U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight on Government Reform, on Tuesday voiced the frustration that lawmakers have with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its recently proposed plan to regulate the Internet.
“Three weeks ago, the FCC approved new rules that will dramatically increase regulation of the Internet,” Chaffetz said during a hearing to review the FCC’s rule-making process. “The problem is Americans only got a chance to read them last week. (FCC) Chairman (Tom) Wheeler did not make the open Internet rule public, did not invite public comment and declined to appear before this committee. We find that wholly unacceptable.”
Chaffetz also questioned the FCC’s commitment to transparency.
“It appears the FCC is concealing certain communications from the public without legal basis,” Chaffetz said. “Organizations that hold our government accountable depend on the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) process to gain insight into agency decision-making. The FCC’s track record in responding to FOIA requests is weak at best. At the outset, the FCC denies more than 40 percent of all FOIA requests. The documents FCC does produce, however, contain a number of redactions, including some that black out entire pages of text.”
Chaffetz also made it clear that the committee would dig deep into the process and the series of events that resulted in the recent vote to use Title II to regulate the Internet as a public utility, a move that has come under much scrutiny since the measure passed last month.
“In May 2014, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making concerning Internet regulation that indicated broadband and mobile services would remain classified under Title I,” Chaffetz said. “Public statements made by Chairman Wheeler, and communications received by this committee demonstrate that this was the chairman’s intent during this time period.”
Days after Wheeler said the Title 1 classification would stand, President Barack Obama called for full Title II reclassification, which would mean broadband and mobile Internet would be regulated much like a utility or telephone company.
Chaffetz said that emails provided to the committee by the FCC suggested that Obama’s statements in the video came as a surprise to FCC staff, including Wheeler. The FCC quickly changed course, and on Jan. 7 announced that it would reclassify broadband and mobile services under Title II.
The FCC adopted the rule change in a 3 to 2 vote on Feb. 26.
“The lack of transparency surrounding the open Internet rule-making process leaves us with a lot of questions,” Chaffetz concluded.