Mayor de Blasio and 76 U.S. Mayors and Elected Officials Push House and Senate to Support Congressional Review Act Resolution to #SaveNetNeutrality

While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to kill net neutrality rules on December 14, 2017, I’ve said before and I’ll say again, where the Federal government steps back, Cities step forward to protect an open internet.

Just a week before the vote, Mayor Bill de Blasio joined sixty-eight cities Mayors and elected officials in signing a letter to the FCC in opposition to FCC Chairman Pai’s proposal to roll back the open internet protections.

On the day of the vote, I joined others on the steps of the FCC, adding my voice to millions of others, as a loud collective voice (community organizations, consumer protections groups, other government leaders, and the tech industry) against the vote to repeal. I also noted that we would not stop in our efforts to keep an open internet.

We have since released a Broadband RFI calling on experts to help us achieve our goal for pervasive, high-speed, affordable broadband that respects privacy and open access, and received strong interest. We currently have a “Truth in Broadband” RFI calling on experts to help us keep internet service providers accountable in how they deliver content, at what speeds, and at what cost.

http://www.govtech.com/network/New-York-City-Broadband-RFI-Generates-Strong-Response.html

We continue to be forward-thinking and are reviewing the FCC’s standard for internet speed and whether it meets our own performance standard. In a forthcoming State of Broadband report, we will publicly reveal the current state of broadband in New York City and illuminate the barriers to access. The report will inform our path forward in making sure that providers are delivering broadband in a way that meets our five principles for infrastructure and service: Equity, Performance, Affordability, Privacy and Choice.

Today, Mayor de Blasio has coordinated a bipartisan letter to Congress supporting the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution. 76 cities from 23 states, plus Washington, D.C., have signed on representing a total population of over 43 million people.

In a repeat of last July’s “Day of Action,” cities, NGOs, and tech are coming together again to galvanize everyone in an effort to secure the #OneMoreVote needed to pass the CRA resolution in the Senate.

https://www.battleforthenet.com/onemorevote/

As part of today’s internet-wide push, I’m calling on every person, everywhere, who cares about a fair and open internet to lend your voice in support of CRA to save net neutrality. Read the following letter, and if you agree, let your congressional representative know that you support the CRA resolution. Every voice and every vote counts!

 

Mayors For Meaningful Net Neutrality Protections, February 27, 2018

The Honorable Mitch McConnell Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Chuck Schumer Democratic Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Paul Ryan Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Democratic Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, Speaker Ryan, and Leader Pelosi:

The decision by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to dismantle open Internet protections cannot stand. It represents a stark and unwarranted attack on our communities and residents. We, the undersigned municipalities representing 43 million constituents, write in support of the Resolution of Disapproval of the FCC’s Order to repeal net neutrality rules.

As local leaders, we recognize the direct and substantial benefit that broadband connectivity and access to a free and open Internet can have for our residents. The cores of our communities — our economies, educational institutions and government agencies — increasingly rely on broadband connectivity. The transformative power of the internet drives economic growth, individual and community development, and better government for all of our residents. As more than 60 Mayors wrote to the FCC in July, “full repeal would have a particularly negative impact on middle- and working-class families, while simultaneously restricting access to certain types of online content and services to those who cannot afford to pay more.” Many of these concerns were shared and voiced in 13,000 pages of net neutrality complaints filed by millions of citizens and hundreds of community organizations and local leaders, which the FCC willfully ignored.

A free and open Internet forms the backbone of the twenty-first century economy. The FCC has thrown away the fundamental democratic principle of net neutrality. We strongly support the Congressional Review Act resolution to right this wrong by reversing the FCC’s Order.

