The House voted today to approve H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act, which would roll back network neutrality rules to their 2015 level. The bill won approval by a vote of 232-190, and almost entirely along partisan lines, with one Republican supporting the measure.
The bill, which was introduced earlier this year by Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., would enact the three legacy net neutrality principles–no blocking, no throttling, and no paid prioritization–and empower the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prohibit unjust, unreasonable and discriminatory practices. The 2015 net neutrality rules were rolled back last year by the current Republican-majority FCC.
The House bill faces much tougher sledding from here on in, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R.-Ky., earlier this week pronounced the bill “dead on arrival” in the Senate, and indicated it won’t receive a vote. On top of that, the White House said earlier this week that the bill would likely be vetoed by President Trump if it reached his desk.
Commenting on the House vote today, Rep. Doyle said approval “of the Save the Internet Act is a big victory for consumers and a major step towards restoring Net Neutrality and making it a permanent law … Now supporters of Net Neutrality have to get it through the Senate.”