House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) vowed that congressional Republicans would continue plans to thwart the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules approved Thursday.
{mosads}Boehner took a line from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) by comparing the new regulations to ObamaCare, saying they might not work and will lead to years of uncertainty and legal fights.
“More mandates and regulations on American innovation and entrepreneurship are not the answer, and that’s why Republicans will continue our efforts to stop this misguided scheme,” he said in a statement.
The new rules would reclassify the Internet as a telecommunications service, a designation that gives the commission more authority to enforce its open Internet rules. The rules are meant to prevent Internet service providers from blocking or slowing traffic to any website while also preventing companies from negotiating deals for priority access.
Republicans have panned the regulations and have promoted legislation to override the FCC’s authority, while also enacting many net neutrality principles that advocates have supported.
So far, most Democrats have balked at the legislation, and Republicans have started to outline what their secondary plan could be.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) has floated the idea of blocking the rules through the appropriation process or through the Congressional Review Act. He also said Thursday “there will be some interest” in a resolution of disapproval. He is bringing all five FCC commissioners before the panel next month to discuss the regulations.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also blasted the regulations ahead of the vote, calling them a “a blow to the future of innovation in our country.”
Every Republican in on the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Communications and Technology remain committed to a legislative approach, promising the vote is only the beginning.
“Once these rules finally emerge from the shadows, it will become clear that the FCC’s action today does not end the debate,” they said in a joint statement Thursday.