[caption id=”attachment_107176″ align=”aligncenter” width=”1024″]this June 20, 2014 file photo, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks at the South Dakota Republican Convention in Rapid City, S.D. (AP Photo/Toby Brusseau, File)
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POLITICO — Republicans, who oppose any net neutrality rules at all, have already telegraphed their game plan heading into 2015. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who’s set to take the helm of his chamber’s powerful Commerce Committee, has floated the idea of a bill that would pre-empt an FCC move to adopt Obama’s favored approach.
The senator is “very interested in finding a legislative solution to protect the open Internet, especially if it means keeping the FCC from imposing public utility regulations,” a spokeswoman told POLITICO.
Thune’s House counterpart — Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who leads his own telecom subcommittee — has pledged a net neutrality hearing early next year to focus attention on the issue. Goodlatte said his House Judiciary Committee is exploring legislation that would erode the FCC’s net neutrality authority by shifting it to antitrust enforcers. And other Republicans have suggested cutting the agency’s funding.
“One of the things the telecommunications community has always taken pride in is that virtually all policy debates are relatively bipartisan,” said Michael Powell, a former Republican FCC chairman who now heads the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.
Read more at POLITICO.
