Neutrally. The content was neutral, Net Neutrality. People really like youtube. They preferred youtube to glool video. And youtube thrived. Enemy fact, in 2006, google bought it for a stock valued at 1. 65 billion. Its a nice chunk for three guys over a pizza restaurant in san mateo. Its not just Tech Companies that rely on an open internet. A coalition that includes visa, bank of america, u. P. S. And ford explained that, quote, every retailer with an online catalog, every manufacturer with online product specififications, every specifics, every Bank Offering online account management, every company with a website, every business in america interacting with its customers online is dependent upon an open internet. Unquote. I repeated this quote on the floor and at rallies time continue time again over the years because i think it perfectly exemplifies the importance of this issue. Preserving Net Neutrality is only controversial for the few deeppocketed entities that stand to financially gain without it. If f. C. C. Chairman pai ultimately has his way, well be entering a Digital World where the powerful outrank the majority, a world where a handful of multibilliondollar companies have the power to control how users get their information and a world where the deepest pockets can pay for a fast lane while their competitors stall in the slow lane. For nearly nine years i have been calling Net Neutrality the free speech issue of our time because it embraces our most basic constitutional freedoms. Ironically the kind of civic participation that has inspired some of us in recent months and has affected real change like in the fight for Net Neutrality and the successful efforts to save the Affordable Care act, they have depended in no small part on a free and open internet. Now, in 2015, the f. C. C. s vote to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers under title 2 of the Communications Act didnt just mean good things for Net Neutrality, it also had important implications for consumer privacy. It gave the agency the authority and responsibility to implement rules to protect americans privacy by giving consumers greater control of their personal data that is collected and used by their broadband providers. That was a big win. Republicans didnt see it that way. One of the first things they did this congress was to repeal those rules, which was a huge blow to americans right to privacy. For my part i have long believed that americans have a fundamental right to privacy. I believe that they deserve both transparency and accountability from the companies that have the capacity to trade on the details of their lives. And should they choose to leave personal information in the hands of those companies, they certainly deserve to know that their information is being safeguarded to the greatest degree possible. This transparency and accountability should come from all the companies that have access to americans sensitive information. This includes Internet Service providers like come cast and at t but also edge providers like google, facebook, and amazon. In 2011, i served as chair for the inaugural hearing of the judiciary subcommittee on Privacy Technology and the law, a subcommittee that i founded after it became abundantly clear that our nations privacy laws had failed to keep face with rapidly evolving technologies. When people talked about protecting their privacy when i was growing up, they were talking about protecting it from the government, talking about searches and seizures and whether the government was keeping tab on the books they read or the rallies they attended. We have seen a fundamental shift on who has our information and what they are doing with it. Thats not to say that we still shouldnt be worried about protecting ourselves from government abuses, but now we also have relationships with large corporations that are obtaining, storing, sharing, and in many cases, selling enormous amounts of our personal information. When the constitution was written, the founders had no way of anticipating the new technologies that would evolve in the coming centuries. They had no way of anticipating the telephone, for example. And so the Supreme Court ruled over 40 years ago this a wiretap constitutes a search under the fourth amendment. The founders had no idea that one day the police would able to remotely track your movements through a g. P. S. Device, and so the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that this was also a search that also required a court approval. All of this is a good thing. Our laws need to reflect the evolution of technology and the changing expectations of american society, that is why the constitution is often called a living document. But we have a long way to go to get to the point where our modern laws are in line with modern technology. My goal for the subcommittee was to help members understand both the benefits and privacy implications of emerging technologies, to educate the public and raise awareness about how their data are being collected, used, and shared, and if necessary, to legislate to fill the to fill gaps in the law. And when politics prevented legislation, i repeatedly pressed companies, many of them more than once, to be more transparent about how they were treating their customers private information, including users web data, web producing browsing information and finger and face prints. As Consumer Awareness has evolved, these