II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4820 

To auction spectrum and to authorize the Federal Communications Commission to borrow funds from the Treasury, to be repaid out of auction 

proceeds, to ensure rural communications providers have the resources 

to replace communications equipment and services to protect their networks from Chinese Communist Party espionage. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 

Mr. LEE (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To auction spectrum and to authorize the Federal Communications Commission to borrow funds from the Treasury, to be repaid out of auction proceeds, to ensure 

rural communications providers have the resources to 

replace communications equipment and services to protect their networks from Chinese Communist Party espionage. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Commu3 nications Networks from Chinese Communist Party Espio4 nage Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. SPECTRUM AUCTION. 

6 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—Not later than 21 months 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

8 Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, 

9 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Pol10 icy, and the Federal Communications Commission (re11 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall sub12 mit to the President, the Commission, and the relevant 

13 congressional committees (as defined in section 90008(a) 

14 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (47 U.S.C. 

15 921 note; Public Law 117–58)) a report that identifies 

16 350 megahertz of electromagnetic spectrum between the 

17 frequencies of 3100 megahertz and 3450 megahertz, inclu18 sive, to be reallocated by the Commission through a sys19 tem of competitive bidding under subsection (b) for non20 Federal use or shared Federal and non-Federal use, or 

21 a combination thereof. 

22 (b) REALLOCATION OF SPECTRUM THROUGH AUC23 TION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 years after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

26 shall— 


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1 (A) notwithstanding paragraph (11) or 

2 (15)(A) of section 309(j) of the Communica3 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)), in coordi4 nation with the Assistant Secretary of Com5 merce for Communications and Information, 

6 conduct a system of competitive bidding under 

7 that section to award licenses for non-Federal 

8 use or shared Federal and non-Federal use, or 

9 a combination thereof, of the band or bands of 

10 electromagnetic spectrum identified under sub11 section (a); and 

12 (B) promulgate rules for the use of spec13 trum reallocated under subparagraph (A). 

14 (2) AUCTION PROCEEDS TO COVER 110 PER15 CENT OF FEDERAL RELOCATION OR SHARING

16 COSTS.—Nothing in this subsection shall be con17 strued to relieve the Commission from the require18 ments under section 309(j)(16)(B) of the Commu19 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(16)(B)). 

20 (3) EXTENSION OF AUCTION AUTHORITY.—Sec21 tion 309(j)(11) of the Communications Act of 1934 

22 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(11)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec23 tion 90008(b)(2)(A)(ii) of the Infrastructure Invest24 ment and Jobs Act’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(a) of 


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1 the Protecting Communications Networks from Chi2 nese Communist Party Espionage Act’’. 

3 (c) USE OF AUCTION PROCEEDS.—Notwithstanding 

4 subparagraphs (A), (C)(i), and (D) of section 309(j)(8) 

5 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)), 

6 and except as provided in subparagraph (B) of that para7 graph, the proceeds (including deposits and upfront pay8 ments from successful bidders) of competitive bidding 

9 under subsection (b) of this section (in this subsection re10 ferred to as ‘‘covered proceeds’’) shall be deposited or 

11 available as follows: 

12 (1) Such amount of the covered proceeds as is 

13 necessary to cover 110 percent of the relocation or 

14 sharing costs of Federal entities relocated from or 

15 sharing the frequencies identified under subsection 

16 (a) shall be deposited in the Spectrum Relocation 

17 Fund established under section 118 of the National 

18 Telecommunications and Information Administration 

19 Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 928). 

20 (2) After the amount required to be deposited 

21 by paragraph (1) of this subsection is so deposited, 

22 the Commission shall use such amounts as are nec23 essary to reimburse the general fund of the Treasury 

24 for any amounts borrowed under section (d) of this 

25 section. 


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1 (3) After compliance with paragraphs (1) and 

2 (2) of this subsection, the Commission shall deposit 

3 all remaining amounts in the general fund of the 

4 Treasury for the sole purpose of deficit reduction. 

5 (d) FCC BORROWING AUTHORITY.—The Commis6 sion may borrow from the Treasury of the United States 

7 an amount not to exceed $3,700,000,000 to carry out the 

8 Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 

9 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), notwithstanding the limi10 tation on expenditures under section 4(k) of that Act (47 

11 U.S.C. 1603(k)) and provided that the Commission shall 

12 not use any funds borrowed under this subsection in a 

13 manner that may result in outlays on or after September 

14 30, 2031. 

15 (e) RELATION TO SPECTRUM AUCTION UNDER IN16 FRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT.—Para17 graphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 90008(b) of the Infra18 structure Investment and Jobs Act (47 U.S.C. 921 note; 

19 Public Law 117–58) are repealed. 

Æ 


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