Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst just voted against net neutrality. Here's why.

Iowa's two Republican senators voted against an effort this week to revive net neutrality.

Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst cast nay votes in an effort to reverse a Federal Communications Commission decision to toss net neutrality rules. The Senate's effort ultimately passed through the chamber on a 52-47 vote Wednesday.

The measure is not expected to make it through the House, but Democrats plan to force the issue during in 2018 midterm campaigns, National Public Radio reported.

Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers like Mediacom, Comcast and Verizon should give consumers equal access to content without slowing down, favoring or blocking some sources. The FCC codified the concept in 2015 with a 3-2 vote.

But after a change of leadership on the FCC, the panel in December 2017 reversed that decision, arguing that net neutrality could hamper technological innovation.

PREVIOUSLY: What the net neutrality repeal means for you

"Since the public started using the internet in the 1990s, it’s become exponentially faster, and much more affordable and accessible," Grassley said in a statement to the Register. "The government should pursue policies that help continue that trend, not interrupt or reverse it."

Grassley said the 2015 rule caused uncertainty, hindered investment and interfered with the internet’s growth potential.

"It’s my hope that Congress can work in a bipartisan way," Grassley's statement read, "to enact legislation for an open, strong and vibrant internet that promotes innovation for future generations."

A statement from Ernst this week echoed that sentiment.

She said the 2015 rules were another example of "regulatory overreach" by the federal government. And she supports the FCC's current stance of deregulation.

"Overregulation can hurt any industry by stifling investment and limiting competition, and in this case, by slowing broadband deployment, especially to rural areas," her statement read. "There is bipartisan interest in legislation to address how to best govern the internet, and I feel such an effort is the proper path forward."

Iowa's Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has agreed on the issue. In January, her spokeswoman said the internet grew and thrived before net neutrality. And the governor expects that to continue.

But Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has advocated on the opposite side of the issue. Earlier this year, he moved to join Iowa with 20 other states in an effort to reverse the FCC's repeal of net neutrality regulations.

In a January news conference, the Democrat called the Obama administration's net neutrality doctrine "fundamentally right" and the FCC's new stance "fundamentally wrong.

"You can't discriminate against those using the internet. You can't discriminate against those that are providing content on the internet," Miller said. "It's, like I say, sort of a cardinal principle or the Magna Carta of fairness on the internet."

More: Iowa AG: Net neutrality is 'Magna Carta' of the internet