Todd Rokita: “I thank the gentleman from Illinois and the gentlelady from Tennessee for allowing me to help write this important…”

“I thank the gentleman from Illinois and the gentlelady from Tennessee for allowing me to help write this important amendment. The President's unilateral handoff of key Internet functions to a multistakeholder community, without the consent of Congress, lacks a clear plan for how and what that community would look like and what authority it would have. Now, we can debate later about whether Congress would actually ever give such consent, but for now, we are offering this amendment because Americans deserve to know that due diligence has occurred and that a clear plan exists for such matters. America has proven, throughout history, that we are the vanguards of freedom, and we have an obligation to protect the Internet. The Internet is an unsurpassed vehicle for the free exchange of ideas; but it is more than just freedom. It is also about American interests. The Internet is the single greatest economic machine created in the last 50 years--and perhaps ever--and its full potential is yet to be realized. America's role in its success is a shining example of our American exceptionalism. It is not in our national interest to relinquish control of such a resource, especially without a clear path that will protect Internet freedom and American interests, but against the interest of individuals in the world who can't appreciate such freedom and the blessing, really, that this technology is.…”