Thanks to Ted Cruz, “Bipartisanship is Falling Apart” in Senate Commerce Committee, Delaying Action on Affordable High-Speed Internet
AUSTIN, Texas – A new report in The Hill lays out how “bipartisanship is falling apart at the Senate Commerce Committee” as Ted Cruz obstructs a markup of legislation – like the Affordable Connectivity Program – that would make high-speed internet affordable.
Why the obstruction? “Cruz had insisted on modifications that would have ‘gutted’ bipartisan amendments.”
We all know who Ted Cruz is. Right now he’s showing the Senate exactly that… again.
The Hill: Ted Cruz locked in nasty committee fight with Democrats
By Alexander Bolton
Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) says she was forced to postpone the committee markup of legislation to extend subsidies for high-speed internet because Cruz had insisted on modifications that would have “gutted” bipartisan amendments that had been negotiated with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
Cantwell said the “hard-won compromise” on the Affordable Connectivity Program to help low-income families afford speedy internet had been “months in the making” and would have provided a “balanced approach to spectrum management.”
Cantwell blamed Cruz for “obstructing” the bill’s progress and urged him and other Republicans to “get back to negotiating.”
A Senate Democratic aide said Cruz alone had filed 38 amendments and modified amendments to the bill and 14 amendments or modifications to bipartisan reforms Wicker proposed for the Affordable Connectivity Program.
…Schumer and Cantwell slammed him for blocking a bill that they say would help 23 million Americans who rely on federal subsidies to use the Internet.
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