companies have taken important steps to improve transparency of their use of americans personal information. Unfortunately, accumulating massive troves of information is not just a side project that they can choose to halt at any given time. For many of them its their whole Business Model. We are not their customers, we are their product. Recently weve seen just how scary this Business Model can be. In october of this year the Judiciary Committee examined russias manipulation of of the 20 of the 2016 campaign. Both the public and members of congress were shocked to learn the outsized role that the major Tech Companies play in so many aspects of our lives based primarily on the mass collection of personal information and complex algorithms shrouded in secrecy. Not only do these companies guide what we see, read, and buy on a regular basis, but they are dominant specifically in the market of information now requires that we consider their role in the integrity of our democracy. Unfortunately, this false hearing demonstrates they may not be up to the challenge they have created for themselves. The size of these companies is not in isolation the problem, but i am extremely concerned about these platforms use of americans personal information to further solidify their market power and consequently extract unfair conditions from the content creators and innovators that rely on their platforms to reach consumers as has become alarmingly clear in recent months, Companies Like google, facebook, and amazon have unprecedented power to guide americans access to information and to potentially shape the future of journalism. It should go without saying that such power comes with great responsibility. Everyone is currently and rightfully focused on russian manipulation of social media, but as lawmakers it is incumbent upon us to ask the broader questions. How did big tech come to control so many aspects of our lives . How is it using our personal information to strengthen its reach and its bottom line . Are these Companies Engaging in anticompetitive behavior that restricts the free flow of information and commerce . Are they failing to take simple precautions to respect our privacy and to protect our democracy . And, finally, what roles should these companies play in our lives and how do we ensure transparency and accountability from them Going Forward . Modern technology is fundamentally has fundamentally altered the way we live our lives and it has given us extraordinary benefits. But as these Companies Continue to grow and evolve, challenges like those we recently confronted in the Judiciary Committee will only grow and evolve with them. So we must now muster the will to meaningfully address the tough questions related to competition, privacy, and ultimately the integrity of our democracy. Now, i will not be here to ask those questions. I will do what i can to find the answers from the outside, but its my colleagues in the senate who must prioritize them Going Forward. Theres simply too much at stake, and i know that they will do so with the help of a tireless Advocacy Community from the Brilliant Minds that have long contemplated these incredibly complex issues and ensured that lawmakers pay attention. More importantly they will do so with the support and encouragement of the American People. I have witnessed significant highs and significant lows in the fight to protect consumers rights, but the most important lesson that i have learned along the way is that ordinary americans can wield extraordinary power when they raise their voices. For this reason, and despite significant setbacks in recent months, i know that it is the publics interest that can ultimately prevail. Thank you, mr. President. And i would suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from vermont. Mr. Sanders i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sanders mr. President , i understand that my republican colleagues and President Trump are busy celebrating the passage of the tax bill that was voted on at 1 30 in the morning last night. Theyre very excited and theyre very happy about it, and i understand that. And i guess if one were a billionaire like President Trump or a wealthy campaign contributor, you do have a whole lot to celebrate. And maybe if youre one of the 6,000 lobbyists here in washington, d. C. Who helped write the bill, i guess theyre celebrating altitude. But if you you are in the vast majority of the American People who are in the middle class, you should not be celebrating altitude. In fact, you should be pretty nervous. The passage of this legislation marks a great victory for the Koch Brothers and other wealthy Campaign Contributors who will see at a time of massive income and wealth inequality huge tax breaks for themselves. In other words, the wealthiest people will become much wealthier. Meanwhile the deficit, what is owed by our kids and our grandchildren, will increase by 1. 5 trillion as a result of this bill. And the largest and most profitable corporations, Companies Like apple, microsoft, pfizer, general electric, who despite recordbreaking profits, theyre going to see very, very large tax breaks to the tune of many billions of dollars. Now at a time when the very wealthy are becoming much rich richer, tens of millions of American Families are struggling to keep their heads above water economically. 