Chairman Thune at American Enterprise Institute

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), speaking about the upcoming network neutrality vote at the Federal Communications Commission, said, "The legal and regulatory uncertainty about what the FCC can and will do… has become a major problem for people both at the edge of the Internet and at its core. Congress, however, is the only entity that can settle this uncertainty, and I believe we can do so in a way that will empower the FCC with the strong tools many believe are needed to protect the Internet while simultaneously ensuring the agency is appropriately limited in its reach and authority.”

He also addressed a possible rewrite of US telecommunications law saying, “Updating the Communications Act is no small undertaking, but it would be a dereliction of duty if Congress did not at least try to modernize the law.”

Chairman Thune also discussed the Internet Assigned Number Authority transition, saying, "I have been working with Sen Marco Rubio [R-FL] to hold the Administration accountable to its promises and to urge ICANN to implement accountability reforms as part of the IANA transition process...If these goals cannot be met, the Administration should simply renew the IANA contract indefinitely."