Rep. Greg Walden: Protecting internet freedom

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River)

I’ve told you previously about my work to protect internet freedom at home and abroad. I’ve held hearings regarding the ongoing threat to internet freedom, and I wrote legislation making it the official policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control.

I’m proud that the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved this bipartisan legislation (H.R. 1580). Governments’ hands-off approach has enabled the Internet to grow at an astonishing pace and become perhaps the most powerful engine of social and economic freedom and job creation the world has ever known.

By elevating this language from a resolution to U.S. policy, this bill will show our country’s resolve to oppose efforts by authoritarian regimes to subvert the Internet for their own purposes, and I hope to encourage other nations to join our cause.

The next step is a vote by the entire U.S. House of Representatives, which should happen soon. For more on my stance on internet freedom, read my op-ed in The [Bend] Bulletin arguing that Congress must “walk the walk” on internet freedom.  Click here to read that op-ed.