Doyle signs House letter; vows to stand up for Net Neutrality

U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA-14 Forest Hills), the Ranking Member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, announced Wednesday that he and 117 other Members of Congress had sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging the Commissioners NOT to vote on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s “Restoring Internet Freedom Order” at the Commission’s scheduled meeting today.

Chairman Pai recently released this proposed regulation and announced that it would be voted on at the FCC’s December 14 meeting.

Congressman Doyle, many Members of Congress, and millions of Americans support Net Neutrality and oppose Chairman Pai’s “Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which would repeal the Open Internet Order, which regulates Internet Service Providers (ISPs) under Title II of the Communications Act and protects Net Neutrality.

Congressman Doyle believes that Net Neutrality rules protect consumers who use the internet, promote competition among online business service providers, and encourage innovation and entrepreneurship – all leading to increased economic growth and improved standards of living. He believes that if the FCC’s Net Neutrality rules are eliminated, Internet Service Providers with block or throttle content, provide faster transmission to businesses that pay them more (“paid prioritization”), and charge consumers more for a number of internet services. He believes that the “Restoring Internet Freedom” Order is profoundly anti-competition and ant-consumer.

Congressman Doyle organized the letter to the FCC urging the Commission to delay its vote on the Restoring Internet Freedom Order – in other words, to not vote on the draft order today. He announced Tuesday that if the FCC does vote to adopt the Restoring Internet Freedom Order, he would introduce legislation to overturn it.

Click here to see the text of the letter and the list of signers