House Energy & Commerce Committee chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) celebrated the internet day of actionWednesday by calling for bipartisan legislation.
ISPs have also focused on a bill to clarify that the FCC can enforce net neutrality rules of the road without imposing Title II.
“Today’s Day of Action highlights the need for Congress to work together to protect consumers and ensure a free and open internet," said Walden.
"The internet and the new technologies it unleashed have revolutionized the world in just a few short decades, and done so with little or no federal regulation," he said, also echoing ISP's take on the regulatory history. "I again call on my Democratic colleagues, edge providers and ISPs, and all those who make up the diverse internet ecosystem that has flourished under light-touch regulation to come to the table and work with us on bipartisan legislation that preserves an open internet while not discouraging the investments necessary to fully connect all Americans. Too much is at stake to have this issue ping-pong between different FCC commissions and various courts over the next decade."
Hill watchers are not hopeful that there can be common ground given the deep divisions between parties on a host of issues. With some Democrats feeling steamrolled on healthcare—and in the wake of the Republican Congressional Review Act nullification of the Title II-related FCC broadband privacy framework—a bipartisan FCC broadband regulatory authority clarification bill that does not include Title II, as it cannot from the Republican side, will be a tough ask.
(Photo via Sam Churchill's Flickr. Image taken on July 12, 2017 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 9x16 aspect ratio.)
