{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-statement-on-fcc-vote-to-repeal-net-neutrality-protections", "King Statement on FCC Vote to Repeal Net Neutrality Protections", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Independent", "House", "ME", "Angus King", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "King Statement on FCC Vote to Repeal Net Neutrality Protections\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, December 14, 2017\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement after today\u2019s vote by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to roll back the agency\u2019s existing protections on net neutrality:\r\n\u201cDisastrous isn\u2019t strong enough of an adjective to describe today\u2019s decision. This ruling will make it harder for regular people to use the internet, plain and simple. For decades, the internet has leveled the playing field so a mom-and-pop shop in Augusta has the same chance to succeed as a multinational corporation in Silicon Valley; now, internet providers can sell fast lanes to the highest bidder or discriminate against certain content. This change is bad for small businesses, bad for consumers, and bad for the country \u2013 so I\u2019m against it. While I\u2019m confident that the new rules (or lack thereof) will be challenged in court, I\u2019m also open to pursuing a permanent legislative solution to protect a truly free and open internet for all Americans.\u201d\r\nSenator King is a fierce proponent of protecting the internet as a tool that can be used equally by all. This week, he sent two letters to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, expressing concern about the proposal: one with Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) asking Chairman Pai to cancel today\u2019s vote, and another with a group of 38 Senate colleagues urging Chairman Pai to abandon the attempts to repeal net neutrality protections. Last week, in light of reports that bots filed hundreds of thousands of fraudulent comments to the FCC during the net neutrality policymaking comment process,\u00a0he urged Chairman Pai\u00a0to delay the planned December 14th\u00a0vote until an investigation of the public record could be conducted. In September 2015, he filed\u00a0an amicus brief\u00a0with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the FCC\u2019s Open Internet rules. He also wrote\u00a0a letter\u00a0to then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in advance of the Commission\u2019s net neutrality decision urging the FCC to put in place strong, light-touch protections that ensures the internet remains open and free of discriminatory practices.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-statement-on-fcc-vote-to-repeal-net-neutrality-protections"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8729749824851751, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}