CHELLIE PINGREE

As president of Common Cause, I joined a coalition of groups ranging from the Christian Coalition to Consumers Union, and we went to Congress with over a million signatures asking that Net Neutrality be made law.

A company's best advantage should be a quality product offered at the right price. That fair competition is what drives innovation.

I love to come home and work on one of my other jobs. Just to remember that the floors gotta be mopped, and that everything isn't centered around what you fought about in Washington last week.

The FCC can and indeed should do more to protect the Internet as the free and open environment people have come to expect and depend on - which is why we need to stand up to attacks on the FCC's authority.

Having started and owned two small businesses, I know what a challenge it is to keep up with the rising costs of your employees' healthcare premiums.

I work in a world of words - words that inspire, words that persuade and, increasingly, words that can send the message that it is acceptable to hate.

Renewable energy has economic advantages that extend beyond steady, predictable electric rates - and Maine is in a good position to capitalize on those opportunities.

I live on an island, and my community is served by a ferry that goes three times a day.

We need to make Net Neutrality the law. We need to elect a Congress that will make it a priority to keep this important principal intact - and insure equal and open access to the Internet for all.

One of the reasons I wanted to leave my position at Common Cause and return to politics was to regain the freedom to speak out politically - to not be constrained by a non-partisan organization.

There is an incredible renewable energy resource off both coasts of this country - wind and tidal energy that can power our economy, create good paying jobs and reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

For too long, the system has been biased in favor of oil and gas developers: sweetheart lease deals, generous subsidies and a regulatory process so slanted in favor of Big Oil that often permit reviews are simply waived.

Like many older D.C. organizations, Common Cause has had to come a long way both in its use of the Internet and its understanding of the great value of engaging people in a broader online dialogue.

There's great value to knitting or digging up your garden or chopping up vegetables for soup, because you're taking some time away from turning the pages, answering your emails, talking to people on the phone, and you're letting your brain process whatever is stuck up in there.

One of the first members of Congress I met when I was first elected in 2008 was Barney Frank.

During the summer of 2009, the debate on health care reform was emotional and intense. At its best, it represented the free exchange of ideas that makes this country great. At its worst, it generated death threats and acts of violence.

Net Neutrality - a guiding principle of the Internet since its beginning - means that content is all treated equally.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been one of my good friends in the House of Representatives. When she was brutally shot, Gabby was out doing what she loved to do - meeting with her constituents in a local setting, allowing people to speak to her directly about the issues that concerned them.

When I stood up to oppose an invasion of Iraq in 2002, it wasn't a popular thing to do.

Access to quality, affordable health care is particularly important here in Maine, where many of us own small businesses or are self-employed.

With Net Neutrality, the level playing field that gave us Google, YouTube and eBay when they were start-ups would suddenly start to tilt in favor of the big, established players.

Corporations serve an important purpose, but telling people how to vote isn't one of them.

It's crazy that the Constitution has to be amended to clarify what for the majority of Americans is a clear and true statement: corporations are not people.

When you're elected to Congress, you take a vow to uphold the Constitution and its system of checks and balances. That vow doesn't say, 'Unless it's politically uncomfortable.'

As more and more people reach the Internet by mobile phone, we should make sure users are getting the open access they believe they're paying for.