II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 592 

To establish a reserve fund for the proceeds of the C-band auction conducted 

by the Federal Communications Commission. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 4, 2021 

Mr. WICKER (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 establish a reserve fund for the proceeds of the C-band 

auction conducted by the Federal Communications Commission. 

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 ‘‘Broadband Reserve 

5 Fund Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BROADBAND AND CONNECTIVITY RESERVE FUND. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means the 

2 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communica3 tions and Information; and 

4 (2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

5 Communications Commission. 

6 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF RESERVE FUND.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

8 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known 

9 as the ‘‘Broadband Reserve Fund’’ (referred to in 

10 this section as the ‘‘Fund’’). 

11 (2) AVAILABILITY.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts deposited in 

13 the Fund shall remain available through fiscal 

14 year 2030. 

15 (B) USE FOR DEFICIT REDUCTION.—Any 

16 amounts remaining in the Fund after the end 

17 of fiscal year 2030 shall be deposited in the 

18 general fund of the Treasury for the sole pur19 pose of deficit reduction. 

20 (c) USE OF FUND.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2)— 

22 (A) amounts in the Fund shall be available 

23 for use by the Commission; and 

24 (B) the Commission— 


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1 (i) shall reserve not less than 20 per2 cent of the amounts in the Fund for use 

3 by the Assistant Secretary; and 

4 (ii) shall transfer the amounts re5 served under clause (i) to the Assistant 

6 Secretary upon request. 

7 (2) LIMITATION.—The Commission and the As8 sistant Secretary may not access or use amounts in 

9 the Fund for any purpose unless specifically author10 ized by an Act of Congress enacted after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act. 

12 (3) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PERMIS13 SIBLE USES OF FUND.—It is the sense of Congress 

14 that Congress should enact further legislation speci15 fying the purposes for which amounts in the Fund 

16 may be used, which may include— 

17 (A) broadband deployment to unserved 

18 areas; 

19 (B) distance and remote learning; 

20 (C) digital equity and expanding 

21 broadband access in minority communities and 

22 on Tribal land; 

23 (D) securing the telecommunications sup24 ply chain; 

25 (E) promoting spectrum efficiency; 


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1 (F) investment in public safety commu2 nications infrastructure; 

3 (G) precision agriculture technologies; and 

4 (H) telehealth technologies. 

5 (d) INVESTMENT.—Amounts in the Fund shall be in6 vested in accordance with section 9702 of title 31, United 

7 States Code, and any interest on, and proceeds from, any 

8 such investment shall be credited to, and become a part 

9 of, the Fund. 

10 (e) DEPOSIT OF C-BAND SPECTRUM AUCTION PRO11 CEEDS IN FUND.—Section 309(j)(8) of the Communica12 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and (G)’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘(G), and (H)’’; 

15 (2) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ‘‘and 

16 (G)’’ and inserting ‘‘(G), and (H)’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(H) C-BAND AUCTION PROCEEDS.—Not19 withstanding subparagraph (A), and except as 

20 provided in subparagraph (B), of the proceeds 

21 (including deposits and upfront payments from 

22 successful bidders) from the use of a system of 

23 competitive bidding under this subsection to 

24 award licenses in the band of frequencies be25 tween 3700 megahertz and 3980 megahertz 


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1 (designated by the Commission as ‘Auction 

2 107’), $65,000,000,000 shall be deposited in 

3 the Broadband Reserve Fund established under 

4 section 3 of the Broadband Reserve Fund Act 

5 of 2021.’’. 

Æ 


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