I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5243 

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

Organization Act to establish a mobile hotspot grant program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 

Ms. MENG (for herself, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mrs. BUSTOS, 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Mr. KHANNA, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. RYAN, Mr. 

SABLAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information 

Administration Organization Act to establish a mobile 

hotspot grant program, 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 ‘‘Closing the Homework 

5 Gap Through Mobile Hotspots Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5243 IH

1 SEC. 2. MOBILE HOTSPOT GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 The National Telecommunications and Information 

3 Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C 901 et seq.) 

4 is amended by adding after section 158 the following new 

5 section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 159 MOBILE HOTSPOT GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Assistant Secretary 

8 shall establish a program (to be known as the ‘Mobile 

9 Hotspot Grant Program’) to provide grants to eligible in10 stitutions to facilitate mobile hotspot programs. 

11 ‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Assistant Secretary 

12 may provide grants to eligible institutions under the pro13 gram established in subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

15 provided under this section, an eligible institution shall 

16 submit an application at such time, in such manner, and 

17 containing such information as the Assistant Secretary 

18 may require. 

19 ‘‘(d) USE OF GRANTS.—A grant provided under this 

20 section shall be used to facilitate a mobile hotspot program 

21 that provides a hotspot device to an enrolled student, or 

22 the family or guardian of such enrolled student, and such 

23 hotspot device shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) be portable; 

25 ‘‘(2) not contain a data limitation; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5243 IH

1 ‘‘(3) comply with the Children’s Online Privacy 

2 Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.). 

3 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY OF GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 

5 shall prioritize providing a grant to eligible institu6 tions that create a mobile hotspot program that will 

7 provide hotspot devices to the highest number of 

8 low-income students. 

9 ‘‘(2) SET ASIDES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN

11 TRIBES.—To the extent practicable, at least 5 

12 percent of the amounts appropriated to carry 

13 out this section shall be used to provide grants 

14 to federally recognized Indian Tribes. 

15 ‘‘(B) U.S. TERRITORIES AND THE DIS16 TRICT OF COLUMBIA.—To the extent prac17 ticable, at least 5 percent of the amounts ap18 propriated to carry out this section shall be 

19 used to provide grants to territories of the 

20 United States and the District of Columbia. 

21 ‘‘(f) GRANT LIMIT.—An eligible institution may not 

22 receive more than 2 percent of the total sum appropriated 

23 for a fiscal year to carry out this section. 

24 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—The Assistant Secretary shall submit 

25 to Congress a report on— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5243 IH

1 ‘‘(1) the number of eligible institutions that re2 ceive a grant provided under this section; 

3 ‘‘(2) the number of enrolled students that re4 ceive access to broadband internet access service 

5 through a grant provided under this section; 

6 ‘‘(3) the number of enrolled students that are 

7 part of the homework gap; 

8 ‘‘(4) how hotspot devices are used; and 

9 ‘‘(5) the amount of data used per hotspot de10 vice. 

11 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each 

13 fiscal year 2020 through 2025. 

14 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERV16 ICE.—The term ‘broadband internet access service’ 

17 has the meaning given such term in section 8.1(b) 

18 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc19 cessor regulation). 

20 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; SECONDARY

21 SCHOOL.—The terms ‘elementary school’ and ‘sec22 ondary school’ have the meanings given such terms 

23 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5243 IH

1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi2 ble institution’ means any of the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) An elementary school. 

4 ‘‘(B) A secondary school. 

5 ‘‘(C) An institution of higher education. 

6 ‘‘(D) A federally recognized Indian Tribe. 

7 ‘‘(E) A library. 

8 ‘‘(F) A library consortium. 

9 ‘‘(G) A State library administrative agen10 cy. 

11 ‘‘(4) ENROLLED STUDENT.—The term ‘enrolled 

12 student’ means a student who is enrolled in an ele13 mentary school, a secondary school, or an institution 

14 of higher education. 

15 ‘‘(5) FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN

16 TRIBE.—The term ‘federally recognized Indian 

17 Tribe’ has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ 

18 in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

19 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

20 ‘‘(6) HOMEWORK GAP.—The term ‘homework 

21 gap’ means unequal access to digital devices and 

22 broadband internet access service that prevents an 

23 enrolled student from completing homework. 

24 ‘‘(7) HOTSPOT DEVICE.—The term ‘hotspot de25 vice’ means a portable device— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 5243 IH

1 ‘‘(A) that connects to broadband internet 

2 access service using a cellular data connection; 

3 ‘‘(B) to which other devices wirelessly con4 nect by means of Wi-Fi; and 

5 ‘‘(C) that enables the devices described in 

6 subparagraph (B) to connect to the broadband 

7 internet access service described in subpara8 graph (A). 

9 ‘‘(8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

10 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

11 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High12 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

13 ‘‘(9) LIBRARY; LIBRARY CONSORTIUM; STATE

14 LIBRARY ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY.—The terms ‘li15 brary’, ‘library consortium’, and ‘State library ad16 ministrative agency’ have the meanings given such 

17 terms in section 213 of the Museum and Library 

18 Services Act (20 U.S.C. 9122). 

19 ‘‘(10) LOW-INCOME STUDENT.—The term ‘low20 income student’ has the meaning given such term in 

21 section 6122 of the America COMPETES Act (20 

22 U.S.C. 9832).’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS