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there will be a ten-hour debate (five hours 
for each party) and then a straight up or 
down vote will be taken. The House has 
already passed this resolution, so 51 votes 
for the Senate resolution would send this 
anti-net neutrality bill to the President 
Obama’s desk for signature or veto. 

So, where does all this leave the issue 
of net neutrality? For one thing, the House 
Republicans have clearly voiced their dis-
like of net neutrality and have taken several 
different legislative approaches to pull the 
plug on the FCC’s order and its ability to 
enforce it—at the same time punting the 
issue over to the Senate. 

While the House action on net neu-
trality was not all that surprising (even 
anticipated, quite honestly), it is less clear 
what the issue’s fate might be in the Sen-
ate. While the Senate Democrats hold the 
majority, it will take all acting in unity to 
ultimately support net neutrality when it 
comes time to vote. 

Beyond the legislative arena and the 
recent and anticipated Senate activity, Ve-
rizon and others have filed suit in federal 
court seeking to overturn the FCC’s net 
neutrality decision. Several public interest 
organizations have also filed suit to try to 
make the FCC’s rules stronger. (Signifi-
cantly, AT&T and the cable industry have 
not filed suit, as they have accepted the 
FCC’s rules.) It may take a year or more 
for the court to rule.

So where does all this activity leave li-
braries? At this point, it is unclear. However, 
ALA has a strong history of supporting net 
neutrality principles and is engaged in a 
very active and targeted lobbying campaign 
to oppose the Senate resolution.

Additional information about the legisla-
tive history of net neutrality and informa-
tion on it more generally is available at 
www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/telecom 
/netneutrality/recenthistory/index.cfm. 

Corey Williams is assistant director, ALA Office of 
Government Relations, e-mail: cwilliams@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eCorey Williams

Net neutrality 
The legislative clock is ticking on the issue 
of Internet (net) neutrality—the concept 
of online non-discrimination. At the start 
of the 112th Congress, Senator Kay Bailey 
Hutchinson (R-TX), introduced S.J. Res. 
6, a resolution of disapproval under the 
Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal 
net neutrality regulations adopted by the 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 
in December 2010 (available at http:// 
transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily 
_Business/2010/db1223/FCC-10-201A1.pdf).

When the bill was dropped, 39 of 
Hutchinson’s fellow Republicans joined 
in as original cosponsors. Two additional 
Republicans signed on thereafter, bringing 
the total support to 42 of 47 Republicans in 
the Senate. No Democrats are cosponsors. 

In April, the U.S. House of Represen-
tatives passed H.J. Res. 37, disapproving 
the rule submitted by the FCC to regulate 
Internet and broadband industry practices. 
The resolution, passed by a largely partisan 
238 to 174 vote, prohibits the FCC from 
using funding to enforce the net neutrality 
principles. The House resolution sent a de-
cidedly unfriendly net neutrality message 
to both the FCC and the Senate. 

Once the FCC’s order was published in 
the Federal Register on September 21, 2011, 
a 20-day clock was started in the Senate 
under the CRA. At the conclusion of the 
20-day period, which ended October 13, 
Senator Hutchinson may file to discharge 
her resolution from the Senate Commerce 
Committee and bring the resolution to the 
Senate floor as a privileged matter (no 
filibusters are allowed). Of note: Senator 
Hutchinson has up to 60 legislative days 
(days in which Congress is in session) to 
do so. Once the resolution is brought up,