WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, 30 members of the House called on FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to reclassify broadband service under Title II of the Communications Act. In a letter submitted to Wheeler, they urged the agency to extend Title II protections to both wired and wireless Internet access. “This parity will best protect communities of color who disproportionately rely on mobile broadband,” the letter reads.

The full text of the letter is available at http://ellison.house.gov/sites/ellison.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/FCC%20Letter.pdf

Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) drafted the letter. The signers, all Democrats, include Donald S. Beyer Jr. (Va.), Earl Blumenauer (Ore.), André Carson (Ind.), John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), Donna F. Edwards (Md.), Sam Farr (Calif.), Raúl M. Grijalva (Ariz.), Janice Hahn (Calif.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Barbara Lee (Calif.), John Lewis (Ga.) Michael M.  Honda (Calif.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Betty McCollum (Minn.), Jim McDermott (Wash.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Rick Nolan (Minn.), Beto O’Rourke (Texas), Charles Rangel (N.Y.), Tim Ryan (Ohio), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (Va.), José E. Serrano (N.Y.), Louise M. Slaughter (N.Y.), Niki Tsongas (Mass.) and Pete Visclosky (Ind.)

Free Press Action Fund Senior External Affairs Director Joseph Torres made the following statement:

“We’re grateful to Representatives Ellison and Waters for leading this effort and advocating for strong Net Neutrality protections to ensure the voices of communities of color will always be heard online.

“The Ellison-Waters letter supports the argument that protecting Net Neutrality is essential to the struggle for racial justice in our nation. More than 100 civil rights and racial justice groups, including the Center for Media Justice, ColorOfChange and the National Hispanic Media Coalition, have called for Title II protections.

“Last week, Representative John Lewis said that Net Neutrality was critical because ‘every voice matters’ and ‘we cannot let the interests of profit silence the voices of those pursuing human dignity.’”