Sen. Franken Lauds President Obama’s Strong Net Neutrality Proposal
Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) issued the following statement after President Obama pressed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for stronger net neutrality rules:
"I welcome today's news that President Obama is pressing the FCC to maintain a free and open Internet. He joins a chorus of more than 3.5 million Americans who have told the FCC that killing net neutrality is a terrible idea, and who strongly believe a very simple principle: there shouldn't be one Internet for deep-pocketed corporations and a separate Internet for everyone else.
"What the President is asking the FCC to do—to reclassify Internet service as a utility—is simply common sense, and it would ensure that rich corporations couldn't pay for an Internet fast lane. That's why over the summer, I and several of my colleagues urged the FCC to do just that.
"Net neutrality is a simple concept: all content on the Internet must travel at the same speed. It's been the architecture of the Internet since it was created. It's made the Internet a platform for enormous innovation and economic growth. And it should stay that way. I hope the FCC agrees."
Sen. Franken has been among the most vocal advocates of keeping the Internet open for all Americans, and called net neutrality the free speech issue of our time. He's met with many Minnesota businesses and consumers who agree that net neutrality is critical to innovation and to free speech. He has also said net neutrality is the principle that the Internet belongs to the people, not huge corporations.
Sen. Franken has pressed the FCC to reclassify broadband Internet as a telecommunications service, and in June, he helped introduce a landmark piece of legislation—called the Online Competition and Consumer Choice Act—that would ban the use of paid "fast lanes" on the Internet.
