Mignon Clyburn Delivers Last Remarks as FCC Commissioner

[Speech] I believe that the networks that we rely on should be totally free of discrimination, and should reflect our greatest democratic ideals. I believe that our networks are more valuable to all of us when they connect all of us. I believe that public resources should be deployed primarily on behalf of the public. I believe that we have a moral obligation to serve the unserved and close existing gaps, while allowing existing prosperity to continue, so long as it does not cause undue disadvantage to anyone else. And I believe that it is the role of the government to step in, when markets have failed, and the status quo looks more like stagnation.

What more can we do, when millions speak out in favor of net neutrality and, despite having the people and the law on our side, our leadership turns its back on decades of communications policy? What more can we do when the nightmare of media consolidation is underscored by leadership that continues to diligently unravel the promise of broadcasting, to the benefit of the few? What more can we do when our nation sits transfixed for days learning every detail about an invasion of their privacy and the misuse of their personal data online, but many of the lawmakers feigning concern last year voted to allow Internet service providers to do much worse with impunity? What more can we do when broadband is universally considered a necessity, if not a human right, yet, in the face of well-known disparities, our leaders opt for platitudes over policy—and, in fact, take steps to worsen the condition of those most in need?

We fight harder. We shout louder. We strengthen our bonds, though shared ideals and concerted action. We escalate each time our civility is mistaken for weakness. When pushed, we push back twice as hard, confident that the moral superiority of our positions was settled long ago, if not on this earth then surely in the ether. We do so because we must. In the face of the longest odds. In times of great upheaval and strife. If our leaders are not leading, then we lead.