PORTLAND, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) met with Maine business owners, innovators, and entrepreneurs to discuss the implications a repeal of net neutrality could have on startups, job creators, and Maine’s statewide economy.

“The free and open internet is an important driver of America’s 21^st century economy, and it must be protected,” said Senator King. “Today’s conversation showed that Maine’s tech community is aware, engaged, and ready to defend the open internet for the next generation of innovators. I’ll be fighting for them during the upcoming Senate debate on net neutrality.”

Today’s event comes ahead the May 9^th filing of a discharge petition signed by Senator King that would bring about a Senate vote to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to repeal net neutrality rules. Specifically, the petition aims to discharge consideration of a CRA resolution – introduced by a group of Senators, including Senator King, in February – from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation so it can be considered before the full Senate. If passed, the February resolution would fully restore the 2015 Open Internet Order that prohibited internet service providers from blocking, slowing down, or discriminating against content online.

Senator King is a fierce proponent of protecting the internet as a tool that can be used equally by all. In December, he sent two letters to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, expressing concern about the proposal: one with Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) asking Chairman Pai to cancel the FCC’s vote repealing net neutrality, and another with a group of 38 Senate colleagues urging Chairman Pai to abandon the attempts to repeal net neutrality protections. Also in December, in light of reports that bots filed hundreds of thousands of fraudulent comments to the FCC during the net neutrality policymaking comment process, he urged Chairman Pai to delay the vote until an investigation of the public record could be conducted. In September 2015, he filed an amicus brief with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the FCC’s Open Internet rules. He also wrote a letter to then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in advance of the Commission’s net neutrality decision urging the FCC to put in place strong, light-touch protections that ensures the internet remains open and free of discriminatory practices.

Prior to the conversation on Net Neutrality, Senator King visited Vets Choice First, a nationwide leader in veterinarian technology software that is reliant on an open internet to grow and innovate. In the morning, Senator King provided remarks at the 20^th Annual Space Day Maine event at the Brunswick Junior High School in Brunswick. Space Day Maine has allowed tens of thousands of Maine students to learn about STEM education opportunities and hear from NASA astronauts, government officials, and dignitaries about their work in STEM careers.