II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1153

To establish the Office of Rural Advocacy in the Federal Communications

Commission, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 27, 1999

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr.

CONRAD, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. REID, Mr.

KERREY, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To establish the Office of Rural Advocacy in the Federal

Communications Commission, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Telecommuni5 cations Improvement Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF RURAL ADVOCACY

2 IN THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COM3 MISSION.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Title I of the Communica5 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by

6 adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘SEC. 12. OFFICE OF RURAL ADVOCACY.

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be in the Com9 mission an office to be known as the ‘Office of of Rural

10 Advocacy’. The office shall not be a bureau of the Commis11 sion.

12 ‘‘(b) HEAD OF OFFICE.—(1) The Office shall be

13 headed by the Rural Advocate of the Federal Communica14 tions Commission. The Rural Advocate shall be appointed

15 by the President, by and with the advice and consent of

16 the Senate, from among citizens of the United States.

17 ‘‘(2) The Rural Advocate shall have a status and rank

18 in the Commission commensurate with the status and

19 rank in the Commission of the heads of the bureaus of

20 the Commission.

21 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICE.—The respon22 sibilities of the Office are as follows:

23 ‘‘(1) To promote access to advanced tele24 communications service for populations in the rural

25 United States.
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1 ‘‘(2) To develop proposals for the modification

2 of policies and activities of the departments and

3 agencies of the Federal Government in order to bet4 ter fulfill the commitment of the Federal Govern5 ment to universal service and access to advanced

6 telecommunications services in rural areas, and sub7 mit such proposals to the departments and agencies.

8 ‘‘(3) To assess the effectiveness of existing Fed9 eral programs for providers of telecommunications

10 services in rural areas, and make recommendations

11 for legislative and non-legislative actions to improve

12 such programs.

13 ‘‘(4) To measure the costs and other effects of

14 Federal regulations on the capability of tele15 communication carriers in rural areas to provide

16 adequate telecommunications services (including ad17 vanced telecommunications and information services)

18 in such areas, and make recommendations for legis19 lative and non-legislative actions to modify such reg20 ulations so as to minimize the interference of such

21 regulations with that capability.

22 ‘‘(5) To determine the effect of Federal tax

23 laws on providers of telecommunications services in

24 rural areas, and make recommendations for legisla25 tive and non-legislative actions to modify Federal tax
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1 laws so as to enhance the availability of tele2 communications services in rural areas.

3 ‘‘(6) To serve as a focal point for the receipt of

4 complaints, criticisms, and suggestions concerning

5 policies and activities of any department or agency

6 of the Federal Government which affect the receipt

7 of telecommunications services in rural areas.

8 ‘‘(7) To counsel providers of telecommuni9 cations services in rural areas on the effective reso10 lution of questions and problems in the relationships

11 between such providers and the Federal Govern12 ment.

13 ‘‘(8) To represent the views and interests of

14 rural populations and providers of telecommuni15 cations services in rural areas before any department

16 or agency of the Federal Government whose policies

17 and activities affect the receipt of telecommuni18 cations services in rural areas.

19 ‘‘(9) To enlist the cooperation and assistance of

20 public and private agencies, businesses, and other

21 organizations in disseminating information about the

22 telecommunications programs and services of the

23 Federal Government which benefit rural populations

24 and providers of telecommunications services in

25 rural areas.
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1 ‘‘(d) STAFF AND POWERS OF OFFICE.—

2 ‘‘(1) STAFF.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of car4 rying out the responsibilities of the Office under

5 this section, the Rural Advocate may employ

6 and fix the compensation of such personnel for

7 the Office as the Rural Advocate considers ap8 propriate.

9 ‘‘(B) PAY.—

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The employment

11 and compensation of personnel under this

12 paragraph may be made without regard to

13 the provisions of title 5, United States

14 Code, governing appointments in the civil

15 service and without regard to the provi16 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of

17 chapter 53 of such title relating to the

18 classification of positions and General

19 Schedule pay rates.

20 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM RATE OF PAY.—The

21 rate of pay of personnel employed under

22 this paragraph may not exceed the rate

23 payable for GS–15 of the General Sched24 ule.
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1 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—The total number of

2 personnel employed under this paragraph may

3 not exceed 14.

4 ‘‘(2) TEMPORARY AND INTERMITTENT SERV5 ICES.—The Rural Advocate may procure temporary

6 and intermittent services to the extent authorized by

7 section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, for pur8 poses of the activities of the Office under this sec9 tion.

10 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION WITH EXPERTS.—The

11 Rural Advocate may consult with individuals and en12 tities possessing such expertise as the Rural Advo13 cate considers appropriate for purposes of the activi14 ties of the Office under this section.

15 ‘‘(4) HEARING.—The Rural Advocate may hold

16 hearings and sit and act as such times and places

17 as the Rural Advocate considers appropriate for pur18 poses of the activities of the Office under this sec19 tion.

20 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE OF OTHER FEDERAL DEPART21 MENTS AND AGENCIES.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any department or agency

23 of the Federal Government may, upon the request of

24 the Rural Advocate, provide the Office with such in25 formation or other assistance as the Rural Advocate
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1 considers appropriate for purposes of the activities

2 of the Office under this section.

3 ‘‘(2) REIMBURSEMENT.—Assistance may be

4 provided the Office under this subsection on a reim5 bursable basis.

6 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.—

7 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Rural Advocate

8 shall submit to Congress, the President, and the

9 Commission on an annual basis a report on the ac10 tivities of the Office under this section during the

11 preceding year. The report may include any rec12 ommendations for legislative or other action that the

13 Rural Advocate considers appropriate.

14 ‘‘(2) OTHER REPORTS.—The Rural Advocate

15 may submit to Congress, the President, the Commis16 sion, or any other department or agency of the Fed17 eral Government at any time a report containing

18 comments on a matter within the responsibilities of

19 the Office under this section.

20 ‘‘(3) DIRECT SUBMITTAL.—The Rural Advocate

21 may not be required to submit any report under this

22 subsection to any department or agency of the Fed23 eral Government (including the Office of Manage24 ment and Budget or the Commission) before its sub25 mittal under a provision of this subsection.’’.
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1 (b) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE LEVEL IV.—Section

2 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding

3 at the end the following:

4 ‘‘Rural Advocate, Federal Communications

5 Commission.’’.

6 (c) REPORT ON INITIAL ACTIVITIES.—Not later than

7 180 days after the date of the appointment of the Rural

8 Advocate of the Federal Communications Commission, the

9 Rural Advocate shall submit to Congress a report on the

10 actions taken by the Rural Advocate to commence carrying

11 out the responsibilities of the Office of Rural Advocacy

12 of the Federal Communications Commission under section

13 12 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by sub14 section (a).

Æ