WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are getting their chance this week to weigh in on the “net neutrality” debate that has pitted Internet activists against big cable companies and prompted a record number of public comments filed to U.S. regulators.

The issue requires lawmakers to walk a delicate political line: Many consumers want to keep the power of cable and wireless providers in check, and they oppose the idea of paid fast lanes on the Internet. But service providers say the latest plan endorsed by the Federal Communications Commission will become a regulatory land mine that will discourage investment.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today was convening the first hearing on the subject since the FCC voted last month to put the Internet in the same regulatory camp as the telephone, using the 1934 Communications Act. This means that whenever a company provides an Internet connection, it has to act in the public interest and not do anything considered “unjust or unreasonable.”

The goal is to prevent Internet service providers like Comcast, Sprint and T-Mobile from blocking or slowing data that moves across its networks. The idea is known as “net neutrality” because it suggests providers should remain agnostic about web traffic instead of capitalizing on it by creating fast lanes and charging “tolls” to content providers like Netflix and Amazon.