FAIRFAX, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement in response to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) decision to proceed with the Internet giveaway in violation of a congressional prohibition against doing so:
“The NTIA should not take another step toward transitioning the Internet Assigned Numbers functions to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. They are using prohibited funds right now that block the transition this year, violating federal law. That is because it is not only illegal to violate federal law, but to plan to violate it. These are reasonable grounds for Congress to ask a federal judge to enjoin NTIA from any further action, pending full hearing of the case.
“NTIA’s breaching of law to go forward with the Internet giveaway has been the subject of letters from House appropriators and the House and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairmen. These are serious charges. There would be little question of their standing to sue, as there is ample precedent for Congressional access to federal courts.
“To stop the illegal, unconstitutional Internet giveaway, Congress must also reassert its Article One responsibilities to block the transition in the upcoming continuing resolution. Ceding the Internet’s domain name system to an unaccountable global monopoly is not an option.”
