Warner & Kaine vote to save net neutrality

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) voted in favor of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to undo the Trump Administration’s repeal of net neutrality rules. In February 2018, Sens. Warner and Kaine joined a group of Senate and House Democrats in introducing the CRA to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) partisan vote to repeal open internet rules. The resolution passed the Senate this afternoon 52-47 and it now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.

“The FCC last year repealed rules codifying longstanding open internet principles through a strictly partisan and hurried rulemaking, marked by troubling irregularities in its public comment system.  Removing these rules of the road amounted to a greenlight for potential anti-competitive practices by Internet Service Providers, harming Internet users in Virginia and across the country. I urge the House to pass this bill and protect the integrity of the nation’s most crucial information network,” said Sen. Warner.

“Over the past year, there have been very few issues that have generated as much contact from my constituents as concerns over the repeal of net neutrality protections. The Obama Administration put these rules in place to protect consumers and the Trump Administration took them away to protect big internet service providers. It’s as simple as that. This is particularly important for students and families in rural communities that have limited options in internet providers. We fought hard for this vote, and now that our resolution has passed, we need the House to swiftly take it up so we can reverse the Trump Administration’s gutting of net neutrality protections. This is a fundamental issue of providing consumers with more choice and control,” Sen. Kaine said.

In December 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order, which the D.C. Circuit Court had upheld in 2016. The Open Internet Order prohibited internet service providers from blocking, slowing down, or discriminating against content online. Repealing the net neutrality rules could lead to higher prices for consumers, slower internet traffic, and even blocked websites. A recent poll showed that 83 percent of Americans do not approve of the FCC action to repeal net neutrality rules.

A simple majority of 51 votes is needed to pass a CRA resolution in the Senate.