August 1, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5599 

on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed. 

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GOVERNMENT CHARGE CARD 

ABUSE PREVENTION ACT OF 2012 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The unfinished business is the question on 

suspending the rules and passing the 

bill (S. 300) to prevent abuse of Government charge cards, as amended. 

The Clerk read the title of the bill. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

question is on the motion offered by 

the gentleman from Utah (Mr. 

CHAFFETZ) that the House suspend the 

rules and pass the bill, as amended. 

The question was taken; and (twothirds being in the affirmative) the 

rules were suspended and the bill, as 

amended, was passed. 

A motion to reconsider was laid on 

the table. 

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ACCEPTANCE OF RELINQUISHMENT OF RAILROAD RIGHT OF 

WAY NEAR PIKE NATIONAL FOREST, COLORADO 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The unfinished business is the question on 

suspending the rules and passing the 

bill (H.R. 4073) to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to accept the 

quitclaim, disclaimer, and relinquishment of a railroad right of way within 

and adjacent to Pike National Forest 

in El Paso County, Colorado, originally 

granted to the Mt. Manitou Park and 

Incline Railway Company pursuant to 

the Act of March 3, 1875, as amended. 

The Clerk read the title of the bill. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

question is on the motion offered by 

the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 

LAMBORN) that the House suspend the 

rules and pass the bill, as amended. 

The question was taken; and (twothirds being in the affirmative) the 

rules were suspended and the bill, as 

amended, was passed. 

A motion to reconsider was laid on 

the table. 

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EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS 

ON GOVERNANCE OF THE INTERNET 

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I move 

to suspend the rules and agree to the 

concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 127) 

expressing the sense of Congress regarding actions to preserve and advance the multistakeholder governance 

model under which the Internet has 

thrived. 

The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution. 

The text of the concurrent resolution 

is as follows: 

H. CON. RES. 127 

Whereas given the importance of the Internet to the global economy, it is essential 

that the Internet remain stable, secure, and 

free from government control; 

Whereas the world deserves the access to 

knowledge, services, commerce, and communication, the accompanying benefits to economic development, education, and health 

care, and the informed discussion that is the 

bedrock of democratic self-government that 

the Internet provides; 

Whereas the structure of Internet governance has profound implications for competition and trade, democratization, free expression, and access to information; 

Whereas countries have obligations to protect human rights, which are advanced by 

online activity as well as offline activity; 

Whereas the ability to innovate, develop 

technical capacity, grasp economic opportunities, and promote freedom of expression 

online is best realized in cooperation with all 

stakeholders; 

Whereas proposals have been put forward 

for consideration at the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications that would fundamentally alter the 

governance and operation of the Internet; 

Whereas the proposals, in international 

bodies such as the United Nations General 

Assembly, the United Nations Commission 

on Science and Technology for Development, 

and the International Telecommunication 

Union, would justify under international law 

increased government control over the Internet and would reject the current multistakeholder model that has enabled the Internet 

to flourish and under which the private sector, civil society, academia, and individual 

users play an important role in charting its 

direction; 

Whereas the proposals would diminish the 

freedom of expression on the Internet in 

favor of government control over content, 

contrary to international law; 

Whereas the position of the United States 

Government has been and is to advocate for 

the flow of information free from government control; and 

Whereas this and past Administrations 

have made a strong commitment to the 

multistakeholder model of Internet governance and the promotion of the global benefits of the Internet: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the 

Senate concurring), That it is the sense of 

Congress that the Assistant Secretary of 

Commerce for Communications and Information, in consultation with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and United States Coordinator for International Communications 

and Information Policy, should continue 

working to implement the position of the 

United States on Internet governance that 

clearly articulates the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government 

control and preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs 

the Internet today. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. WALDEN) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. ESHOO) 

each will control 20 minutes. 

The Chair recognizes the gentleman 

from Oregon. 

GENERAL LEAVE

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask 

unanimous consent that all Members 

may have 5 legislative days in which to 

revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the 

RECORD on H. Con. Res. 127. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there 

objection to the request of the gentleman from Oregon? 

There was no objection. 

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 

myself such time as I may consume. 

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support 

of H. Con. Res. 127, a resolution that 

opposes international regulation of the 

Internet. 

The resolution was introduced by 

Mrs. BONO MACK in May and passed the 

House Committee on Energy and Commerce with bipartisan support from 

more than 60 Members, including Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman UPTON, Ranking Member WAXMAN, 

and my colleague on the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, 

Ranking Member ESHOO. I, too, am 

pleased to be an original cosponsor of 

this important resolution. 

Nations from across the globe will 

meet in December for the World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai. There, the 193 member countries of the United Nations 

will consider whether to apply to the 

Internet a regulatory regime that the 

International Telecommunications 

Union created for old-fashioned telephone service, as well as whether to 

swallow the Internet’s nongovernmental organization’s structure whole 

and make it part of the United Nations. Neither of these are acceptable 

outcomes. 

Now, among those that are supportive of such regulation is Russian 

President Vladimir Putin, who spoke 

positively about the idea of ‘‘establishing international control over the 

Internet.’’ Some countries have even 

proposed regulations that would allow 

them to read citizens’ email in the 

name of security. H. Con. Res. 127 rejects these proposals by taking the radical position that if the most revolutionary advance in technology, commerce, and social discourse of the last 

century isn’t broken, well, we 

shouldn’t be trying to fix it. 

The Internet is the greatest vehicle 

for global progress and improvement 

since the printing press; and despite 

the current economic climate, the 

Internet continues to grow at an astonishing pace. Cisco estimates that by 

2016 roughly 45 percent of the world’s 

population will be Internet users, there 

will be more than 18.9 billion network 

connections, and the average speed of 

mobile broadband will be four times 

faster than it is today. 

The ability of the Internet to grow at 

this staggering pace is due largely to 

the flexibility of the multi-stakeholder 

approach that governs the Internet 

today. Nongovernmental institutions 

now manage the Internet’s core functions, with input from private and public sector participants. This structure 

prevents governmental or nongovernmental actors from controlling the design of the network or the content that 

it carries. 

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Without one entity in control, the 

Internet has become a driver of jobs 

and information, business expansion, 

investment and, indeed, innovation. 

Now, moving away from that multistakeholder model, Mr. Speaker, would 

harm these abilities and would prevent 

the Internet from spreading prosperity 

and freedom. 


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