Sen. Cruz: Today Chairman Pai Took A Significant Step Toward Protecting the Open Internet

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) issued the following statement regarding Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai’s intention, announced today, to begin a rule making to repeal or revise the FCC’s misleadingly named Open Internet Order, which used Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 to establish common carrier regulations on internet service providers:

"Two and a half years ago, I said that net neutrality was 'Obamacare for the Internet.' At the time, the Obama administration, in its typically deceptive manner, had conflated net neutrality — a worthy idea, as originally defined, to protect an open internet — with reclassifying the internet as a public utility under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, a burdensome, behemoth of a law that gives all sorts of authority to the government to regulate pricing and terms of service and stifle innovation online. My comments were intended to raise awareness of this unprecedented government power grab, which the Obama administration and its friends at the FCC were attempting to quietly accomplish. 

"Today, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai took a significant step toward restoring the internet to a light-touch regulatory framework that protects open internet principles, and also recognizes the transformative effect that the internet has had on our lives, generating billions of dollars of new economic activity and millions of jobs, largely free of government’s heavy hand. I applaud Chairman Pai for introducing these measures, and look forward to working with my colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee to develop a long-term legislative solution that updates the outdated Telecommunications Act of 1996, preserves a free and open internet, and gives stability to the companies and users operating within the internet ecosystem.”

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