[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Net Neutrality

  Mr. President, on another matter, 6 years ago, the junior Senator 
from Massachusetts warned that ``There will be a political price to pay 
for those on the wrong side of history'' in the Republican efforts to 
repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules. Then-Senator Harris warned that 
the end of net neutrality would ``imperil our economy while reducing 
innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity.''
  Senate Democrats claimed such a repeal would mean that ``you'll get 
the internet one word at a time.'' In the assessment of one leftwing 
House Member, it was ``a threat to our democracy.'' Others said the 
result would be ``the end of the internet as we know it.'' Well, the 
last time I checked, the internet is still here, working just fine, and 
I am still receiving emails without issue. In fact, the year net 
neutrality was repealed, internet speed increased nearly 40 percent--so 
much for imperiling the economy and stifling innovation as more and 
more Americans do business online.
  But Washington Democrats have yet to learn from their mistakes. 
Apparently, they just can't help trying to tie up every corner of our 
economy with more and more redtape. Last week, President Biden's FCC 
voted to reinstate the Obama-era rule to reclassify broadband from an 
information service to a public utility. Effectively, this would mean a 
return to the outdated Obama-era policy. It would enable Washington to 
impose new taxes, regulations, and tariffs on broadband providers and 
drown innovation in even more redtape--more government control of a 
core means of communication.
  Of course, when Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 
we made it crystal clear that the internet is an information service 
and not a public utility. The law never gave the FCC authority to 
reclassify it as such.
  Well, that didn't stop the Obama administration regulators from 
trying. But back in 2016, I was happy to cosponsor legislation that 
would reverse their misguided net neutrality regulations. In 2017, I 
commended FCC Chairman Pai for reversing these regulations and allowing 
the internet to flourish. Chairman Pai's approach was in keeping with 
the longtime bipartisan consensus of a light regulatory touch. This is 
the approach that allowed for the rapid growth of the internet and the 
adoption of groundbreaking technologies it drove.
  I am proud to join several of our Republican colleagues in urging the 
FCC to preserve this particular approach and turn back the egregious 
missteps from the Biden administration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip.