Allies of every single american for an entire generation. Now, last night the people of alabama elected a new senator who represents washington. Republicans control the senate face a choice. Will they allow senatorelect doug jones to take a seat among his colleagues before a a final vote on their taxct plan . We actually know something about that kind of choice in my home state of massachusetts. On january 19, 2010, massachusetts elected a new senator to represent them here in washington. The result was just as shocking to democrats as last night result was to republicans. It also came when we were in the middle of another historically important policy debate here in washington,a healthcare. A lot of people thought the democrats should ram through the final version of their bill in congress before brown could be seated. Now, i could stand your and read you a quote after quote after quote from republicans who now control the senate talking about how unfair that would be. How corrupt that would be, and how antidemocratic that would be. I could go on and on about how todays Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell said this would be gamesmanship. But i wantt to talk about what democrats actually did. Democrats rejected the idea of ramming through the bill before seat in thetake his senate. Almost immediately jim webb a democratic senator from virginia called forf a suspension of any healthcare vote until after brown arrived. The day after the massachusetts election, Senate Majority leader harry reid said publicly we are going to wait until the new senator arrives, into we do anything more on health care. Massachusetts democratic senator john kerry held a a joint press conference with republican scott brown that same week where he said quote, seating scott brown as expeditiously as possible is important. We want to respect the election results, and nobody wants to delay this process. Andde president obama whose ente healthcare agenda was on the line said this. Heres one thing i i know adags want to make sure that this is off theat table. The senate certainly should not try toou jam anything through ad killed scott brown is seated. People in massachusetts spoke. Hes got to be part of that process. This wasnt an easy decision. Waiting for brown slow down the adoption of health care for two additional months. More importantly, it meant that democrats lost their filibuster proof majority. And as a consequence, the final bill could not achieve nearly as much as democrats had hoped for. But we did it anyway. We did it because democracy matters, even when it means that it might slow down a a presidet agenda. Democracy matters even when a senate seat held for decades by a liberal lion is taken over by a conservative. Democracy matters, especially when it is inconvenient. If were honest we know there hasnt been a lot of democracy about this tax bill. This is a bill that was written and rewritten in the dead of night beyond closed doors. Its filled with errors and unintended consequences. Its animated by a rotten wealth transfer from millions of hardworking americans to a handful of corporations and billionaires. But up until now we have at the principal that each state is to pick it senators. And those senators get to vote for or against the final product. Thise afternoon we are being tod the republicans have final tax deal. Nobody has seen it but we could be voting on on in the next coe of days. Mere is no reason to ram through that kind of massive restructuring of our Economic System before alabama gets its senator. In less republicans are concerned that their deal will not withstand a couple more weeks of public scrutiny. The election of doug jones will not change which Party Controls the senate. The election ofil doug jones wil not give him our democrats that power to block the tax bill, or any other piece of legislation. It will respect the people of alabama and their choice. It should happen before any more tax votes take place in the senate. Mr. President , id like to spk on another matter nowow and ask consent of a speech appear in the appropriate place in the record. Without objection. Mr. President , america entered [inaudible] let me start [inaudible] my apologies. Mr. President , almost 60 years ago america entered the space age. We pushed the bounds of Human Knowledge to do, see, acquainting great things that fund will change the way we live our lives. And the government was right smack at the center of all of it dedicating resources and manpower to exploration for science, medicine, engineering andog technology. Darpa was a product of that commitment and it was there at darpa that a a bunch of governt and government funded researchers created the internet. In the intervening decades what started in thaten Government Agency provided the Building Blocks for what we experience as the internet today. Creative minds in government, at colleges universities, in business and in homes and garages all across the country toys in tinkered and pushed us into the digital age. Today internet use is nearly universal. Although Internet Access remains limited in many rural and low income areas, students of all ages go online to access educational tools and conduct research for many school assignments. Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses sell goods and transact business online. Families come together to watch the internet and Broadband Services have become an important part of our lives. And government is just ass important now as it was back when the internet was created. By enforcing and implementing Americas Communications law and rules, the federal Communications Commission, the fcc, plays a Critical Role in making sure that the internet remains fair and open. In 2015 the fcc enshrine that commitment in an open internet order, establishing netne neutrality rules, strong Public Interest rules that prevented Big Companies from deciding how or when we use the internet. Rules that have the overwhelming support of the vast majority of americans. Republican or democrat. But Big Internet Companies dont want the fcc to work in the Public Interest. They want the internet to work for them. Long before the fcc passed Net Neutrality rules, those giants are working to establish control over the open internet. And after Net Neutrality rules were passed, they stepped up theiryi attack deploring armiesf lobbyists and lawyers, and investing massive amounts of money to bury Net Neutrality rules. And now they got that champagne chilled and ready to pop open. They have a president and a gop controlled congress thats more interested in stuff in the pockets of the rich and powerful than taking care of the workers, Small Businesses and entrepreneurs, students, children, the sick, the elderly, and just about everybody else. And President Trumps choice to lead the fcc, ajit pai, is designated to transform is the fcc from agency that works in the Public Interest into a big business giveaway group. He has been a vocal opponent of Net Neutrality rules for a very long time. After President Trump won the election, pai gleefully declared that Net Neutrality is days were numbered. Pai claim that nondiscrimination rules harmed giantt Internet Companies by making more difficult for them to create new and better products. He thinks that if these giant can discriminate against Small Businesses or individuals, that these giants can pick who gets the fast lane into your Television Set andon who stuck f on the dirt roads. If these giants can dictate which startups get a foothold and which ones are left on the ground, then the giants will be better off. Of course hes right. The giants will be better off. But everyone else will be worse off, a lot worse off. Chairman pai is so committed to these internet giant that is willing to rewrite the federal rules in order to help them out. And hes even went to rewrite the rules so that state and local governments will not be allowed to pass any Consumer Protection laws to protect their own citizens. Chairman pai notion of a fair and open internet is one that works for the highest bidder, and it just leads everyone else behind. Tomorrow the fcc will vote on whether to eliminate the protections that ensure that the internet remains fair and open to all americans. Protection that the vast majority of americans support. Pai has barreled full speed ahead despite disturbing reports that potentially hundreds of thousandssa of comments submittd during the Public Comment period were fake, and he has ignored the fccs responsibility to turn over documents of consumer complaints about discriminatory behavior by internet providers. If the fcc eliminates Net Neutrality for production, jack Internet Companies pop open those champagne bottles. You have the power toth block access, to filter content, to charge more. Three powerful ways that they will pick the next round of americas winners and losers. Thats just not the way should work in america the internet doesnt belong to Big Internet Companies. It belongs to all of us, and all of us should be part of this fight. Net neutrality matters. For the entrepreneur working roundtheclock on a shoestring budget to build an invention that can change the world, Net Neutrality matters. For the small Family Business that depends for Online Customers to keep its lights open and its doors open, Net Neutrality matters. For the blog writer a local day to bring us Important News about archimedes, our government and our world, Net Neutrality matters. For every american who use the internet for any reason, Net Neutrality matters. On genuity is americas dna. Packet is that spirit of curiosity and adventurous put us at the forefront of the search for whats next. Government works best when it make suret that everyone has the resources that make that possible. In massachusetts, the messages chapter of the aclu fights for the future and countless other groups have led the fight to defend Net Neutrality and help citizens make their voices heard. I urge every american to speak out about why Net Neutrality matters. And i urge the fcc to abandon its plan to kill Net Neutrality rules, and instead asked our fcc to defend an internet that is fair and open to all. Thank you, mr. President. I yield. The senator from oregon. Mr. President , i introduced the senates first strong Net Neutrality bill back in 2006, and i rise today to give my strongest possible condemnation of what the federal communication committee, commission said, mr. Pike, seeking to do which is to roll back protections that ensure truly free and open internet for our people. This is, colleagues, a handout. It is a holiday gift to a collection of giant Internet Companies to increase the profits at the expense of the consumer. And, mr. President , before actually begin my remarks, senator franken