The smart will vote on Net Neutrality rules. A number of senators commented. I ask the quorum call be dispensed with. Without objection. Thank you, mr. President. The innovation and innovation driven economy of the United States. Chairman of fcc decided to repeal critical Consumer Protection known as Net Neutrality. This is a wrongheaded move, misguided and driven by big cable interests that want to gouge consumers and charge them more as they charge for making sure that consumers either pay or have their internet lines slow down. This decision turns the success of what has been an essential 21st century innovation over to those in big corporations, instead of making sure that main street innovators continue to do what they t do best. I dont think the American People want Cable Companies to be the gatekeeper on the internet. They want to have the fcc continue to playnt a role in making sure that an open internet is there for all, so that Small Businesses that entrepreneurs, that innovators can continue to build on the success of communicating with their consumers and their Business Partners without having artificiallysloweddown lines. Who would this impact if the fcc moves forward . Well, you could say seniors would be impacted on their telehealth medicine. Students would be impacted from learning and slowing down of education lines. Families accessing educational tools for their children can also see charges. And the highway that has been so important toan making sure that new internet businesses are started could be impact. The number one reason we have to fight this and to make sure that we do everything we can to stop the fcc from implementing this rule and making sure that we give consumers the protection of Net Neutrality is that it will harm our internet economy. Last summer we had a town meeting about this and heard from many a of my constituents about this sent many business caseso to chairman pai so he would understand why this impacts us so much. But let me make sure that we understand whats happening. The fcc has had rules that prevented companies from throttling or blocking and they have paved the way to many great successes. We have in the United States fortune 500 companies in a tech responsible for 7 of our nations gdp and 6. 9 million jobs in the United States of america. Why would you change the rules now . Why would you leave making sure critical protections are in place and instead, replace them with the ability for Certain Companies cable specifically, to wreak havoc on this economy . 13 of washington states economy depends on a healthy internete sector. The internet economy for our state supports 250,000 jobs and it is a time of, when the nation is looking to see that they havent had enough wage growth and enough growth in the middle class earning more, those tech jobs have been a bedrock for the. Iddle class. So chairman pai is clearly not focused on the 13,000 Tech Companies in the state of washington, the 250,000 jobs and the 13 of our states economy. Just this past weekend my colleague, congresswoman delbene and i, met with many of these Small Businesses and their message was loud and clear, please stop chairman pai from ruining the internet by taking away key protections that make sure our businesses run successful. Chairman pai is abdicating his role. He is abandoning the consumers that he swore an oath to serve. He is turning his back on innovators and hein has really changed the direction for us and innn our innovation economy. I know he thinks this is a light touch but i guarranty you it is no touch. What we need is to make sure that these companies do not artificially charge consumers, Small Business, main street more for what they already are doing now and doing successfully. Open internet rule and the rules that we are living under now have fueled an innovation economy. Every business plan, every startup relies on the ability to contact their consumers. And with this much our economy at stake, lets not continue to maketa mistakes. Lets continue to fight here in the United States senate, to make sure that we stop chairman pai and the fcc from having the resources to implement this rule. It is important so much, now, that we continue to fight for Small Businesses, for main street entrepreneurs, for the innovation economy, and say that we deserve to have an open internet. We should not have as the Small Businesses and innovators just said to me this past weekend in seattle, this really is like siding with the big companies, saying theyre going to make all the decisions. They are the ones who are going to be in control and they are not goingne to be for competiti. They are not going to be for little of innovation and they are going to slow down what is one of the best parts of our economy. I hope our colleagues will join the fight and stop the fcc in any manner possible from implementing what is literally a very, very, anticompetitive strategy and very, very focused on big corporations instead of the innovation economy of the future. I thank theov president , and i yield the into the floor. No problem. Madam president. Senator from massachusetts. Thank you, madam president. Madam president , i want to thank all of my colleagues led by snort cantwell for joining me on the floor this afternoon. Were speaking on behalf of millions of our constituents and of millions of americans who support a free and open internet. I am proud to come to the floor to discuss an issue of National Importance to both our economy and to our democracy, net neutral. Now, a lot of people have people recently stopped and asked me, what exactly is Net Neutrality . Well the technical answer is that network neutrality, or Net Neutrality is the principle that Internet Service providers, you know their names, verizon, at t, charter, comcast, the people that you pay by check each month to make sure you have broadband service, so you know who they are, that those Internet Service providers can not discriminate againstt content providers, against websites but the simpler explanation is this. No one owns the internet. Everyone can use the internet. Anyone can improve the internet. But that willot not be the casef the Trump Administration, ajit pai, the chairman and republicans have their way. They want to get rid of the federal Communications CommissionsNet Neutrality rules so that the isps, the Internet Service providers, can indiscrimminantly chargee more for internet fast lanes, slow down websites, block websites, make it harder or even impossible for inventors, entrepreneurs, an Small Businesses, theeb lifeblood of e american economy, to connect to the internet. That is why we are here this afternoon on the floor. And it is why supporters of a free and open internet are vigorously opposed to this politicallycraven attempt to weaken the principle of Net Neutrality that has has allowed the internet to flourish. Tomorrow, the federal Communications Commission is voting on a proposal that cuts at the very heart of a free and open internet. They are voting to roll back Net Neutrality protections and send a love letter to the Big Broadband companies, that stand to make huge profits without these rules. So what are chairman pai and his broadband buddies really trying to do . Well, the first thing they would do is gut the rule against blocking. So what does that mean . Well, it means that an Internet Service provider could block any website it wants. W that include a website of a competing service, or a website with a contrary political view, whatever they want. Second, chairman pai