Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD)

[Op-ed] I support net neutrality. I support rules that prevent blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization of internet traffic. I believe these principles should guide us on Capitol Hill as we work to expand broadband access to even the most remote and rural areas of the country. You might be surprised to learn that most of my fellow senators believe this too. Unfortunately, manufactured controversy often gets more attention in Washington than real solutions. The internet is too important for partisan politics.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) discussed the committee’s tech agenda for the 115th Congress during a speech at the State of the Net internet policy conference.

Chairman Thune said, "First, we need to modernize our communications laws to facilitate the growth of the Internet itself. And second, we need to update government policies to better reflect the innovations made possible by the Internet and other digital technologies. As chairman of the Senate committee most focused on helping businesses find opportunities for growing worker rolls and paychecks, the vast majority of our top agenda items fit into one of those two buckets....My goals for the current Congress include: enacting MOBILE NOW; moving additional legislation on broadband deployment and spectrum policy; including broadband in any larger infrastructure package; finding a long-term, legislative solution to protecting the open Internet; and working with my colleagues in the Senate and the House on overdue updates to modernize the FCC and our communications laws."