Hearing of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee - Ensuring the Security, Stability, Resilience, and Freedom of the Global Internet

Hearing

Thank you, Chairman Walden, for holding this timely hearing on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's recent announcement to begin the process of transitioning key Internet domain name functions to the global multistakeholder community.

I want to welcome back Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling and Ambassador David Gross. Your past testimony has greatly enhanced the Committee's deliberations on issues related to Internet governance.

I want to also thank Mr. Chehade for traveling half way around the world in time to testify before our subcommittee.

This distinguished panel of witnesses highlights just how important this upcoming transition will be. This is a critical opportunity to reaffirm the United States' commitment to a multistakeholder approach to Internet governance and policymaking.

Since the late 1990s, the U.S. government, under both Republican and Democratic Administrations, has consistently embraced the vision that a global Internet should be governed through a decentralized, bottom-up approach, with no single government or intergovernmental entity exercising control over its decision-making process.

That commitment remains true today. The United States continues to stand up for the multistakeholder model time and again in international forums while pushing back against countries that have sought an expansion of governmental control.

Congress has also spoken unanimously in support of this multistakeholder vision, first through a bipartisan, bicameral resolution last Congress, then through legislation that passed the House last year that would make it the official policy of the United States to "preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet."

I agree it is now time for the U.S. government to take additional steps to fulfill this vision. For over fifteen years, NTIA has played a limited procedural role in the administration of the domain name system.

This responsibility, while ministerial, is associated with the perception that the United States serves as a steward of the Internet.

I share NTIA's belief that this temporary stewardship should come to an end in the near future. The multistakeholder system has matured and gained legitimacy over the past decade.

I am confident that the non-governmental Internet community will act as capable, responsible stewards of the Internet and fill the role left by NTIA.

But the upcoming transition in no way suggests that the United States plans to relinquish control of the Internet to authoritarian states. To the contrary, our effort should be seen as a vote of confidence that the successful bottom-up, decentralized model will continue to preserve and protect the Internet as a free and open platform for commerce, innovation, and self-expression.

NTIA has outlined key principles to guide the transition process, including a commitment not to accept any proposal that replaces the NTIA role with a government-led or an intergovernmental organization like the ITU.

Going forward, I hope NTIA and ICANN will institute an open, transparent process for the consideration of transition proposals submitted by stakeholders. A period of notice and comment should be provided so that the decision makers have a comprehensive record to consider the merits of the proposals.

This Committee should monitor NTIA's and ICANN's efforts closely, but we must resist the calls for reactionary legislation that would needlessly tie the hands of the agency.

Not only are these efforts inconsistent with Congress' longstanding and bipartisan support for the multistakeholder model, they also send a dangerous signal to the rest of the world that we lack faith in the existing multistakeholder system.

That is why I hope we will work closely with our witnesses today throughout this transition process.

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