II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 454 

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Office 

of Rural Broadband, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2019 

Mr. CRAMER (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. HOEVEN, and Mr. WYDEN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Office of Rural Broadband, 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 ‘‘Office of Rural 

5 Broadband Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF RURAL BROADBAND. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

2 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 

3 United States Code. 

4 (2) BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘broadband’’ has 

5 the meaning given the term ‘‘advanced telecommuni6 cations capability’’ in section 706 of the Telecommu7 nications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302). 

8 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

9 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

10 (4) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of11 fice of Rural Broadband established under sub12 section (b). 

13 (5) RURAL.—The term ‘‘rural’’ has the mean14 ing given the term in section 54.505(b)(3) of title 

15 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

16 regulation. 

17 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

19 establish an Office of Rural Broadband. 

20 (c) DUTIES.—The Office shall have the following du21 ties: 

22 (1) Coordinate efforts with the Rural Utilities 

23 Service of the Department of Agriculture and the 

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1 ministration to ensure the mutual and complemen2 tary success of— 

3 (A) the initiatives of the Commission; and 

4 (B) the programs overseen by the other 

5 agencies described in this paragraph. 

6 (2) Coordinate with the Universal Service Ad7 ministrative Company to maintain updated informa8 tion regarding programs that deploy rural broad9 band. 

10 (3) Coordinate with other agencies to remove 

11 barriers to broadband deployment. 

12 (4) Assess, and publish the assessment of, the 

13 impact of proposed actions of the Commission on 

14 rural consumers before the actions are voted upon or 

15 taken. 

16 (5) Track broadband subscription rates in rural 

17 areas, using data collected by the Bureau of the 

18 Census under section 103(d) of the Broadband Data 

19 Improvement Act (47 U.S.C. 1303(d)). 

20 (6) Coordinate with other bureaus and offices 

21 of the Commission and other agencies to ensure con22 sistency and updating of broadband mapping in 

23 rural areas. 

24 (7) Include in the Communications Marketplace 

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1 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 163) a report on the 

2 efforts of the Office to promote and sustain quality 

3 and affordable rural communications services, in4 cluding voice service and broadband. 

5 (8) Dedicate a representative to address stake6 holder questions and concerns. 

7 (d) NO ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 Nothing in this section shall create any additional report9 ing requirement for a broadband provider. 

Æ 


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