Here is most of the text from the letter:

Over the past several months there have been incidents that have raised serious concern about the phone and cable companies’ power to discriminate against content. Just recently, Verizon Wireless arbitrarily chose to block a series of text messages on the grounds that the subject matter was too controversial.

While the carrier, to its credit, reversed this decision, this illustrates its power as a content gatekeeper. Then came the news that AT&T reserves the right in its Terms of Service to discontinue service of customers that criticize the company. And just last week, we saw reports of Comcast interfering with the popular file-sharing service BitTorrent.

All of these developments, Mr. Chairman, suggest that the Committee needs to consider the issue of content discrimination and investigate these incidents further if they were based on legitimate business and network management policies or part of practices that would be deemed unfair and anti-competitive.

The phone and cable companies have previously stated that they would never use their market power to operate as content gatekeepers and have called efforts to put rules in place to protect consumers "a solution in search of a problem."

These recent events suggest that response is well short of being sufficient and this Congress should consider adopting targeted regulations to protect consumers and ensure an open and vibrant communications platform.

We request that the full Committee hold a hearing to discuss discrimination against content and applications by phone and cable companies, and whether current regulatory protections are enough.

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission required a commitment from AT&T to Net Neutrality principals as a condition for regulatory approval of its merger with BellSouth. The condition has been proven to have no enforcement capability, as noted immediately by FCC chairman Kevin Martin, who opposed the conditions.

The Department of Justice also recently denied the need for Network Neutrality by reiterating telecom talking points. Skeptics feel the DOJ has a vested interest not only in scratching the backs of telecommunications providers who turn over phone records, but also in their ability to differentiate data packets. Net Neutrality legislation could, conceivably, prevent telecom’s rights to do so.  

Sen. Dorgan Praises Net Neutrality Coalition

Dorgan cited Stevens’ role in stonewalling a vote on the issue on the Senate floor last summer, and Whitacre’s expressed intent to develop a tiered Internet.

The North Dakota senator also praised the Free Press’ SaveTheInternet grassroots campaign, which is nominated for a Webby award, to preserve the medium’s open architecture – an architecture that has made it "one of the wonders of the world." Thanks to the coalition, he said, Net Neutrality has moved from an unknown technical issue to on of the predominant debates.

Dorgan believes the Senate is now "developing a consensus" on the issue, as more Washington politicians sign on to his and Sen. Olympia Snowe’s (R-ME) Internet Freedom Preservation Act, a piece of legislation similar to what the FCC required of AT&T in order to merge with Bell South.

“The Internet became a robust engine of economic development by enabling anyone with a good idea to connect to consumers and compete on a level playing field," he said. "The marketplace picked winners and losers, not some central gatekeeper. That freedom — the very core of what makes the Internet what it is today — must be preserved.”

At a year old, SaveTheInternet.com has attracted support from both sides of the political spectrum, small businesses as well as major online corporations like Google, collecting 1.6 million petition signers.

"Pretty much everybody is in favor of Net Neutrality except those running fake grassroots campaigns," said Craig Newmark, founder of the online classifieds site Craigslist.

The "fake" campaigns to which Newmark refers are ones that have had their origins traced back to telecommunications giants like AT&T. The telecommunications and cable industries have been staunch opponents of the Net Neutrality movement, and so have, by default, the members of Congress who rely heavily on them for campaign contributions.

Though Verizon and AT&T have characterized the Net Neutrality movement as one funded by billion-dollar Internet giants like Google and Microsoft, who they say stand to gain most, small businesses and nonprofits alike fear the lack of protection Net Neutrality legislation can offer.

Gary Miracle, owner of NMChili.com and other small retail sites, said that learning of the telcos plans to create a tiered system, where big-dollar companies could pay to have their sites delivered faster than the competition, "scared the bejeezus" of him. Their plans were reminiscent, he said, of the steep cable price increases over the past 20 years.

Paying "100 times" what he’s paying now would "put a real dent into my operation," he said.

But for Michelle Combs, representing the Christian Coalition, lack of Net Neutrality protection carries other concerns. "We have over 100,000 churches in our membership," she said. "Churches rely on the Internet and even have sermons on the Internet. We’re concerned. We’re getting the word out."

Combs said that organizations like hers were slow to adopt the movement because the concept wasn’t easily explained in the beginning. But now that more are beginning to understand the issue better, people are gravitating toward it – especially in light of concern that ISPs could, in theory, block or deteriorate the pathways by which the Christian Coalition spreads its message.

"Our goal is turn Net Neutrality into a true family issue," she said. "We are concerned that if they can control our content, then they can control our mission."

Ben Scott, policy director at FreePress, echoed Combs. "That’s the concern we all share from the content side. We’ve had no gatekeepers. We think that’s the magic of the Internet – an equal platform for democratic communication."

That platform for democratic communication is what propelled the Net Neutrality movement to the attention of American policymakers in the first place.

"What we’ve seen over the last year is nothing short of a grass roots Internet revolution," said Adam Green, Civic Communications Director for MoveOn.org. "Millions derailed a bill in Congress that would have allowed AT&T and Verizon to dictate what websites you open."