would gut the rule against throttling. So what does that mean . Well it means that the Internet Service provider could slow down any website it wants. And third, chairman pai would gut the rule banning paid prioritization. So what doest that mean . Well it means that the Internet Service provider could charge websites for an internet fast lane, meaning those websites would load quicker, while websites that cant afford the internet easy pass would be stuck on a gravel path, taking more time to load, and frustratingoa consumers with log buffering times. And fourth, chairman pai would gut the forwardlooking general conduct rule. What does that mean . Well the general conduct rule would protect consumers from harms such as data caps and other discriminatory behavior that isps think of in the coming months or years ahead. And fifth, chairman pai would create an unregulated, interconnection market. M what does that mean . Well it means the federal Communications Commission would Lose Authority to oversee places where isps connect to the internetet and extract fees. And finally, chairman pai wants to prevent states and localities from adopting their own Net Neutrality protections. So what will the be the replacement for these enforceable Net Neutrality rules today . What will replace them . Absolutely nothing. Chairman pai will leave it to the Internet Service providers to simply regulate themselves in this unpoliced internet wild west. Now, chairman pai claims that the federal trade commission, not the federal Communications Commission, the commission of expertise over telecommunications but the federal trade commission, somehow provides a sufficient backstop to bad behavior by the isps. But that is simply not true. Under the federal trade commission the Big Broadband barons would establish their own Net Neutrality policies. That is like letting the bullies develop their own playground rules. And if the isp wants to block websites, slown down competitors websites, charge innovators and entrepreneurs to reach their customers, they will be free to do so. And thats because the federal trade commission can only step in if a broadband provider violates its own Net Neutrality policy, that is the policy created by the Broadband Company itself f a Service Provider has a written policy that charges websites for internet fast lanes there is nothing the federal trade commission can do about it. That is ridiculous and it is wrong. Lo allowing the broadband industry to set their own Net Neutrality protections is like letting the fox guard the henhouse. Okay. So the federal trade Commission Oversight will notil work. Chairman pai also claims that he has another solution. It is called transparency. He argues that if isps are transparent about their Net Neutrality practices, consumers businesses can simply choose to use a broadband provider with the Net Neutrality practices that best suits them. But what good is transparency when most americans have little or no choice for high Speed Broadband access . Consider this. 62 of americans have only one choice for high speed fixed broadband. Thats right. Nearly 2 3 of the country has only one choice who they can purchase broadband from. So, that means that if a household only choice, for high Speed Broadband isnt transparent about its plans to set up internet fast and slow lanes, the consumer has two choices. One, accept the Internet Service providers terms, or two, live without the internet. That is a false choice. People do not want to live without the internet in the 21st century. So now, chairman pai also claims Internet Service providers actually support Net Neutrality but just not the open Internet Order under which were living today. That is like saying you support democracy but not the constitution. It is like saying you like math but you hate numbers. It makes no sense. The broadband barons have been fighting for years both at the federal Communications Commission and in then courts to block Net Neutrality rules. It is Crystal Clear and has been for years. The Broadband Companies are deeply opposed to Net Neutrality because they want to drive up their profits by setting up internet fast and slow lanes and charging consumers more for less. Its a simple formula. Chairman pai, also claims that broadband investment has been discouraged by the open Internet Order. That is if false. Investment in the broadband infrastructure is stronger than ever. With the deployment of 5g technologies on the horizon we can expect this strong investment to continue. Broadband investment on the aggregate has increased in the two years since the fcc passed thess open Internet Order. But beyond just measuring dollars spent, broadband speeds have also increased after the 2015 order, meaning that isps are improving the services they offer to their consumers. And consider this. That in 2016 almost half, almost half of the Venture Capital fund invested in this country went toward internetspecific and software companies. That is 25 billion worth of investments. We have hit the sweet spot. Investment in broadband and Wireless Technologies is high. Job creation is high. Venture Capital Investment and online startups is high. Chairman paiai threatens to disrupt this appropriate balance and squash innovation online. It is clear that americans do not want what the fcc is proposing. It seems like the only supporters of this plan is the broadband industry. If chairman pai be and his republican colleagues turn a deaf ear to millions of americans standing up for Net Neutrality and approve their plan tomorrow. We will con this fight elsewhere when obama era rules were challenged by the Internet Service providers in 2015, i led a congressional amicus brief with congresswoman eschew in support of rules. Congresswoman eschew and i plan to do the same thing this time andcu lead an amicus brief in defense of Net Neutrality. I also intend to file a Congressional Review Act or cra, resolution of disapproval with a number of my colleagues so that the United States senate can vote to undo chairman pais proposal and restore the 2015 open Internet Order. The Trump Administration is waging an allout assault on our core protections. Daca, the Affordable Care act, the paris climate accord, the clean power plan, and now trumps federal Communications Commission has put Net Neutrality in its sights. For all of those who rely upon the free and open internet, whether it is for commerce or education, health care or entertainment,al i urge you to join in this fight to create a firestorm of opposition to this assault on Net Neutrality. This is a fundamental attack upon the openness of the internet that must be beaten, and we must now form that army of ordinary americans as the voices that will fight the lobbyists and special interests in this city that want to shut down Net Neutrality forever. Thank you, madam president and i yield back. Madam president . Senator from michigan. Madam, president , there are a handful of innovations over the years that have redefined the United States and the entire world. The cotton gin, railroads, electricity and the automobile are just a few examples. However without question Broadband Internet is one of the defining innovations of our time. Broadband internet connects both rural and urban communities to Vital Services like telemedicine, educational resources, and international commerce. In fact Broadband Internet is absolutely essential for communications in the modern era. It lets us keep in touch with our loved ones no matter where they live, and it has boosted productivit