40 million americans are living in poverty. The Nonpartisan Tax Policy Center tells us that in terms of this legislation, 83 of the tax benefits will go to the top 1 by the end of the decade. 83 of the tax benefits go to the top 1 who are already doing phenomenally well. 60 of the benefits will go to the top. 1 . Meanwhile at the end of ten years, some 92 million middleclass households will be paying more in taxes. And then on top of all of that, as the only nation, major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people, this bill will result in 13 million americans losing their Health Insurance. I understand the president was really excited about this. Hey, what a great day. 13 million more americans are losing their Health Insurance when we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people. But with the ending of the individual mandate, what all of the experts tell us is that Health Care Premiums will go up. So if youre an average person out there, your Health Care Premiums will very likely go up as a result of this legislation. Meanwhile, starting next year im not talking about ten years from now. Starting next year some eight million middleclass families will pay more in taxes. Doesnt it say a lot about republican priorities when they make permanent the tax breaks for Corporation Corporations e permanent and yet they make temporary the tax breaks for working families which will expire in eight years. Furthermore, i would hope that every american is listening closely to what speaker of the house paul ryan is talking about. And i have to give ryan credit for being pretty honest about the intentions of the republican party. Just this morning he was on abc saying what he had said for quite awhile. And that is that the republican plan is a twostep approach. Step number one, passing legislation that passed last night here and today in the house. Step number two, is having run up a deficit of 1. 5 trillion, they are now going to come back and offset that deficit by making massive cuts to Social Security, medicare, and medicaid. According to ryan, they got a twostep program. Step one, massive tax breaks to the rich and large corporations, run up the deficit by 1. 5 trillion. Step number two, offset that deficit by cutting Social Security, medicare, and medicaid. How unspeakable and outrageous is this plan. How much does it go against what the American People want, giving huge tax breaks to billionaires, to the trump family, to the Koch Brothers, and then paying for those tax breaks by cutting Social Security, medicare, and medicaid. Mr. President , there are millions of Senior Citizens and people with disabilities in vermont and all across this country who today are struggling to buy food, to heat their homes, to buy the prescription drugs they need because theyre trying to survive on 12,000, 13,000, 14,000 a year Social Security. There are people who have worked their entire lives and have exhausted themselves as they approach retirement. Do not tell those people who live on 12,000, 13,000 a year Social Security that youre going to cut their benefits through a chained c. P. I. Or some other mechanisms in order to give tax breaks to billionaires. How outrageous that would be. Dont tell older workers, many of them with health problems, having worked 20, 30, 40 years, that youre going to give billions of dollars in tax breaks to microsoft, pfizer, and general electric, but then youre going to ask them to work more years in order to be eligible for medicare. Mr. President , i understand that every member of the congress would like to go home for the holiday season, and so would i. This is the time of year when vermont is really very, very beautiful. But the truth is, is that it would really be unconscionable for us to leave washington after giving tax breaks to billionaires and large corporations while we ignore the enormous problems facing the middle class and working families of our country. Mr. President , when donald trump ended the deferred action for childhood arrivals, the daca program, nearly 800,000 lives were thrown into chaos and uncertainty. Without the Legal Protections afforded by the daca program, hundreds of thousands of young people today are living in terrible fear and anxiety about losing the legal status that they currently have in the only country that they have ever known. These are young people who have grownup in the United States, gone to school in the United States, are working in the United States, are in our military. This is their home. It would be unspeakable unspeakable to take away their legal status and subject them to dmorration. Since the deportation. Since the president s announcement in september, more than 11,000 people have already lost their protections under daca and more to lose their protection by the march 5, 2018 deadline. Mr. President , these are hundreds of thousands of wonderful young people. We cannot turn our backs on them. We must deal with daca before we leave for the holiday break. Any end of the Year Spending agreement must address the fear and uncertainty caused by the administrations reckless actions and a clean dream act must be signed into law. Now, this is not just what Bernie Sanders wants. This is what the American People in overwhelming numbers want. A qunipiac poll came out just the other day in which 77 of the American People supported maintaining legal status for these young people and allowing them to move forward towards citizenship. 77 , than is consistent with other polls that ha