Executive Calendar
Floor Speech
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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, to you and all of my colleagues on the floor this afternoon, we are about to have a huge debate in this country. We are taking to the floor as a chorus of Americans across the Nation are going to go to the phones and their devices to support our principle of net neutrality in this country.
We are speaking out because the American people know the internet is the most powerful platform for commerce and communications in the history of the planet. They know the internet is for everyone and was invented with the guiding principle of nondiscrimination. The internet is designed to democratize access to information, to opportunity. They know the health of our economy, our civic life, our educational system, and so many other parts of today's American experience all depend on the internet being free and open to everyone, not just those who can afford Big Telecom's price of admission. They know strong, clear, and enforceable net neutrality rules are the only way to protect the internet as we know it. That is why an overwhelming 86 percent of Americans oppose the Federal Communications Commission's decision last December to repeal net neutrality rules.
Outside of Washington, this isn't a partisan issue at all. In fact, 82 percent of Republicans oppose the net neutrality repeal. In a time when we hear so much about what divides us and how we differ, net neutrality is something nearly all Americans agree on. It should be a bipartisan bright spot. Yet, in December, the Trump administration eliminated the very rules that prevent your internet service provider-- Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, Charter, and others--from indiscriminately charging more for internet fast lanes, slowing down websites, blocking websites, and making it harder and maybe even impossible for inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses--the lifeblood of the American economy--to connect to the internet.
Why did they do this? The reason is simple. The Trump administration, time and again, sides with the rich and the powerful first and consumers last. From the GOP tax scam to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, to rolling back fuel economy standards, and to net neutrality, this administration has repeatedly ignored the needs of everyday American families. A free and open internet means an internet free from corporate control and open to anyone who wants to connect, communicate, or innovate.
That is why, today, the 49 Members of the Senate Democratic caucus are officially filing this discharge petition to force a vote on my Congressional Review Act resolution, which will put net neutrality back on the books as the rule of law for the United States. This resolution would fully restore the rules that ensure Americans aren't subject to higher prices, slower internet trafficking, and even blocked websites because the big internet service providers want to pump up their profits.
How does all of this work? First, my CRA resolution will reinstate the rule against blocking. For example, without this protection, AT&T could stop you from visiting your favorite streaming platform, so your only option is their DIRECTV NOW service. Verizon could prohibit you from using Skype, so you have to use their phone service. That is bad for competition and innovation, and it is very bad for consumers.
Second, my CRA--Congressional Review Act--resolution will restore the rule against throttling. Without this protection, broadband companies could slow down any website they want. If activists take to Twitter to share stories about unfair labor practices at an internet service provider, for example, that company could slow down the social media platform to protect its public image and limit the spread of information. Imagine what that could do during a Trump administration that is stifling science, undermining law enforcement, and questioning intelligence. The prospects are Orwellian.
Third, my Congressional Review Act resolution will restore the rule prohibiting paid prioritization. Without this rule, internet providers could charge large established websites for access to an internet fast lane--meaning those websites would load quicker, while websites that can't afford the internet ``E-ZPass'' will load at a bumper-to-bumper pace. Small businesses that rely on fast internet service would be dwarfed by corporate competitors who could afford the faster service. This would spell doom for mom-and-pop businesses that are the backbone of our communities.
Finally, my Congressional Review Act will restore the forward-looking general conduct rule. When the FCC eliminated this guideline, it removed protection against future harms, such as arbitrary data caps and other discriminatory behavior by internet service providers. So don't be fooled by the voices that say this is all doom and gloom and that the internet service providers would never let this happen. Mark my words, without net neutrality, these are not alarmist and hypothetical harms--they are very real. In a world without net neutrality, they very well may become the new normal.
This is a historic moment. We are approaching the most important vote for the internet in the history of the Senate. Should the Senate resolution pass, it will be the first time in more than a decade a minority party-sponsored Congressional Review Act resolution will have overturned a majority party administration's rule. We can and should put President Trump on notice. Countless Americans have called and emailed Congress to express support for net neutrality and for my CRA resolution.
All one has to do is look at the internet today--to this ``red alert for net neutrality'' that is on dozens and dozens and dozens of companies' websites all across our country. These are smaller companies, not the big companies that are all saying the same thing, which is that they need net neutrality, that they need to be protected, that they don't want to have the large companies being able to act in a discriminatory way. Those companies--Reddit, TripAdvisor, Etsy, Vimeo, Tumblr, match.com, and so many others--all speak with one voice. They are saying: Do not allow discriminatory practices to be made legal. Put the old net neutrality rules back on the books. They were working.
Activity in support of net neutrality at the State level has also been remarkable in that Governors in five States have issued executive orders; attorneys general in 23 States have filed lawsuits; 27 State legislatures are working on legislation to protect net neutrality.
