WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas),
Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee,
today expressed her disappointment in Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Julius Genachowski’s decision to reclassify broadband services under
an outdated regulatory framework. During a committee hearing last month,
Senator Hutchison told Chairman Genachowski that if the FCC reclassified
broadband without a directive from Congress, and without a thorough analysis of
the facts and the potential consequences to investment, the legitimacy of the
agency would be seriously compromised. Senator Hutchison made the
following statement:
“I am profoundly disappointed with the Chairman’s
decision. The desire by some to pursue net neutrality must not trump our
need for a predictable regulatory framework that encourages continuing
investment in communications networks. This decision is not a middle
ground, this is about imposing restrictions on how private companies manage and
maintain their investments.
“The Internet has grown and flourished without burdensome
federal regulations because it has been able to evolve to meet rapid changes
without government roadblocks holding up progress. I continue to believe
that there is a way to preserve the openness of the Internet as a platform for
innovation and economic growth without a prescriptive regulatory intervention
by the government. Government regulation of the Internet is in nobody’s
interest. I am still hopeful we can turn from this course and I will work
constructively to identify an alternative approach.”
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