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Now that the FCC has finally made public all 539 pages (pdf) of chairman Ajit Pai's order to repeal net neutrality, defenders of the open internet are warning that the time has come for members of Congress to make a choice--either side with the American public and take action to stop Pai's attack on net neutrality, or be voted out of office.
"Are they going to ignore overwhelming public opinion during a tight election year and rubber stamp these 500+ pages of blatant, stinking corruption?" Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future said in a statement on Thursday. "Or will they listen to their constituents, small businesses, free speech advocates, and tech experts and support a Congressional Review Act (CRA) vote to overturn the FCC's repeal and restore net neutrality protections that keep the web free from censorship, throttling, and new fees?"
As of this writing on Friday, 29 senators--28 Democrats and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)--have signed on to Sen. Ed Markey's (D-Mass.) effort to undo the Republican-controlled FCC's December vote to kill net neutrality by introducing a "resolution of disapproval" that would, if passed, restore the 2015 net neutrality protections that are currently being scrapped.
Nineteen Senate Democrats--as well as Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)--have yet to announce their support for Markey's resolution (see list below). A minimum of 30 votes are needed to bring the resolution to the Senate floor.
In an email on Friday, Greer noted that the "FCC's official release of the final text [of Pai's proposals] starts the clock for the order to be entered into the Federal Register."
"Once that happens, we'll have 60 legislative days to get Congress to reverse it using the CRA," Greer added. "It's an uphill battle, but our momentum is growing."
Passage of the CRA will ultimately require at least two Republican votes in the Senate and around 20 in the House.
But before net neutrality defenders can worry about winning over Republicans, they first have to ensure that every Democrat is on board.
As part of the effort to pressure lawmakers into defending the open internet, Fight for the Future has launched a website that lists every senator who has yet to support Markey's CRA push, and provides tools and sample scripts for Americans to easily contact their representatives.
In addition to Sen. King, the Independent from Maine, what follows is thefull list of the Democratic senators who have yet to sign on to Markey's resolution:
Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Tom Carper (D-Del.)
Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
Chris Coons (D-Del.)
Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)
Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)
Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.)
Doug Jones (D-Ala.)
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)
Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)
Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)
Tina Smith (D-Minn.)
Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
Mark Warner (D-Va.)
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

Now that the FCC has finally made public all 539 pages (pdf) of chairman Ajit Pai's order to repeal net neutrality, defenders of the open internet are warning that the time has come for members of Congress to make a choice--either side with the American public and take action to stop Pai's attack on net neutrality, or be voted out of office.
"Are they going to ignore overwhelming public opinion during a tight election year and rubber stamp these 500+ pages of blatant, stinking corruption?" Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future said in a statement on Thursday. "Or will they listen to their constituents, small businesses, free speech advocates, and tech experts and support a Congressional Review Act (CRA) vote to overturn the FCC's repeal and restore net neutrality protections that keep the web free from censorship, throttling, and new fees?"
As of this writing on Friday, 29 senators--28 Democrats and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)--have signed on to Sen. Ed Markey's (D-Mass.) effort to undo the Republican-controlled FCC's December vote to kill net neutrality by introducing a "resolution of disapproval" that would, if passed, restore the 2015 net neutrality protections that are currently being scrapped.
Nineteen Senate Democrats--as well as Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)--have yet to announce their support for Markey's resolution (see list below). A minimum of 30 votes are needed to bring the resolution to the Senate floor.
In an email on Friday, Greer noted that the "FCC's official release of the final text [of Pai's proposals] starts the clock for the order to be entered into the Federal Register."
"Once that happens, we'll have 60 legislative days to get Congress to reverse it using the CRA," Greer added. "It's an uphill battle, but our momentum is growing."
Passage of the CRA will ultimately require at least two Republican votes in the Senate and around 20 in the House.
But before net neutrality defenders can worry about winning over Republicans, they first have to ensure that every Democrat is on board.
As part of the effort to pressure lawmakers into defending the open internet, Fight for the Future has launched a website that lists every senator who has yet to support Markey's CRA push, and provides tools and sample scripts for Americans to easily contact their representatives.
In addition to Sen. King, the Independent from Maine, what follows is thefull list of the Democratic senators who have yet to sign on to Markey's resolution:
Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Tom Carper (D-Del.)
Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
Chris Coons (D-Del.)
Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)
Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)
Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.)
Doug Jones (D-Ala.)
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)
Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)
Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)
Tina Smith (D-Minn.)
Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
Mark Warner (D-Va.)

Now that the FCC has finally made public all 539 pages (pdf) of chairman Ajit Pai's order to repeal net neutrality, defenders of the open internet are warning that the time has come for members of Congress to make a choice--either side with the American public and take action to stop Pai's attack on net neutrality, or be voted out of office.
"Are they going to ignore overwhelming public opinion during a tight election year and rubber stamp these 500+ pages of blatant, stinking corruption?" Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future said in a statement on Thursday. "Or will they listen to their constituents, small businesses, free speech advocates, and tech experts and support a Congressional Review Act (CRA) vote to overturn the FCC's repeal and restore net neutrality protections that keep the web free from censorship, throttling, and new fees?"
As of this writing on Friday, 29 senators--28 Democrats and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)--have signed on to Sen. Ed Markey's (D-Mass.) effort to undo the Republican-controlled FCC's December vote to kill net neutrality by introducing a "resolution of disapproval" that would, if passed, restore the 2015 net neutrality protections that are currently being scrapped.
Nineteen Senate Democrats--as well as Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)--have yet to announce their support for Markey's resolution (see list below). A minimum of 30 votes are needed to bring the resolution to the Senate floor.
In an email on Friday, Greer noted that the "FCC's official release of the final text [of Pai's proposals] starts the clock for the order to be entered into the Federal Register."
"Once that happens, we'll have 60 legislative days to get Congress to reverse it using the CRA," Greer added. "It's an uphill battle, but our momentum is growing."
Passage of the CRA will ultimately require at least two Republican votes in the Senate and around 20 in the House.
But before net neutrality defenders can worry about winning over Republicans, they first have to ensure that every Democrat is on board.
As part of the effort to pressure lawmakers into defending the open internet, Fight for the Future has launched a website that lists every senator who has yet to support Markey's CRA push, and provides tools and sample scripts for Americans to easily contact their representatives.
In addition to Sen. King, the Independent from Maine, what follows is thefull list of the Democratic senators who have yet to sign on to Markey's resolution:
Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Tom Carper (D-Del.)
Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
Chris Coons (D-Del.)
Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)
Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)
Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.)
Doug Jones (D-Ala.)
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)
Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)
Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)
Tina Smith (D-Minn.)
Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
Mark Warner (D-Va.)