Statement on Representative Rauscher’s Return to Juneau

July 23, 2019: Representative George Rauscher (R-Sutton) was previously excused by his peers to undergo a series of planned medical procedures this summer. Complications from those procedures and additional injuries sustained at home prevented him from fulfilling earlier plans to serve in Dillingham this summer. He remains in recovery for his injuries.

Rep. Rauscher plans to return to Juneau as soon as he is cleared by his doctors. Our prayers are with him and his family during this difficult time.

Alaska Legislature, Juneau, AK

Time for a True Bipartisan Approach to Net Neutrality

The Save the Internet Act that passed the Democrat-controlled House would do anything but protect online users and ensure open, unfettered access to the internet for Alaskans and all Americans.

We need a true, bipartisan solution that will enforce a fair set of comprehensive rules across every aspect of the internet ecosystem today. I trust that Senator Murkowski will do what is right and oppose this faulty legislation while working with her colleagues in Congress to pass a real legislative solution that ensures net neutrality while protecting internet users from the full range of threats we face online in the 21st century.

Perhaps the biggest flaw of the Save the Internet Act is that it would create more needless government bureaucracy. It would essentially allow the federal government to set prices, decide what services consumers could access and how they would be bundled, and determine how and where to invest in the future of the internet. We should not be ceding control of the internet to the government. Doing so will only sap the innovation and investment that has allowed the internet to grow and evolve into the social and economic force it is today.

The heavy-handed regulations that the Save the Internet Act would enforce on the modern-day internet were written in the 1930s. They have already been proven to create uncertainty in the marketplace that drains investment and impedes efforts to expand or invest in broadband networks.

We already saw it happen before when the Obama-era Federal Communications Commission first tried to impose these rules. Broadband investment dropped as most internet providers reported increased expenses, threatening internet access and deployment most severely in rural states like Alaska. We should not be repeating these mistakes.

Another fundamental weakness of this legislation is that it wouldn’t even apply net neutrality rules to huge internet companies like Facebook and Google. Once again, this goes back to the fact that these rules were written well before the internet was even conceived of, let alone before online tech companies grew into the massive entities they are today.

By leaving out these internet tech giants, the Save the Internet Act fails to address one of the largest concerns online users have to deal with: the safety and security of their personal data and online privacy.

These days, companies like Facebook and Google, among many others that dominate the online sphere, have an unbelievable amount of control over what we see and do online. They are the de facto gatekeepers of the internet for many. And unfortunately, they often use that position to give preferential treatment to themselves, censoring dissenting positions or prioritizing their products and services over their competition.

The lack of transparency over how they collect and use a wide range of our personal information—as well as security breach after security breach—has many Alaskans and Americans rightfully concerned. Any solution Congress passes to protect a free and open internet must include consistent consumer protections that apply to all the major players operating online.

No one disagrees with the fundamental principles of net neutrality—that no one’s content should be unfairly slowed, blocked, or throttled. However, the Democrats’ overly prescriptive regulations would not only fail to fully protect a free and open internet, but would actually hinder investments in growing and enhancing high-speed internet networks in Alaska and across the country.

If passed, the Save the Internet Act would threaten competition, innovation, and investment while continuing to leave consumers vulnerable to the bad actions of internet behemoths like Google and Facebook.

It’s time for Congress to scrap this misguided approach and enact bipartisan legislation that protects consumers and encourages continued investment and innovation to keep the internet safe, open, and thriving.

Stephanie Haydn is an Army veteran and an Alaska resident of 20 years. She currently works as an information developer at Computer Task Group (CTG).

Violation of my American Dream

My name is Darlene Otten-Carl, I live in Alaska. I’m a Native American Yupik Eskimo from the Bering Straits. My home village is St. Michael. I now live in Willow. I have been fighting for my Freedom for about 30 years and using my Freedom of Speech.

Here in Alaska we have no Justice for most of my People and myself. So far two of my under age kids were almost killed by law enforcement, taken away by the State of Alaska, like a lot of our Native kids who were stolen and given away to non-natives. I used my Freedom of Speech to get them back. But nothing was done to the law enforcement. The FBI, Justice Dept, Services like Civil Rights, Alaska Legal Services, ACLU don’t do anything to help.

Alaska Native Justice Center is misleading and just for looks, they work closely with the State of Alaska after anyone gets out of jail. Two or three times to the White House. Our Justice System is corrupted to the core. Our prisons are full of my people. My people are murdered and no one goes to jail. Some judges are violating what they are supposed to stand for. Most of our public attorneys are so corrupt, I call them public pretenders because they work to jail us. They don’t work ahead of time but few minutes before Court.

I moved to Willow for the wilderness only to be harassed. This cabin I bought was used to manufacture drugs. He moved on my property line on Government property and build his cabin. I was told by the State Troopers that he can go on my property and I can call only if he is at my door. They threatened my boyfriend to throttle him and he got hit by a car. They shot my puppy right by my driveway and no one came to my cry’s for help. The State Trooper told me they can shoot my dog if it’s not in my yard.

The neighbors build giant billboards cussing at me and using my name on government property and they were allowed to by the State Troopers. They started threatening my two little granddaughters and I was again ignored by the State Troopers.

I was arrested for protecting my property from a family member on drugs, beaten up and was put to jail, got hurt by the State Trooper. I don’t remember them telling me my rights. My second public attorney told me that they only tell them to certain crimes.

I hand delivered a document signed stating that she don’t want to press charges. I was told by the District Attorneys office it’s been in a pile of paperwork for three months and not filed.

I have a warrant for my arrest. My first public attorney did not contact me, I have no court documents and had called twice few minutes before Court. Lied about taking care of my warrant. My second attorney said as was expected it was denied.

So far I had wrote three letters to newspapers in Alaska about this and nothing is done for the hundredth time. So I’m going to my Nation for Justice. God bless America.

Darlene Otten-Carl, Willow, Alaska

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