House Commerce Committee Leaders Disappointed by FCC Snub of Small Businesses

House Commerce and Small Business Committee leaders expressed disappointment following the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to forgo permanent protection of small businesses from heightened disclosure requirements included in the FCC’s open Internet order. “Permanent protection should have been an easy call, but the FCC fumbled it,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). “Consumers will be hurt the most as the smaller Internet service providers in Michigan and across the nation are forced to invest in compliance with the burdensome rules, rather than in better service to their customers. The FCC should save the red tape for Christmas, not our small businesses.”

“Chairman Wheeler and the FCC had a chance today to give both consumers and small Internet providers a permanent victory”, added House Communications Subcommittee Greg Walden (R-OR). “With Internet service for millions, and thousands of jobs on the line, the commission should be encouraging innovation and deployment instead of forcing costly burdensome regulations of questionable benefit to consumers on these small companies. It was smart to protect small businesses and consumers from these requirements in the first place. It’s time for the commission to make these temporary protections permanent once and for all.”