Senate Continues Regulatory Relief Efforts
‘The regulation in question makes the Internet an uneven playing field, increases complexity, discourages competition, innovation, and infrastructure investment — and President Obama’s own legal mentor has expressed serious doubts about the rule’s constitutionality under the First Amendment.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding the overturn of an Obama regulation in order to ensure a vibrant internet:
“Recently, a Washington Post article noted that Congress has undertaken the ‘most ambitious regulatory rollback since Reagan.’ Already, we’ve passed ten resolutions under the Congressional Review Act to end Obama Administration regulations that slow economic growth, threaten jobs, and hold our country back. As one study estimates, our action to overturn those regulations could save Americans nearly $4 billion and more than 4 million hours of paperwork.
“This week, we’ve continued our regulatory relief efforts, and today we’ll have an opportunity to send another to the President’s desk. That resolution would overturn a costly and confusing Federal Communications Commission rule.
“The regulation in question makes the Internet an uneven playing field, increases complexity, discourages competition, innovation, and infrastructure investment — and President Obama’s own legal mentor has expressed serious doubts about the rule’s constitutionality under the First Amendment.
“Senator Flake has long been a leader on tackling this issue. Last year he voiced his worries about the regulations in a letter to the FCC and held a hearing regarding the legality of such regulations. Now, he’s sponsored a CRA resolution that will allow us to overturn the regulations and protect consumers.
“As Senator Flake has pointed out, ‘[t]he FCC’s midnight regulation does nothing to protect consumer privacy. It is unnecessary, confusing and adds yet another innovation-stifling regulation to the internet.’ That’s why he proposed this CRA resolution, which he has explained ‘empowers consumers to make informed choices on if and how their data can be shared.’ I want to thank my friend from Arizona for taking on this important issue and putting forth legislation to address it. I look forward to the Senate passing it soon.”
Related Issues: Congressional Review Act
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