Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) promised Democrats would force a vote in the Senate to restore net neutrality rules, and within a few weeks, enough Democrats signed on to do just that. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), longtime net neutrality champion, introduced a resolution of disapproval in the Senate after the FCC struck down the rules. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can repeal rule-making by agencies by means of resolutions of disapproval. They've been used in the past year by Republicans to get rid of most everything good the Obama administration accomplished in 2016, and now Democrats are going to turn the table.
As of Monday, they have the 30 necessary co-sponsors to force the vote.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) announced her support for the bill on Twitter, putting it over the top of a procedural requirement to bypass committee approval.
The bill, which is being pushed by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), would use Congress’s authority under the Congressional Review Act to reverse the FCC’s rollback of its popular net neutrality rules.
"We've reached the magic number of 30 to secure a vote on the Senate floor, and that number will only continue to climb," Markey said in a statement Monday. "Republicans are faced with a choice—be on the right side of history and stand with the American people who support a free and open internet, or hold hands with the special interests who want to control the internet for their own profit."
"Today's news shows that lawmakers from both parties cannot hide from their constituents on this issue," said Evan Greer, an activist with the group Fight for the Future, which has promised to rally voters around the issue in the midterm elections. "Every member of the U.S. Senate will have to go on the record, during a tight election year, and either vote to save the Internet or rubber stamp its death warrant."
That's a really important vote to get on the record. Considering that it's not viewed as a partisan issue by voters—3 out of 4 Republicans oppose the FCC's rollback—and 83 percent of Americans do not approve of the FCC proposal, this vote should be giving Republicans heartburn.
Trump's FCC and Big Cable are trying to destroy net neutrality—but we can still stop them. Tell Congress to oppose Trump FCC's plan to destroy net neutrality and the open internet.