Boehner and McConnell Condemns FCC’s Move to Put Internet Under Control of Federal Bureaucrats

Today in Washington, D.C. - Feb. 26, 2015:
Yesterday, the FCC Commission, non-elected bureaucrats, voted 3-2 in favor of Net Neutrality with the authority too regulate internet service providers. Democrats Wheeler, Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel voting for the takeover and Republicans Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly vote no.

House Speaker Boehner responded, "Overzealous government bureaucrats should keep their hands off the Internet. Today, three appointed by President Obama approved a secret plan to put the federal government in control of the Internet. The text of the proposal is being kept hidden from the American people and their elected representatives in Congress, and the FCC’s chairman has so far refused to testify about it. This total lack of transparency and accountability does not bode well for the future of a free and open Internet, not to mention the millions of Americans who use it every day."

“The FCC is supposed to be an independent agency, but the White House has once again meddled where it shouldn’t in order to advance what one commissioner has described as ‘a solution that won't work to a problem that doesn't exist.’ And like ObamaCare, the Obama administration’s plan for the Internet may not work, but it will create years of uncertainty and lead to expensive legal fights. More mandates and regulations on American innovation and entrepreneurship are not the answer, and that’s why Republicans will continue our efforts to stop this misguided scheme.”

NOTE: Nearly a year ago, House Republican leaders sent a letter to the FCC’s chairman urging him to drop consideration of federal net neutrality regulations. In November, Speaker Boehner warned that they would hurt our economy.

The House reconvened at 10 AM today.
Bills that may be considered today:
H.R. 5 - "To support State and local accountability for public education, protect State and local authority, inform parents of the performance of their children's schools, and for other purposes."

Bills Passed Yesterday:
H.R. 1020 (412-8) — "To define STEM education to include computer science, and to support existing STEM education programs at the National Science Foundation."
H.R. 529 (401-20) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve 529 plans."

The Senate reconvened at 11 AM today and resumed post-cloture consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 240, the House-passed Homeland Security appropriations bill.

Yesterday, cloture was finally invoked on the motion to proceed to H.R. 240 by a vote of 98-2.

On the FCC takeover of the Internet:
The New York Times notes, “The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to regulate broadband Internet service as a public utility, a milestone in regulating high-speed Internet service into American homes. . . . Mobile data service for smartphones and tablets is being placed under the new rules. . . . The F.C.C. is taking this big regulatory step by reclassifying high-speed Internet service as a telecommunications service, instead of an information service, under Title II of the Telecommunications Act. The Title II classification comes from the phone company era, treating service as a public utility.”

“Since the plan was announced earlier this month, The Daily Caller writes, “Republicans on Capitol Hill and in the FCC have criticized it as a massive government overreach, which they allege threatens to destroy market competition and slow Internet infrastructure investment into network growth and innovation by ISPs.

“The plan has faced equal criticism for its identical nature to the one President Obama called on the independent agency to adopt in November, prompting several congressional committees — including the House Oversight Committee — to launch investigations into how much influence the White House exerted over the FCC in the drafting of Wheeler’s proposal.”

The Hill reports, “Republican members of Congress are roundly condemning the new net neutrality rules advanced on Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). . . . The rules are a ‘317-page power grab over the Internet,’ [said] Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the head of the Senate Commerce Committee. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), meanwhile, said in a speech on the chamber floor that the rules would “strike a blow to the future of innovation in our country.”

Speaking on the floor this morning, Leader McConnell warned, <“The growth of the Internet and the rapid adoption of mobile technology have been great American success stories. And they were made possible by a light regulatory touch. In fact, it's this bipartisan ‘light touch’ consensus that allowed innovators to develop and sell the products people want — and to create the kind of high-quality jobs Americans need — without waiting around for government permission. “The Obama Administration needs to get beyond its 1930s rotary-telephone mindset and embrace the future. That means encouraging innovation, not suffocating it under the weight of an outdated bureaucracy and poorly named regulations like this one.”

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement on FCC Vote in favor of new so-called "net neutrality" regulations, "The FCC has voted to do that which Congress has denied — and that's essentially to rewrite the 1934 Communications Act to treat broadband Internet as a utility under Title II. Whatever the merits of 'net neutrality,' the fact is that this entire process has been designed to avert the traditional, constitutional lawmaking process. It also creates much regulatory uncertainty, since broadband was previously treated as exempt 'information services' providers by the FCC in 2002. This is a dysfunctional regulatory precedent where an agency can simply change its interpretation of law depending on the partisan composition of the board. That is not the rule of law, it is rule by executive decree. Why even have a Congress?

"This new rule, when it is finally published, as anyone familiar with public utilities knows, will guarantee higher rates, less competition, and a regulatory burden that stifles innovation. It is nothing more than authoritarian overreach, an extra-legal assault on our system of government.  The Obama regime continues its track record of disregard and disdain for precedent, the Constitution and simple fairness."

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