The House of Representatives didn’t waste any time taking action to block the Federal Communications Commission’s efforts to implement net neutrality rules.
The same week a House subcommittee held a lengthy oversight hearing that saw majority members grill FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski about the agency’s December order, the full chamber voted late on Thursday to withhold funds for enforcing the new rules.
The amendment came as part of the broader debate over the continuing resolution, a budget measure required to fund the government through the remainder of fiscal 2011. But House bill will need to be reconciled with version that comes out of the Senate, where a Democratic majority is unlikely to support provisions such as the anti-net-neutrality amendment.
But in the House, Greg Walden (R-Ore.), the author of the amendment, sees it only as a “stop-gap” measure, and is appealing for support for a more permanent repudiation of the FCC’s policy with a resolution of disapproval.
Datamation takes a look at the latest on net neutrality from Capitol Hill.