Cliff Stearns: “The gentleman from New York has indicated that this is the big guys against the little guys. Actually, he has it wrong.…”

“The gentleman from New York has indicated that this is the big guys against the little guys. Actually, he has it wrong. But if the government steps in and regulates the Internet, then really the little guy, the upstart company, won't have a chance. So anytime the government comes in and stipulates through regulation, it really hurts the little guys. The big guys can handle the litigation. They can handle all the legal forms and filling them out and handle the politics of it, but the little guy has no chance. So this really is trying to help the little guy. The other point is, I think as the gentlelady pointed out from the Appropriations Committee, the FCC really doesn't have the jurisdiction. This belongs in Congress. So really this amendment in a larger sense is trying to prevent the FCC from regulating the Internet. I think all of us agree that one of the bright spots of this economy has been the technology sector; yet for some reason the FCC has decided to step in and overstep its bounds and apply perhaps 19th-century regulation.”