We all know that in 2018, access to a free and open internet is not just a privilege, it is a right. I knew that back in 2006, when I introduced the very first net neutrality legislation in the House of Representatives. Ron Wyden knew the very same thing when he introduced the same legislation in the Senate. It is a debate that has been taking place in our country now for an internet generation, going back 12, 13 years. It is what binds the millennials, teachers, librarians, entrepreneurs, medical professionals, social advocates, generations X, Y, and Z--all of these groups that are up in arms because the future of the internet is at stake.
To my colleagues across the aisle, I encourage them to seize this opportunity and stand with the American people, who overwhelmingly support net neutrality. Again, 86 percent of all Americans--82 percent of all Republicans across the country--support net neutrality.
By passing this resolution, we send a clear message to American families that we support them, not President Trump's special interest agenda. This is the issue of whether we are going to empower ordinary families and ordinary small businesses to be given the protections they need.
The American people are watching closely. They are paying attention to who is fighting for them and who is sitting on the sidelines, to who is listening and who is ignoring the public's demands. This vote is coming, and when it does, it will put a magnifying glass on Congress. It will be crystal clear who is protecting corporate buddies and who is fighting for everyday Americans.
The Senate has a job to do. I urge my colleagues to join this movement and stand on the right side of history. In the 20th century, the rural electrification process connected huge parts of our country to the benefits of electricity. It raised living standards. It expanded educational opportunities. It transformed society. That is what a free and open internet is doing for our country in the 21st century--job creation, small business development, social justice, distance education. Every day, the lives of Americans are transformed for the better because they can access this diverse, dynamic, democratic platform where history is made every single day.
Again, I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this Congressional Review Act resolution to restore net neutrality.
I will now file this discharge petition with the clerk of the Senate so we can begin the process of having this historic debate on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
I thank all of my colleagues who are going to participate in this discussion this afternoon. It begins at least 1 week of full discussion on the Senate floor and in our country on this critical issue.
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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from New Hampshire for her incredible leadership on this issue. I know she had a huge forum with small businesses up in New Hampshire that reflected the need to ensure that we had an open and free internet.
As we talk about net neutrality, I think many people wonder: What does that mean? What does ``net neutrality'' mean exactly? Well, the way to think about it is, instead of saying the words ``net neutrality,'' you say the word ``nondiscrimination,'' because that is what we are talking about. We are talking about whether you are an individual or you are a small firm and you are using the internet in order to have your voice heard, in order to start up a business and that you are not discriminated against just because you are a small voice; that you are not discriminated against because you are not some huge corporation; that, in this internet era, you are important and you can't be discriminated against. That is what this debate is all about.
Now, how does that reflect the state of commerce online in America today? Well, for example, last year in the United States--this is an incredible number--half of all venture capital in America went to internet and software startups or internet and software companies in their beginning stages. Think about that. That is half of all venture capital. Who gets that money? Well, they are newer people, newer ideas, and newer job creators--the people who have transformed our country over the last 20 years online. Those are the people who get access to venture capital in a regime where net neutrality is the law of our country.
Now, at the same time, the big broadband companies have been able to invest tens of billions of dollars in the upgrade of their infrastructure. So it is not as though we are talking about the big companies getting it all or the little companies getting it all. They are both doing great under the existing formula, but the tens of thousands of smaller internet-based companies across this country are the ones who are actually creating the jobs. They are the ones that are hiring the new people. They are the ones who need the new real estate-- the 1,000 square feet, the 5,000 square feet, up to 25,000 square feet, and up to 1 million square feet, ultimately.
That is where we are, for example, with Wayfair, up in Massachusetts, which is a company from which you purchase furniture online. It started very small, and now it needs hundreds of thousands of square feet of space.
The same thing is true for TripAdvisor, up in Massachusetts. It started very small, and now it needs hundreds of thousands of square feet of space in order to hire all of their employees. That is what happens when you have an open internet. That is what happens when smaller companies and new companies online can raise the capital they need in order to finance their idea, in order to hire people who will advance this company's agenda across all 320 million people in the United States and, ultimately, for many of them, across the planet. You have to start somewhere, and the only way in which it really works is if net neutrality--if nondiscrimination--is the principle.
So that is what we are going to be debating over the next week here on the Senate floor. It is this fundamental issue of access to capital for the smallest companies and not to allow five companies--the biggest companies--to determine who gets access. The principle of net neutrality--the principle of openness--has worked. We now have a whole vocabulary in our country consisting of the names of companies that no one knew 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago. Those are the companies that are rising up and saying they want net neutrality to be protected here today.
In addition to that, we have dozens of other groups, the free press, and others who are all saying that we need it to advance democracy as well. We want the smallest individual to know that their voice can never be stifled, that their voice can never be cut off. That is what this debate is all about. That is why the Members are out here on the floor. We are trying to reflect the 86 percent of Americans who support net neutrality. I know that is why Senator Klobuchar from Minnesota is here.
At this point, Mr. President,
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