is live at 5:00 p.m. eastern. 4 are . never let anyone define you. and that is the first lesson i want to leave you with. only you define who you are. only you. >> our hearts should be open, not just in falling in love but to the world. we need to look. we need to care. and we need to contribute. >> don't ever let anyone tell you that your dreams are silly. and if you have to look back on your life, regret the things that you did and not what you didn't do. >> nothing stays still. things will change. the question for you is whether and how you will participate in the process of creative change. >> just a few past commencement speeches from the c-span video library. watch more of this year's commencement speeches on

saturday, may 27th. monday, may 29th, memorial day. and june 3rd. on c-span and c-span.org. senators ron wyden and edward markey spoke in front of the federal communications commissi commission's headquarters last week in favor of net neutrality. the fcc is considering reversing net neutrality rules put in place during the obama administration. all right, good morning been everybody. all right. we are here to save net neutrality. we have a few special guests. i'm going to come back and talk in a minute but we want to make sure that our champions, the people who are fighting every day over there on capitol hill for the free and open internet are heard from.

no one has been doing that more than senator ron wyden from the state of oregon. >> thank you! and my colleagues were so kind to let me do this because i have to get right back to proceed with a bill and i'm going to keep it real simple. we have one, once before for net neutrality before in washington, d.c. we have won before, and it is time to win again. [ cheers and applause ] >> and all i'd like to say by way of this kickoff -- because i know eddie and all our friends are going to really hammer this home. what we need you all to do is keep it loud and remember the pippa sofa spirit where we beat the odds, we took on the big interests and the internet won! thanks, everybody! [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you, senator.

i want to welcome forward senator ed markey from massachusetts. senator markey literally wrote the laws we are here to defend and he stood up every day when he was in the house, in the senate, for the free and open internet. he's fought big media. he has been the most outspoken champion for net neutrality, for set-top boxes, for so many, many other crucial issues. we are so glad he came down to the fcc today. >> thank you all. love being here. the debate that we are here to begin is a debate over democracy itself. it's over whether or not we are going to have a free and open internet for all voices, for all competitors to be able to participate in.

the fcc, the trump administration, is intending on shutting down net neutrality at the behest of a small number of corporate behemoths who want to -- who want to limit the new competitors who can get in to the internet marketplace, who want to ensure that those who have smaller voices have to pay more than those who are already powerful to gain access to the internet. and what we have here today are the net neutrality super heroes who are going to conduct a campaign a campaign where millions of americans are going to be able to talk to their own government.

i would say right now that the trump administration has no idea what they are about to unleash in this country. donald trump did not understand what he was unleashing when he fired james comey last week. he does not understand what is going to be unleashed as they begin to try to dismantle net neutrality. so ron wyden and i, jared paulis are here to say you have allies in the house and senate, but more importantly, we have tens of millions of americans across this country who are going to ensure that the voices of those who are not powerful are zbgoine heard here in washington, d.c. it begins here today. we thank you.

we thank everyo one of the grous who are represented here because this is the beginning of an historic fight. we won in 2015 on net neutrality. four million people talked to the fcc about that rule making. [ cheers and applause ] four million people will seem like a drop in the bucket with regard to how many people are going to talk to the trump fcc because we cannot afford in the trump era to have this free-wheeling open source of democratic speech to be shut down by corporate behemoths, to great slow lanes for those who are not as powerful and the battle begins here and we will take it to the fcc, and then to the courts to make sure that everyone in our country has an equal voice on the internet. thank you all for being here.

[ cheers and applause [ n. >> thank you. thank you, senator markey. now i want to welcome up another champion of the open internet, a member of the house of representatives from colorado, who really understands the power of the open internet for innovation, for start-ups, and for the pursuit of justice. >> thank you. i'm thrilled to join senator markey, senator wyden and there are so many other champions of net neutrality. it's not just us. when the fcc opened the rule up for comment, over 1 million people wrote in supporting net neutrality. that shows the broad, popular support for keeping a free and open internet. you know what? on the other side, the fcc heard 444 -- 440,000 comments using a bot, using stolen identities. apparently a lot of the stolen

identities were against net neutrality. internet is a crowning human achievement. what a wonderful thing that brings life and economic prosperity to so many people, provides a livelihood for so many americans. of course, we all care about access and we all care about the pipes and all of our friends that provide access should have a reasonable roi on their investment so people can continue to have access. but that's not where the magic is. the magic is in the content. what drives usage is in the content side. one of the reasons the internet economy has been so dynamic is that the garage server for tomorrow's great start-up has equal ability to be accessed by homes across the world than today's media conglomerate. that's what leads to the disruption in innovation that characterizes the internet and is inseparable from the internet. if the fcc moves to roll back net neutrality regulations, it

opens the door in dividing the internet on ending the internet as a free and open medium for content, best content to rise to the top, and for users to have access to whatever they want to access on an equal basis. we can't let that happen to the internet, to our internet. and that's why i stand here strongly sending a message to the fcc and the american public. we need to pay attention. we need to protect a free and open internet to encourage the job creations of today and tomorrow and the content and services that will save lives, save the world, grow the economy, and be such an important part of our lives. so thank you for joining us in solidarity with net neutrality. i hope that the fcc hears what we are saying and it does not abandon the rules that were thoughtfully put in place with the support of over 1 million americans across the country. we kcontinue to have a free and open internet for the next

generation. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you, congressman. next i want to welcome up a member of congress who i think pretty much universally is seen as one of the moral guiding lights in congress. a member willing to stand up for what she believes in, no matter what, and proud to represent the bay area and oakland, which is also a place where a lot of people are fighting for the free and open internet. so i want to welcome up congresswoman barbara lee. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you very much. let me thank you free press. thank all of you for being here and for staying vigilant. because we must let the fcc commissioners hear us loud and clear that we want to keep the internet free, fair and open. free, fair and open. i just have to say, yes, i come from the great east bay, the 13th congressional district of california right next door to

silicon valley. and many of my constituents are outraged by what is taking place here. we have small entrepreneurs. we have people who rely on the internet for their livelihoods, who want to engage in freedom of speech. this is just another effort by the republicans to shut down the free press. what does that mean, shutting down free speech. so i just want to thank you all for being here. i wanted you to know that it is important that we -- as we say in california, "stay woke" because we must keep vigilant and we must insist that our freedom of speech is preserved, our first amendment rights. we must understand that young people, all people, need access to a free internet. so we're not going to let this happen. we're not going to let corporate america take over the free press. so i just want to thank you again for being here. we're going to fight to make sure that the open internet, that net neutrality remains and