Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to announce that along with my colleague in the House of Representatives, Representative Marsha Blackburn, have introduced legislation that prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from pre-empting States with municipal broadband laws already on the books, or any other States that subsequently adopt such municipal broadband laws. The bill also includes a Sense of Congress stating that the FCC should not impose municipal broadband regulations on any state. Earlier today, the FCC took an unprecedented and legally questionable step to allow Wilson, North Carolina, to ignore North Carolina law when expanding its municipal broadband network. The North Carolina law the FCC preempted is intended to protect taxpayers and consumers from the financial risks we have seen many municipalities, including Wilson, face when venturing into broadband ventures that are best left to the private market to provide. After witnessing how some local governments wasted taxpayer dollars and accumulated millions in debt through poor decision making, the legislatures of states like North Carolina and Tennessee passed commonsense, bipartisan laws that protect hardworking taxpayers and maintain the fairness of free-market competition. Representative Blackburn and I recognize the need for Congress to step in and take action to keep unelected bureaucrats from acting contrary to the expressed will of the American people through their State legislatures. ______”