Free Press Action Fund Applauds Senators for Rejecting Backdoor Attempt to Hamstring Open Internet..

Free Press Action Fund Applauds Senators for Rejecting Backdoor Attempt to Hamstring Open Internet Rules

WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday, 10 senators sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) objecting to language in a funding bill for 2012 that would prevent the Federal Communications Commission from using federal funds to enforce its open Internet rules.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Al Franken (D-Minn., Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mark Udall (D-Co.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska) all signed the letter.

Free Press Action Fund Political Adviser Joel Kelsey made the following statement:

"We applaud these senators for standing up against this brazen attempt to hand over the keys of the open Internet to AT&T, Comcast and Verizon.

“This amendment is a poorly disguised play to hijack the budget process in order to prolong a political grudge against the FCC. We hope the Appropriations Committee heeds the advice of the senators on this letter and leaves this amendment where it belongs - on the cutting room floor."