Sincerely,
Bill de Blasio, Mayor, City of New York, NY
Trish Herrera Spencer, Mayor, City of Alameda, CA
Allison Silberberg, Mayor, City of Alexandria, VA
Lee Kilbourn, Mayor, City of Auburn, MI
Steve Adler, Mayor, City of Austin, TX
Catherine Pugh, Mayor, City of Baltimore, MD
Lili Bosse, Mayor, City of Beverly Hills, CA
John Hamilton, Mayor, City of Bloomington, IN
Marty Walsh, Mayor, City of Boston, MA
Thomas Feldkamp, Mayor, City of Bow Mar, CO
Jim Brainard, Mayor, City of Carmel, IN
Deborah Frank Feinen, Mayor, City of Champaign, IL
Rahm Emanuel, Mayor, City of Chicago, IL
Joe McAuliffe, City Councilor, City of Chicopee, MA
Mary Casillas Salas, Mayor, City of Chula Vista, CA
Matt Larson, Mayor, City of Snoqualmien WA
Andrew J. Ginther, Mayor, City of Columbus, OH
Jeffrey Cooper, Mayor, City of Culver City, CA
Steve Schewel, Mayor, City of Durham, NC
Laura Keegan, Mayor, City of Edgewater, CO
Lucy Vinis, Mayor, City of Eugene, OR
Daniel Dick, Mayor, City of Federal Heights, CO
Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, City of Gary, IN
Donelly Boeder, Mayor, City of Gayord, MN
Patrick Taylor, Mayor, City of Highlands, NC
William McLeod, Mayor, Village of Hoffman Estates, IL
Derek Dobies, Mayor, City of Jackson, MI
Sly James, Mayor, City of Kansas City, MO
Christine Berg, Mayor, City of Lafayette, CO
Peter d’Errico, Mayor, City of Leverett, MA
Warren Peterson, Mayor, City of Lilydale, MN
Chris Beutler, Mayor, City of Lincoln, NE
Debbie Brinkman, Mayor, City of Littleton, CO
Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los Angeles, CA
Paul Soglin, Mayor, City of Madison, WI
Barbara Coler, Chair, Marin Telecommunications JPA, Marin County, CA
James Darling, Mayor, City of McAllen, TX
Cynthia Adkins, Mayor, City of Medina, WA
Mark Gamba, Mayor, City of Milwaukie, OR
Jacob Frey, Mayor, City of Minneapolis, MN
Hans Reimer, Council President, Montgomery County, MD
Jennifer Gregerson, Mayor, City of Mukilteo, WA
David Narkewicz, Mayor, City of Northampton, MA
Sandy Frum, Mayor, City of Northbrook, IL
Carol Dodge, Mayor, City of Northglenn, CO
Libby Schaaf, Mayor, City of Oakland, CA
Buddy Dwyer, Mayor, City of Orlando, FL
Greg Stanton, Mayor, City of Phoenix, AZ
William Peduto, Mayor, City of Pittsburgh, PA
Ted Wheeler, Mayor, City of Portland, OR
Norman Seney Jr., Mayor, Town of Putman, CT
Hillary Schieve, Mayor, City of Reno, NV
William R. Bailey III, Mayor, City of Riverside, CA
Ron Nirenberg, Mayor, City of San Antonio, TX
Mark Farrell, Mayor, City of San Francisco, CA
Sam Liccardo, Mayor, City of San Jose, CA
Pauline Russo Cutter, Mayor, City of San Leandro, CA
Zach Friend, County Supervisor, Santa Cruz County, CA
Ted Winterer, Mayor, City of Santa Monica, CA
Meg Kelly, Mayor, City of Saratoga Springs, NY
Gary McCarthy, Mayor, City of Schenectady, NY
Tara Beiter-Fluhr, Mayor, City of Sheridan, CO
James Francis, Mayor, City of South St. Paul, MN
Domenic J. Sarno, Mayor, City of Springfield, MA
David R. Martin, Mayor, City of Stamford, CT
Richard Williams, Mayor, Sunfish Lake, MN
Andrew Gillum, Mayor, City of Tallahassee, FL
Heidi Williams, Mayor, City of Thornton, CO
Kent Keel, Mayor, City of University Place, WA
William Sessoms Jr., City of Virginia Beach, VA
Muriel Bowser, Mayor, Washington, District of Columbia
John Heilman, Mayor, City of West Hollywood, CA
#Net Neutrality #FCC #Open Internet #OneMoreVote #NewYorkCity