Disaproving FCC Internet and Broadband Regulations

Floor Speech

Mr. GOODLATTE. I thank the chairman for yielding and for his leadership on this issue.

To the gentleman from Washington, I would tell him yesterday this House voted to cut government spending and keep the government open. Today this House will vote to cut government regulations and keep the Internet open. That's what this is all about.

Let me add that, to the gentleman from Pennsylvania who said all the FCC is doing is making two simple promises, here they are: 200 pages, single spaced, small print, to make two simple promises to keep the Internet open.

Well, guess what. The Internet is open now and we have laws to protect keeping the Internet open now, and they are called antitrust laws. If they need to be modified, they should come forward with those proposals. But the Internet is open today.

And to my friends in the technology community, and they are my friends, some of whom think this is a great thing the FCC is doing, I would say to them, be careful what you ask for because these 200 pages are just the beginning. There will be thousands of pages more as they illegally try to blast their way into regulating the most valuable invention in the history of the world. That is what is going on here.

And to the gentlewoman from California who says there is a market power analysis, I refer to page 12 of the very FCC regulations, which says: ``We are not performing a market power analysis in this proceeding.''

This issue is very, very important. The Internet is based upon free enterprise. It is based upon individual initiative and creativity. It is not based upon government regulation, and government regulation will stifle it and ultimately snuff it out. If you want proof of that, go look at government-regulated Internets in other countries around the world like China and Iran. That is not what this country is about. We are about protecting the greatest job creator we have ever made in this country.

Support this resolution. Oppose the naysayers.

I rise in support of House Joint Resolution 37. Many Internet content providers are concerned, as am I, about proposals to create different classes of content on the Internet or to discriminate against legitimate content or services online.

Unfortunately, I believe that the FCC has gone too far in its recent action and urge a yes vote on H.J. Res. 37, which would eliminate uncertainty created in the marketplace by the FCC's power-grab.

I believe in free market principles and the fact that Government involvement often stifles innovation. I also believe that our Nation's antitrust laws have served as important guidelines to ensure that markets remain competitive and that these antitrust laws must remain applicable to ensure that Internet access providers do not discriminate against or block access to certain Web sites, services, or content. In fact, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet, which I chair, recently held a hearing to discuss the impact of antitrust laws on net neutrality. I urge passage of this resolution.

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