The list of House members supporting the Save the Internet Act (H.R. 1644) has surged past 200 with the legislation moving to a floor vote as early as Tuesday evening.
The bill, which would restore the strong Net Neutrality rules and Title II legal framework for broadband of the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order, has already drawn the support of 214 members.
The official list of co-sponsors closed at 197 last Thursday since House rules don’t allow additional lawmakers to sign on as sponsors after a bill starts moving to the floor. According to the bill’s original sponsor, Rep. Mike Doyle, the number of representatives signaling their intent to sponsor the bill including Doyle himself had grown to 210 by the weekend. Four additional members, who did not sponsor the bill, voted for it during subcommittee and committee markups.
A companion bill introduced in the Senate in early March is also gathering support in response to widespread public advocacy, including phone calls to Congress and visits to in-district offices from thousands of Net Neutrality advocates.
A University of Maryland poll found that 86 percent of voters opposed the Trump FCC’s 2017 repeal of the Title II Net Neutrality rules, including 82 percent of Republicans and 90 percent of Democrats.
Free Press Action Government Relations Director Sandra Fulton made the following statement:
“The momentum of the Save the Internet Act is a stunning reflection of the public support for real Net Neutrality protections. People across party lines understand that without Net Neutrality rules grounded on the strong legal foundation of Title II, our ability to create, seek and share information is in jeopardy.
“Efforts by some in Washington to paint this as a left-right issue ignore numerous public polls which show that overwhelming majorities of Democratic and Republican voters oppose the Trump FCC’s repeal of Title II Net Neutrality safeguards, and support passing the Save the Internet Act to restore those good rules.
“Any holdouts in Congress need to stop neglecting bipartisan public demand for Net Neutrality safeguards and support of this bill and its companion in the Senate. Lawmakers who oppose the Save the Internet Act should listen to their constituents. You can’t ignore more than four out of every five people in the United States and just carry water for Comcast and AT&T. That’s a bad choice.
“Phone and cable companies, of course, don’t want lawmakers to know that Net Neutrality is so popular. They’re resorting to their usual tricks to sink this bill, hiring an army of lobbyists, lawyers and PR flacks to spread lies about Title II. The wave of support behind the Save the Internet Act demonstrates that people in and out of Congress aren’t buying it.”
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