Former House Communications Subcommittee chair Ed Markey
(D-Mass.) was sworn in on Tuesday as the new senator from Massachusetts by Vice
President Joe Biden.
Markey won a special election last month for the seat of
Secretary of State John Kerry. Markey defeated Republican Gabriel Gomez.
In his acceptance speech, he talked about a number of
priority issues, leading off with clean energy and transportation
infrastructure. He also talked about information technology and the need to
keep innovating to create jobs.
Markey is a fan of network neutrality and,
before switching his main focus to energy policy, was one of the most active
House members on the communications front, including mandating an FCC national
broadband plan, weighing in against some major mergers, pushing to preserve the
ban on exclusive contracts, advocating for cableCARD fixes, implementing
children's TV regs and the V-chip ratings system, and lots more. He has
remained a leading voice for protecting online privacy.
