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WASHINGTON – Democratic members of both houses of Congress introduced legislation Tuesday that would ban Internet service providers from charging content companies for faster or more direct connections to Internet service subscribers.

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, and Representative Doris Matsui, a California Democrat, filed bills in their respective chambers that would ban so-called paid prioritization – deals similar to the recent agreement that allows Netflix to connect directly to Comcast’s system to avoid network congestion.

The legislators said that the bill “would help prevent the creation of a two-tiered Internet system, ensuring start-ups and entrepreneurs have access to the marketplace and ensuring consumers can access all content equally.”

With no Republican co-sponsors as yet, the proposal will most likely have a hard time making it through the House of Representatives.

The bills are the latest development in a fervent public debate over net neutrality, the concept that all Internet traffic should be treated equally as it moves through networks on its way to a consumer.

Last week, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said the agency was opening an inquiry into those types of deals, which critics contend would divide the Internet into fast and slow lanes.

Internet-service providers like Comcast and Verizon, which also struck a deal with Netflix, say that their agreements involve interconnection of networks and are not covered by the concept of net neutrality. Net neutrality, they say, applies only to what is known as the last mile – the Internet service provider’s pipe to a consumer.

The F.C.C. also is collecting public comment on proposals for how to ensure an open Internet, and more than 20,000 comments have been registered at the agency. Two previous attempts by the agency to complete such rules were struck down by a federal appeals court.

In its proposals, the F.C.C. says that interconnection agreements are not covered by its proposed rules. But the commission also asked for comment on whether paid-prioritization deals should be disallowed.

“Americans are speaking loud and clear,” Mr. Leahy said. “They want an Internet that is a platform for free expression and innovation, where the best ideas and services can reach consumers based on merit rather than based on a financial relationship with a broadband provider.”