Washington DC, September,28, 2016
NOTE: It is critically important for the United States to continue to control the Internet. Without this control, I fear that citizen driven news sites such as LocalNewsOnly.com could come under attack with a Russian and Chinese controlling the very essence of the freedom of our Internet. While there are some drawbacks to an open Internet; there are far more advantages with the Freedom of the Internet to be protected by US policies versus policies of countries that have suppressed freedoms for decades. My friend, Congressman Brian Babin is fighting a life and death battle in Congress to keep the O’bama Administration from ceding control to these foreign entities; his One World Government Approach!
It was recently revealed that 500 million Yahoo email accounts were hacked in 2014 – making it the largest data breach in U.S. history. Even more troubling is the fact that the perpetrators have been reported to be “state-sponsored” actors – with China and Russia among the likely suspects. Yet, in the face of such vulnerabilities, President Obama wants to give the Chinese and Russian governments more control over how the Internet operates.
The President has promised to shut down the federal government budget so that he can meet his goal of giving away a portion of America’s control over the Internet to these foreign governments by October 1, 2016. Babin Urges Action to Block Obama’s Internet Giveaway Rushing headlong to meet an arbitrary date to hand over Internet control is incredibly foolish. In fact, it is stupid.
No one rewards a criminal for their criminal acts, but that is exactly what the President’s policy does. Sadly, it is yet another example of how this Administration has sacrificed U.S. leadership and values across the world to advance a reckless agenda. The policies from this Administration have only led to America losing standing and influence across the globe on a wide range of fronts – and it must end. Our adversaries have become bolder, taking advantage of the vacuum of leadership created by the pulling back of U.S. leadership. The forces of extremism, violence, totalitarianism and criminal enterprises have filled the void and the American people are suffering as a result. The disastrous nuclear deal with Iran is another example.
It has not only failed to curtail the Iranian regime’s plans to develop nuclear weapons, it has also resulted in a ransom payment of $1.7 billion for four Americans who were being held illegally by Iran. This display of weakness has only emboldened the largest state sponsor of international terrorism. It has provided Iran with over a billion dollars to fund terrorism, enhance its illegal ballistic missile development programs and ramp up its aggression against U.S. military forces. President Reagan warned us, “Weakness, after all, is a temptation — it tempts the pugnacious to assert themselves — but strength is a declaration that cannot be misunderstood. Strength is a condition that declares actions have consequences.
Strength is a prudent warning to the belligerent that aggression need not go unanswered.” Whenever this Administration pulls back, the belligerent have happily stepped in to fill the void. That’s why we must reject this latest effort to relinquish U.S. leadership over the Internet.
The excessive hacking encouraged by the governments of Russia, China and others should not be rewarded. We must stand up to these dangerous actors and put the safety, security and interests of the United States first. Simply put, Russia and China cannot be trusted with a larger role in the operation of the Internet. We have a duty to block the President’s foolish and reckless Internet giveaway before it goes into effect October 1, 2016. It will further cede more control to our adversaries and weaken America’s influence on the international stage. Stopping this give away must be included in this year’s spending bill. It’s absolutely critical that Congress takes action.
2 Comments
James
This entire article is the epitome of what is wrong with American politics. The incessant use of gross generalizations and fear-mongering rhetoric, coupled with slanted and misleading statistics, is preventing real information from getting to the public. Everywhere you look is someone quick to point out the problems and blame others, rather than do research and try to find a solution. This is clearly a republican plug for your friend rather than an unbiased, informative article; something you claim your website is about. I do want to inform you that the issue of Net Neutrality has little to do with hacking prevention and more to do with corporate control. Without net neutrality, citizens would have to pay for bandwidth usage, much like we currently do for cell phone data plans. This would mean that the average american’s internet use would be significantly limited, which in turn would mean less people that could access your website. This would also significantly inhibit small businesses and public schools from accessing the internet due to the inevitable hike in prices. In addition, you clearly do not understand what hacking actually is, because you seem to think that federal control of the internet is some impenetrable force, and that each country has their own “internet.” Are you really trying to say that you want the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT to control the internet? They’ve done a great job with the DMV and the postal service so far- good call…For someone who clearly assumes that they are intelligent, and that their opinion on political issues matters somehow, I would implore you to do some actual research before you go on another generalized, ignorant, fear-mongering rant.
Editor - Nelson Thibodeaux
Well, James we obviously differ in our opinion of handing over control of ICANN to Russia and China. The article featured Congressman Brian Babin. Where on LNO do you find the claim that we are not bias?
As noted previously, LNO has a definite conservative view in our opinions, something very rare with the main stream media. However, the article was quoting Congressman Brian Babin; therefore before you accuse someone of “another generalized, ignorant, fear-mongering rant”…tell me again what Congressional District do you represent again?