Today, Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO) took two important steps towards protecting net neutrality. First, he’s signing the discharge petition that could force a vote on the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that negates Chairman Pai’s disastrous rollback of net neutrality protections. But he’s going a step further, too: he announced a bill that would codify net neutrality in law. The bill is straightforward: it bans blocking, throttling, and prioritization with clear authorization for FCC rulemaking and enforcement. Both of these actions are important, all the more so because Rep. Coffman has recognized that protecting net neutrality isn’t a partisan issue. This is an issue that the vast majority of Americans agree on, which makes it all the more confusing that it has become a partisan issue in Washington.
Mozilla has been working for a decade to protect net neutrality in the U.S. and around the world. Around the world, including in India, Europe, and Latin America, net neutrality policies are being adopted while the U.S. is moving backwards. We were saddened that Chairman Pai chose to roll back strong consumer protections in order to advance a partisan agenda, especially when survey after survey makes it clear that the vast majority of Americans want net neutrality protections to ensure that their ISPs aren’t quietly discriminating against their favorite services
Rep. Coffman joins Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Kennedy, and Sen. Collins – who similarly moved to protect their constituents access to the entire internet by voting for the CRA in the Senate. We hope that more Republicans listen to their constituents and move to protect net neutrality.