Dialing Up Pressure on Net Neutrality

Democrats and left-leaning public interest groups are turning up the heat on House Republicans on net neutrality, as they seek to rally internet-savvy voters around the issue ahead of the midterm elections. A group of House Democrats is seeking to force a floor vote on a Senate-passed resolution that would undo the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rollback, restoring the Obama-era rules. “There’s tremendous pressure that’s going to be put on Republicans not to sign,” said Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA), who leads the House effort. "I think that only gets undone if they feel even more pressure from their constituents back home.”

Rep Doyle, who has 176 of the 218 signatures required to force the chamber to vote on the Congressional Review Act measure, H. Res. 873, has until the end of the year to convince Republicans and the outstanding Democrats. Republicans say they’re not sweating it. “I think their message is kind of flawed now,” said Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), who pointed out that the internet still works and compared the doomsday talk surrounding the net neutrality repeal, which took effect in June, to Y2K. “It’s not really an issue that we’re seeing at the forefront of polling or anything like that,” agreed Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). The House’s August recess may prove a test of just how much grass-roots pressure really exists around the issue.