Boehner: ‘Government Bureaucrats’ Should ‘Keep Their Hands Off the Internet’

ABC/Martin H. Simon(WASHINGTON) — After the Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to impose “net neutrality” regulations, House Speaker John Boehner responded to the “misguided plan” by urging “overzealous government bureaucrats” to “keep their hands off the Internet.”

“Today, three [bureaucrats] appointed by President Obama approved a secret plan to put the federal government in control of the Internet,” Boehner said in a press release. Noting that the text of the proposal was kept hidden from the public and Congress, the speaker argued that the “total lack of transparency and accountability does not bode well for the future of a free and open Internet, not to mention the millions of Americans who use it every day.”

Boehner’s office notes that House Republican leaders sent a letter to the FCC chairman nearly a year ago calling for him to drop the consideration of such regulations. In November 2014, Boehner’s office adds, the speaker warned that net neutrality regulations would hurt the American economy.

“The FCC is supposed to be an independent agency,” Boehner continued, “but the White House has once again meddled where it shouldn’t in order to advance what one commissioner has described as ‘a solution that won’t work to a problem that doesn’t exist.'”

Boehner further compared the regulations to Obamacare, saying that the plan “may not work, but it will create years of uncertainty and lead to expensive legal fights.”

Across the aisle, both Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi supported the FCC’s decision.

I support the FCC’s decision to adopt strong net neutrality rules, and I’ll work to preserve them.

— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) February 26, 2015

New @FCC rules will help the Internet ensure that success is founded on the best ideas, not the deepest pockets. http://t.co/syfaot2UGT

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) February 26, 2015

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