WASHINGTON - Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Oreg.), Senate Communications, Technology, and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) today issued the following statement after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking rolling back the FCC’s reclassification of broadband as a “common carrier” under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.

“We have long said that imposing a Depression-era, utility-style regulatory structure onto the internet was the wrong approach, and we applaud Chairman Pai’s efforts to roll back these misguided regulations. Consumers want an open internet that doesn’t discriminate on content and protects free speech and consumer privacy,” said Thune, Walden, Wicker, and Blackburn. “It’s now time for Republicans and Democrats, internet service providers, edge providers, and the internet community as a whole to come together and work toward a legislative solution that benefits consumers and the future of the internet.”