US Senators from Virginia vote to save net neutrality

U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) voted May 16 in favor of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to undo the Trump Administration’s repeal of net neutrality rules.

In February 2018, Sens. Warner and Kaine joined a group of Senate and House Democrats in introducing the CRA to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) partisan vote to repeal open internet rules. The resolution passed the Senate 52-47 on May 16 and it now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Warner was quoted in a news release as saying, “The FCC last year repealed rules codifying longstanding open internet principles through a strictly partisan and hurried rulemaking, marked by troubling irregularities in its public comment system.  Removing these rules of the road amounted to a greenlight for potential anti-competitive practices by Internet Service Providers, harming Internet users in Virginia and across the country. I urge the House to pass this bill and protect the integrity of the nation’s most crucial information network,” said Sen. Warner.

Kaine was quoted as saying, “Over the past year, there have been very few issues that have generated as much contact from my constituents as concerns over the repeal of net neutrality protections.”