(
From the diaries -- Krempasky has led the charge against efforts to regulate the Internet on his side of the aisle, and getting a Republican sponsor for the House version was key to ensure passage in that chamber. Our chances of success are looking pretty good so far as real opposition hasn't arisen, though I don't doubt that McCain and Feingold are too happy with this. This is an issue because they sued the FEC's over, among other things, its Internet exemption -- kos).
Today in the House of Represenatives, Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) introduced a companion piece of legislation to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's bill (S.678) to exclude the Internet from the definition of "public communication" in the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002.
This is a bill that deserves bipartisan support, and it's exciting to see it off to a good start.
In short - if this bill passes both houses and becomes law in the next 50 or-so days, the FEC rulemaking process will be rendered moot. Remember, the FEC is only creating regulations for Internet activity because Congress didn't specifically mention the Internet at all, and a federal judge ruled that even in the absence of specific direction of Congress, the FEC had to do so anyway.
This bill provides that direction, and creates that exclusion. It might not solve all the problems of regulation, but it's miles and away the best solution right now. I've already heard from some liberal colleagues in the blogosphere, and we're going to push this bill - and hard.
The blogosophere has proven extraordinary aptitude when it comes to attacking or stopping something, let's prove that we can be just as much a powerful influence when it comes to creating and moving something forward.
Full bill text as well as Represenative Hensarling's "Dear Colleague Letter" are available at RedState