“As a founder and chairman of the Future of American Media Caucus in Congress, I care deeply about the state of America’s media. I believe that a free press, including television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet, is essential to a well-functioning democracy. In the past few decades, thousands of independently-owned television and radio stations and newspapers have disappeared. As more and more media outlets become owned by only a handful of companies, the public has become limited in the number of points of view available. This is harmful to our democracy and we must work to ensure Americans have access to a wide range of ideas and perspectives.” –Maurice

• Fighting Media Consolidation: In December 2009, Comcast announced plans to acquire NBC-Universal from General Electric. This is the latest step in the trend of media consolidation-- television, radio and newspapers belonging to fewer owners. This has an anti-competitive and anti-consumer effect. With the important task of informing the public, Maurice feels it is dangerous to allow such power to be controlled by only a handful of corporations. If approved, the combined entity would own NBCU's vast suite of programming along with 25% of the cable airwaves. Further media consolidation will squelch viewpoints and will hurt our democracy.
• Keeping the Internet Open: Maurice has been a leading advocate of net neutrality. Internet service providers should not be allowed to give preferential treatment to their own content or to content providers who pay for faster transmission. The Internet has become an invaluable tool, and corporations should not be allowed to limit service or accessibility to increase their profit margins. Maurice has favored the FCC retaining its ability to regulate the Internet’s openness.
• Increasing Access to Broadband: Maurice believes it is important to expand broadband access to rural areas. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which he supported, included $7.2 billion to extend broadband to rural and other underserved communities across the country and our congressional district. Just as the investments of the Great Depression, such as the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), brought electricity to rural America, these investments will bring the indispensable technologies of the 21st-century to rural areas throughout the country.