I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 187

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission to prescribe rules to lower market entry barriers

for small business, business concerns owned by women and members

of minority groups, and nonprofit entities that are seeking to provide

telecommunication services and information services.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the

Federal Communications Commission to prescribe rules

to lower market entry barriers for small business, business concerns owned by women and members of minority

groups, and nonprofit entities that are seeking to provide

telecommunication services and information services.

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

3 SECTION. 1. COMPETITION BY SMALL BUSINESS AND MI4 NORITY-OWNED BUSINESS CONCERNS.

5 Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 is

6 amended by adding at the end the following new section:
2

•HR 187 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 235. POLICY AND RULEMAKING TO PROMOTE DIVER2 SITY OF OWNERSHIP.

3 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

4 ‘‘(1) in furtherance of the purposes of this Act

5 to make available to all people of the United States

6 a rapid and efficient communications service, and

7 for the purposes of promoting a diversity of opinion

8 in the broadcasting service, the Commission has es9 tablished regulations and policies to promote owner10 ship of broadcasting services by members of minority

11 groups;

12 ‘‘(2) these regulations have served to promote

13 more vigorous communications on public issues, to

14 broaden the number and variety of stakeholders in

15 the American economy, and to promote innovation

16 by and creativity by Americans of different cultures

17 and national origins, and thereby have served to

18 build a more cohesive and productive society;

19 ‘‘(3) while the Commission has adopted regula20 tions to promote participation by businesses owned

21 by members of minority groups and women, and

22 small businesses, in auctions for certain spectrum23 based services which promote diversity of ownership

24 in those services, no other regulations have been es25 tablished to promote such diversity of participation

26 in the provision of common carrier services or in the
3

•HR 187 IH

1 provision of other telecommunications and informa2 tion services;

3 ‘‘(4) the goals of competitively priced services,

4 service innovation, employment, and diversity of

5 viewpoint can be advanced by promoting market6 place penetration by small business concerns, busi7 ness concerns owned by women and members of mi8 nority groups, and nonprofit entities; and

9 ‘‘(5) it should be the policy of the Commission

10 to promote whenever possible diversity of ownership

11 in the provision of information services and tele12 communication services by such concerns and enti13 ties.

14 ‘‘(b) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—Within 1 year after

15 the date of enactment of this section, the Commission, in

16 consultation with the National Telecommunications and

17 Information Administration, shall initiate a rulemaking

18 proceeding for the purpose of lowering market entry bar19 riers for small business, business concerns owned by

20 women and members of minority groups, and nonprofit

21 entities that are seeking to provide telecommunication

22 services and information services. The proceeding shall

23 seek to provide remedies for, among other things, lack of

24 access to capital and technical and marketing expertise on

25 the part of such concerns and entities. Consistent with the
4

•HR 187 IH

1 broad policy and finding set forth in subsection (a), the

2 Commission shall adopt such regulations and make such

3 recommendations to Congress as the Commission deems

4 appropriate. Not later than 2 years after the date of enact5 ment of this section, the Commission shall complete the

6 proceeding required by this subsection.’’.

Æ