| Friend,
It’s been 446 days since President Biden was inaugurated, and we STILL do not have a fully functional Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
That means that things that won’t get a Republican vote in this hyper-partisan environment won’t move forward. And that means that the agency will be unable to restore its authority to regulate broadband and adopt robust Net Neutrality rules. It won’t be able to reckon fully with its disgraceful history on race. And it won’t be able to take the bold action required to ensure that our communications infrastructure can withstand the climate emergency.
President Biden’s nominee to fill the tie-breaking seat at the FCC, Gigi Sohn, is awaiting her final votes in the Senate, and we need your help to get her across the finish line. Please urge your senators to confirm Gigi Sohn to the FCC as soon as they get back from their April recess.
Gigi Sohn, who would be the first open member of the LGBTQIA+ community to serve as an FCC commissioner, has faced a coordinated right-wing smear campaign since she was nominated. ISPs are so afraid of her breaking the tie at the FCC that Comcast hired a lobbyist to work in D.C. to specifically kill her nomination.1 And then, in an audacious move, the company tried to hide it by changing its lobbying-disclosure forms.
The fight to confirm Sohn has been intensely frustrating. We’ve had to beat back broadcaster and ISP nonsense at every. single. turn. And Senate leadership won’t schedule a vote on Sohn until they know that she has the votes to confirm her nomination. But unlike our industry opponents, we have you in our corner.
The Senate is on recess until April 25. Urge your senators to break the tie at the FCC by confirming Sohn immediately after the recess.
Thanks for all that you do—
Heather and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net
P.S. In January 2021, we never imagined that we’d still be fighting to get a governing majority at the FCC in April 2022. Deep-pocketed interests are putting a staggering amount of money into keeping the FCC deadlocked because they don’t want the agency to be able to use all of the tools in its toolbox to protect people like you. Demand that your senators vote to confirm Gigi Sohn to the FCC.
1. “Comcast Trying to ‘Torpedo” Biden FCC Pick Gigi Sohn, Advocacy Group Says,” Ars Technica, Jan. 13, 2022  |
