With 50 supporters for CRA resolution, Senate Democrats prepare for final vote in the coming days

Momentum continues to grow for grassroots effort to ensure a free and open internet by overturning President Trump and FCC Chairman Pai’s anti-consumer action

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Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led all of their Senate Democratic colleagues in officially filing a discharge petition to force a vote on Senator Markey’s Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to put strong net neutrality rules back on the books. Thirty Senators are needed to send the CRA to the floor for a vote and a simple majority is needed for its passage. All 49 members of the Senate Democratic caucus support the resolution, along with Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine). The deadline for a Senate vote on Senator Markey’s CRA is June 12th.

“When the Republican-led FCC voted to repeal net neutrality in December, they handed the large Internet Service Providers all the cards,” said Leader Schumer. “That’s why Democrats are so concerned about net neutrality and why we’re trying to restore it. Because we believe that the internet should be kept free and open like our highways, accessible and affordable to every American, regardless of your ability to pay, where you live, or the size of your business. And so this vote will allow Senators to show once and for all whose side they are on: are they for protecting average consumers and middle-class families? Or are they protecting the big, corporate special interests.”

“Today kicks off the most important week for the internet that the Senate has ever seen,” said Senator Markey. “By passing my CRA resolution, we restore the rules that ensure Americans aren’t subject to higher prices, slower internet traffic, and even blocked websites because the big internet service providers want to bloat their profits. This upcoming Senate vote will be our opportunity to save net neutrality and deliver the digital future that Americans deserve.”

In December 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order, which the D.C. Circuit Court had upheld in 2016. The Open Internet Order prohibited internet service providers from blocking, slowing down, or discriminating against content online. Repealing the net neutrality rules could lead to higher prices for consumers, slower internet traffic, and even blocked websites. A recent poll showed that 86 percent of Americans do not approve of the FCC action to repeal net neutrality rules, including 82 percent of Republicans.

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