No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to come to the floor today and stand in support of this bill. It is the right step.

The gentlewoman from California references the amendment that she had wanted, but her amendment was not exactly what that bill is.

What we are seeking to do is to encourage the FCC to make good on the promise that they have made. In March 2015, Chairman Wheeler was speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

He was talking about net neutrality and rules and regulations. He said:

This is not regulating the Internet. Regulating the Internet is rate regulation, which we don't do.

Whoops, they do. That is what they are trying to do.

Now, there is a difference in what the gentlewoman was seeking to do in committee, not have tariffs or regulation. But if they had gone ahead and done it, then we would have to get into a process of trying to undo. That is what people don't like. They don't like that kind of mess.

What they want is something very explicit. That is what Mr. Kinzinger's bill does. It very explicitly says: FCC, you cannot, you shall not, and you will not do rate regulation. It is not what the American people want to see. It is what the FCC has promised they will not do.

So what we are doing is helping a federal agency keep their word, keep their promise, and not get into rate regulation. Of course, we all know that what they would like to do is regulate the Internet so they can tax the Internet, so they can then come in and set all the rates, and so they can then come in and assign priority and value to content.

It is a commerce issue, it is a free speech issue, and it is an issue for the American people who want to make certain that the information service they have known, appreciated, and utilize every day in the virtual marketplace is not going to be regulated by a Federal Government agency.

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