Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your concern. I welcome any opportunity to communicate with North Alabamians when I cannot be home and speak to constituents face to face.
In your message, you expressed your opinion on the concept of Net Neutrality. Like you, I recognize the powerful role the internet plays in our society and economy. Just recently, I signed on to a letter addressing broadband policy to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Genachowski. You may be pleased to hear that in this letter I urged the FCC to reiterate, and not repudiate, its commitment to competition, private investment, and a restrained regulatory approach.
Like you, I believe in a transparent process and stand ready to work with both sides in Congress to ensure that we maintain a free and open environment for all Americans.
Oct 19, 2009
Representative Parker Griffith
Cannon House Office Building, Room 417
Independence Avenue and 1st Street, SE
Washington, DC 20515-0105
Dear Representative Griffith,
An open Internet provides the foundation for innovation, free speech
and democracy in the United States and around the world. But Washington
lobbyists are more concerned with corporate profits than with a
free-flowing Internet. They have convinced some members of Congress
that Net Neutrality is bad for business, but don't be fooled.
We, the undersigned, demand rules that protect Net Neutrality by
keeping the Internet free from blocking, censorship and discrimination.
It's vital that the FCC move forward on its rulemaking to safeguard the
open Internet. Hundreds of millions of Internet users -- people like us
-- need Net Neutrality now.
Some members of Congress have fallen prey to phone and cable company
lobbyists and are pressuring you to pull back from your rulemaking
plans. These lawmakers aren't representing the public interest, and
they don't speak for us. Please stand firm in support of Net
Neutrality. Millions of Americans -- the folks whom Congress was
elected to represent -- are with you.
Sincerely,
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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ALBERTVILLE, AL (WAFF) - A woman was arrested after police discovered a teenager inside a cardboard box on the roof of a vehicle.
Jackie Denise Knott charged told police she had a good reason. Albertville police said the mother told them she was trying to carry a cardboard box, but it wouldn't fit in her minivan. She claimed her daughter was just making sure the box was secure on the van roof.
Drivers in Albertville couldn't believe what they saw Wednesday morning. A minivan was driving down U.S. Highway 431 with a large cardboard box on the roof. But it wasn't the box that raised concern - it was the 13-year-old sitting inside of it.
Many drivers called police and officers quickly pulled Knott over. Albertville police arrested her and charged her with endangering the welfare of a child. Officers said her reasoning behind her actions was astonishing.
"The box was too large to get in the van, so more or less, she needed a paperweight," said Albertville Police Officer Jamie Smith.
Officers asked Knott about the safety of the child and she responded.
"She told the officers she had the box tied to the roof with a wire close hanger," Smith said
The child was not hurt. She was turned over to a relative's custody at the scene and DHR is investigating.
"For the child's sake, more than anything, nothing turned out bad," Smith said. "Obviously a gust of wind, an 18-wheeler passing by could have thrown the box off the top of the van. It could have turned out very bad."
Knott was transferred to the Albertville jail where she posted a $500. WAFF 48 News tried contacting her, but were unsuccessful.
U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, returned from a personal tour of a U.S.-Mexican border crossing saying the U.S. has "failed in our fundamental duty to secure our borders."
"Every day, individuals that are a threat to our communities and our nation attempt to enter this country illegally," Griffith said in a statement released by his Washington office. "We must do more to stop them."