With Deadline to Save Net Neutrality Days Away, Here Are the 18 Democrats Still Siding With Telecom Donors Over Open Internet

With just days to go before the Dec. 10 deadline to restore net neutrality protections, Fight for the Future on Wednesday launched a new website to pressure the 18 House Democrats who have yet to sign on to the congressional resolution that would overturn FCC chair Ajit Pai's deeply unpopular assault on the open internet.

"These Democrats have no excuse: their constituents want them to support real net neutrality and the entire rest of their party has already done so."
--Evan Greer, Fight for the FutureIn addition to highlighting the names of the Democratic lawmakers who have yet to take a stand for net neutrality by signing on to the House Congressional Review Act (CRA) measure, the website--titled DemsAgainstThe.Net--also shows the amount of campaign cash each of the holdouts has received from the telecom industry.

For example, according to Fight for the Future, Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) is "selling out for $408,000."

"It's hard to think of a more nauseatingly clear example of the corrupting influence of telecom money in our democracy," Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, said in a statement, urging people to contact their representatives. "These Democrats have no excuse: their constituents want them to support real net neutrality and the entire rest of their party has already done so. Do they really want to be seen as more beholden to corporate interests than the three Republican senators who voted for the CRA?"

The 18 House Democrats who still haven't signed on to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) measure to restore net neutrality protections are: Reps. Brandon Boyle (Pa.), Robert Brady (Pa.), G.K. Butterfield (N.C.), Matt Cartwright (Pa.), Jim Costa (Calif.), Henry Cueller (Texas), Dwight Evans (Pa.), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Gene Green (Texas), Tom O'Halleran (Ariz.), Brad Schneider (Ill.), David Scott (Ga.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), Filemon Vela (Texas), Pete Visclosky (Ind.), Frederica Wilson (Fla.), and Mary Gay Scanlon (Pa.).

"We're putting these congressmembers on notice and sending a clear message: The internet never forgets," Greer continued. "It's clear that these congressmembers are deep in the pockets of lobbyists at big [internet service providers] like Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T. These telecoms have given them hundreds of thousands of dollars in 'campaign donations.' If they want to sell out their constituents' right to internet freedom we will hold them accountable."

Five days away from the deadline to restore the net neutrality protections that were repealed last year, the House CRA still needs 41 more signatures to pass, meaning it will need the backing of all 18 Democratic holdouts plus more than 20 Republican representatives.