Sens. Grassley, Sasse, Lee, Lankford back renewing Cruz-Duffy amendment to save the Internet

June 21, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) for backing an amendment to the Senate Commerce, Science and Justice appropriations bill by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) that would make transitioning by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions to any entity outside the U.S. government illegal:

“The Internet’s naming conventions, which have always been under government oversight, should not be transferred. The domain name system is too important for Congress to allow the Obama administration to relinquish oversight on a whim. We thank Sens. Grassley, Sasse, Lee and Lankford for backing this important legislation.

“Renewing this provision of the 2016 Omnibus is even more necessary as it is clear NTIA is already proceeding with the Internet surrender despite being explicitly prohibited from doing so in under the law. While Congress pursues options for enforcing the existing defund, passing the Cruz-Duffy language again would send a clear message to NTIA that Congress takes the power of the purse serious. That makes Sen. Grassley’s support particularly important due to his powerful position as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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