Hearing of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee - Internet Governance After ICANN 53

Hearing

Thank you Chairman Walden and Ranking Member Eshoo for today's hearing. Thanks
also to our two witnesses for your testimony. The work this Committee has done on Internet
governance has been a bright spot of bipartisanship. Support for the multi-stakeholder model has
long united Republicans and Democrats in Congress, under Democratic and Republican
Administrations alike. I'm pleased that we've found a way to work together on this issue that is
so critical to the future of the Internet.

Just two weeks ago, the House overwhelmingly supported passage of the
DOTCOM Act. Through this committee's bi-partisan work, we were able to craft a bill that
strikes a good balance. The DOTCOM Act continues our commitment to a global, open Internet
while making sure Congress maintains its proper role overseeing over the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration.

In short, the DOTCOM Act provides Congressional oversight without unnecessary delay
of the IANA transition. As I've said many times before, this is a much better alternative to the
language in the House Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill that blocks NTIA's
ability to implement the transition. A bipartisan group of Senators is working on advancing the
DOTCOM Act and I urge all of our colleagues in the Senate to support it.

I want to take this opportunity to let our witnesses know what I will be looking for out of
this transition. I will expect that NTIA will live up to the commitments the agency has made for
the IANA transition. I will also expect that any plan ensures that accountability mechanisms are
in place before the U.S. government relinquishes its stewardship role. One sign of ICANN's
commitment to accountability after the transition could be its willingness to stay accountable for
the contracts it already signed.

As today's hearing demonstrates, our Committee is actively engaged with ICANN and
NTIA even while we are working on getting the DOTCOM Act to the President's desk. Much
progress has been made since Assistant Secretary Strickling and Mr. Chehade testified before the
Committee last year. The multi-stakeholder community has developed plans for all three
components of the IANA transition and is moving toward finalizing them into a single
proposal. And significant work has been done to develop a model for accountability after the
transition.

So I hope to learn more today about the proposals for enhanced accountability at
ICANN. The U.S. government role has served as an important backstop for the past two
decades. We must ensure that safeguards are in place before the transition is finalized.

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