ic is on the floor as well, and i would just like the public to know how important his leadership has been on these issues. He and i have partnered on these issues ever since he came to the senate, and he was on the key committee, the judiciary committee, hes been a go to figure in a key spot on this issue. And iue just want to continue ts discussion, senator warren is terrific presentation. I know my colleagues will speak on this as well. I just want the public to know that senator franken has made a big, big difference for the consumer on these issues. And those of us who have been toiling in these precincts are very appreciative of what hes done. Mr. President , i want personal for people to even understand what Net Neutrality is. Because i think, senator franken and i talked about this over the years, a little confusion of what it is. Net neutrality means that after you payes your Internet Access fee, you get to go where you want when you want and how you want. It is the essence of ensuring that everybody gets up, gets a fair shake, that all bits are created equal. It is the foundation of what has kept the internet free and open. And i think if i get into my kind of prepared remarks, i want people to understand what happens if you dont have Net Neutrality. If you dont have Net Neutrality, in effect Big Companies can manipulate who is going to win and who is going to lose in the marketplace. And they will continue to manipulate who wins and who loses until and after we get both fewer services and the consumer gets higher prices. So this is not some kind of abstract discussion. And let me just flush out some of these remarks for a few minutes. I i know my colleagues have been waiting as well. Since the origins of the internet, the defining feature has been that all information, all bits as we know it the same fair shake. If youre a s big company or a momandpop ice cream shop with a website, your content gets in everybodys homes at the same speed. Thats what Net Neutrality is all about. Net neutrality keeps Internet Service providers from favoring one type of content over another. Now, the market has changedcc since 2006, because the market for access to the internet has changed. Where once there were legions of dialup providers and dsl resellers, we were seeing a few monopolies, duopoly is dominating neighborhoods across the country. With their power to dictate where you could go and what you could see on the net, they had and continue to have the power to suppress those sites in the services that you would have chosen yourself in a free marketplace driving them out ofb business. And i thought again to lay out what this means for people who are following this. That means instead of netflix, youtube or amazon, you could be forced to get your video content from something called go 90, whatever the heck that is. It certainly isnt a service that has been able to compete in a Free Internet market, but all that changes when verizon can charge you more to get to you tube oryo facebook that cost to reach their own service. Without strong Net Neutralityne protection, at t might provide, and we always put it in quotes, free data, free data for customers streaming hbo. Pretty good if you watch hbo, but it could, without netto neutrality, start other creators and subscribers necessary to survive until soon enough, as senator franken as pointed out in some of our discussions, free data is gone. Thats it. Free data goes away, and the american consumer, which is my fear, when you think about what it really means to somebody sitting in minnesota at home. I seeee my colleague senator merkley from oregon as well, you know, the free data goes away and what i described in the consumer at home in minneapolis for oregon is stuck with your choices at higher prices than they have to date. That is what the loss of Net Neutrality means. I care deeply as my colleagues do about innovation of startups, Small Businesses. Senator warren was eloquent on this point. Theres going to be a lot of people, if it wasnt mean to me, what it means is i have just kind of walked people through an example is that that typical person is going to be stuck with fewer choices at higher prices. Two years ago tom wheeler, then the head of the federal Communications Commission, put in place strong framework, something with teeth that was enforceable called title ii of the Communications Act to make sure that the government, the fcc, have the tools to protect Net Neutrality. Now, chairman wheeler, like chairman pai, worked for industry, for much of his career in washington, but rather than serve his former employer, tom wheeler said ongoing use my experience in how companies operate, how they treat consumers, tom wheeler said im going usei the experience i have working in the private sector to design and implement constructive and effective Consumer Protections. What a contrast between the two chairs for the federal Communications Commission. Both from industry, both of them did well in industry, and we consider that a good thing in america that you have a prospering private economy. Tom wheeler used it and that expertise to help the public. Thats not what were seeing today. Now, mr. President , there is a need to fix what isnt broken. Their strong Net Neutrality protections in place right now. Since the 2015 rules went into place, our economy has grown up around thisua leading principlef equa