by the U.S. Senate. My 
hope is that before the end of this day, the Senate will vote to 
overturn the Trump FCC and restore net neutrality, restore the 
principle of nondiscrimination, restore the principle of equality, 
restore the principle that small software and internet startups are 
given the same protections that the biggest companies in our country 
are provided.
  Today is the day. Net neutrality is the vote that will determine 
whether we are going to give those protections to every American.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tillis). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.