June 23, 2015, Fairfax, Va.–Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging opposition to HR 805, The Dotcom Act:
“We urge the House to stop the Dotcom Act, legislation which threatens to provide de facto authorization of Obama’s Internet transfer scheme.
“The House has wisely chosen on two separate occasions to oppose Obama’s Internet giveaway, by prohibiting it via the appropriations process. The Dotcom Act is at best superfluous and at worst enables the administration to give away the Internet in exchange for what amounts to a book report by NTIA.
“The contempt that the Commerce Department’s NTIA has for Congressional authority to approve or disapprove the transition has been demonstrated by the short shrift they gave in answering reporting requirements in the Cromnibus. NTIA was supposed to produce a contingency plan should the Internet giveaway prove to be deleterious to U.S. interests. Instead the agency merely assured Congress that it would not be, failing to meet the most rudimentary expectations under the required reporting.
“This contempt for Congress extends to the international multistakeholder community, where in Buenos Aires today, ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade has declared that the transition will now be complete by June 30, 2016, in spite of the fact that NTIA is currently prohibited under federal law from performing the transition, and the House just voted to extend that prohibition.
“It makes zero sense for Congress to undermine the power of the purse with weak legislation that will not stop the Internet giveaway. A vote to stop the Dotcom Act will allow full discussion of the ramifications of the Dotcom Act and hopefully suitable amendments to protect Congress’ power to approve or disapprove the transfer.”
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.
###