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Dear Friend,
This is big: President Biden has nominated Acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel to be permanent chair of the FCC. The president has also named former FCC advisor and advocate for the public interest, Gigi Sohn, to fill the fifth slot—giving us the crucial majority we need to restore internet freedom.1
But Fox News is already mobilizing to stop these crucial nominees, and time is running out to get them confirmed by the Senate.
We need to get both of these FCC nominees confirmed by the end of the year, and there aren't many legislative days left. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for net neutrality and for broadband expansion.
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A fully functional FCC should have the authority to protect consumers in the broadband market against abuses by Big Cable while working to bridge the digital divide.
However, Trump's FCC chair, former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai, spent four years hamstringing the agency. He led the demise of not only net neutrality, but also the agency’s ability to protect consumers, so then Big Cable could do as it pleased.2
The pandemic taught us just how critical affordable, reliable broadband internet is to access essential services. Congress just passed historic legislation to address broadband affordability and accessibility for both urban and rural communities, but we need a fully functional FCC to implement it—and fully address the harms from Big Cable companies, including unfair data caps and potential net neutrality violations.
If we can get Rosenworcel and Sohn confirmed right away, net neutrality, broadband initiatives, and protections for the open internet can finally move forward. On the other hand, if time runs out before the nominations are confirmed, Rosenworcel’s term will run out and the situation will become even worse.
We need to confirm Rosenworcel and Sohn to the FCC within a dwindling number of days before time is up, which is why we need to hit the ground running with as many resources as possible. Demand Progress has helped bring together a coalition of dozens of organizations, and helped drive in nearly 60,000 messages to Senators in the last week, urging a swift confirmation. We need your help to sustain this effort for a free and open internet.
Chip in $10 to Demand Progress and help save net neutrality!
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
PS: Your contributions are what keep us nimble and prepared to take on important fights like these as they happen. Will you become a monthly donor to keep our work going?
Sources:
1. NPR, "Biden makes 2 key, boundary-breaking FCC nominations," October 26, 2021
2. Wired, "This Is Ajit Pai, Nemesis of Net Neutrality," May 16, 2018
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