Hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee - Chairman's Opening Statement on "Examining the Multistakeholder Plan for Transitioning the Internet Assigned Number Authority

Hearing

"Two years ago, the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced its intention to transition the functions of the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA) to the global multistakeholder community.

"Since that time, the multistakeholder community--made up of businesses, technical experts, academics and civil society--has spent more than 26,000 working hours on the IANA (pronounced eye-ANNE-uh) transition proposal, and held more than 600 related meetings and calls.

"At the outset of this hearing, I would like to acknowledge the hard work undertaken by many stakeholders, some of whom are here today as witnesses, in taking on the daunting task of developing the transition proposal.

"Regardless of where one stands on the transition, we should recognize the difficult work that has been done, and the ongoing commitment that will be needed if the transition is to be completed in a way that addresses the important concerns that have been raised about the future governance of the Internet.

"On March 10th, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) forwarded to NTIA for review the transition proposal developed by the global community of Internet stakeholders.

"NTIA set a target of 90 days to complete its review, which is expected to be completed on June 10th, whereupon NTIA will issue a report stating its determination as to whether the proposal meets the criteria NTIA outlined when it first announced the transition, such as the requirement that the proposal maintain the openness and global interoperability of the Internet.

"If NTIA approves the transition, ICANN expects to produce an implementation report by August 15th.

"The existing IANA contract is set to expire on September 30, 2016, unless NTIA acts to extend it or Congress acts to delay the transition.

"These dates are rapidly approaching, which is why I called this hearing today to examine the stakeholders' transition proposal.

"Our Committee held an earlier hearing on the proposed IANA transition in February of 2015.

"At that hearing, I said I would review any IANA transition plan to make sure it both meets the requirements laid out by NTIA, and that it adopts meaningful accountability reforms, such as curtailing government involvement in apolitical governance matters; providing additional oversight tools to the multistakeholder community; and adopting an independent dispute resolution process.

"Last year, I also introduced the DOTCOM Act along with Senators Schatz, Wicker, and Rubio, which our committee approved on a bipartisan basis.

"With that bill, which also passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 378 to 25, we all made it clear that any transition plan must not "replace the role of the NTIA with a government-led or intergovernmental organization."

"Further, the DOTCOM Act would require any transition plan to maintain "the security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet domain name system."

"I hope to hear from each of our witnesses whether they believe the proposed IANA transition plan developed by the multistakeholder community meets these requirements, as well as whether it satisfies NTIA's criteria.

"In particular, I am interested to learn whether the stakeholder community has delivered a proposal with accountability reforms strong enough to give Congress and the American people confidence that the time has come to privatize the IANA functions.

"At last year's IANA hearing, I said that the goal of everyone here is the same: we want one, global Internet that is not fragmented nor hijacked by authoritarian regimes.

"Whether the IANA transition goes forward or not, I know that everyone wants to ensure all Internet users can continue to have complete faith that the IANA functions will be carried out effectively and seamlessly long into the future.

"We have a distinguished panel here today, representing a diverse variety of perspectives, professional experiences, and personal views.

"I'm looking forward to hearing from each of you.

"With that, I turn to the ranking member for any comments he would like to make."

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