June 8, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging House Members and Senators to cosponsor legislation by U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would require an up or down vote in Congress before the National Telecommunications and Information Administration would ever be allowed to transition the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) function to any entity outside the U.S. government:
“Rep. Duffy and Sen. Cruz have the right idea with the Internet transition, which is that it should not happen at all, but if it were to happen, that it should have to go through Congress. The Internet’s naming conventions and top level domains are too important to be left singularly to executive action alone to govern or relinquish oversight. The executive branch should have to ask permission to do so, and Congress should guard this function jealously to ensure that it not be captured by foreign powers.
“The fact is, the Internet in its current state under U.S. government oversight has promoted free speech all over the world and facilitated commerce. To paraphrase Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson at a recent hearing on the issue by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Attachments:
Protecting Internet Freedom Act, Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, June 8, 2016 at https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Protecting-Internet-Freedom-Act.pdf
Testimony of Richard Manning, President, Americans for Limited Government, Before the Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation United States Senate Hearing entitled Examining the Multistakeholder Plan for Transitioning the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, May 24, 2016 at https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/e2b9855d-9c78-496f-95e9-d0b10fef3ca7/055FA6ABD5BA4A0E6C69B1FB8841333C.manning-testimony.pdf
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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