I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1359 

To promote Internet access in developing countries and update foreign policy 

toward the Internet, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2019 

Mr. WRIGHT (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. TED LIEU of California, and Mr. 

BERA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To promote Internet access in developing countries and update foreign policy toward the Internet, 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 ‘‘Digital Global Access 

5 Policy Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Digital GAP Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to— 

8 (1) encourage the efforts of developing coun9 tries to improve and secure mobile and fixed access 


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1 to the Internet in order to catalyze innovation, spur 

2 economic growth and job creation, improve health, 

3 education, and financial services, reduce poverty and 

4 gender inequality, mitigate disasters, and promote 

5 free speech, democracy, and good governance; 

6 (2) promote build-once policies and approaches 

7 and the multi-stakeholder approach to Internet gov8 ernance; and 

9 (3) ensure the effective use of United States 

10 foreign assistance resources toward that end. 

11 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

12 Congress makes the following findings: 

13 (1) Internet access has been a driver of eco14 nomic activity around the world. Bringing Internet 

15 access to the more than 4,000,000,000 people who 

16 do not have it could increase global economic output 

17 by $6,700,000,000,000 and raise 500,000,000 peo18 ple out of poverty. 

19 (2) The number of Internet users has more 

20 than tripled from 1,000,000,000 to over 

21 3,000,000,000 since 2005, including 2,000,000,000 

22 living in the developing world, yet more than half of 

23 the world’s population remains offline, living without 

24 the economic and social benefits of the Internet. By 

25 the end of 2016, over 80 percent of households in 


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1 the developed world had Internet access, compared 

2 with just 40 percent of households in developing 

3 countries and just 11 percent in the world’s least de4 veloped countries. Of the world’s offline population, 

5 an estimated 75 percent live in just 20 countries, 

6 and rural, female, elderly, illiterate, and low-income 

7 populations are being left behind. 

8 (3) Studies suggest that women are dispropor9 tionately affected by a digital gap in developing 

10 countries, where there are on average 23 percent 

11 fewer women online then men. Bringing an addi12 tional 600,000,000 women online could contribute 

13 $13,000,000,000 to $18,000,000,000 to annual 

14 GDP across 144 developing countries. 

15 (4) The United States has been a leader in pro16 moting access to an open, secure, interoperable 

17 Internet around the world. Recognizing that support 

18 for expanded Internet access furthers United States 

19 economic and foreign policy interests, including ef20 forts to end extreme global poverty and enabling re21 silient, democratic societies, the Department of State 

22 launched a diplomatic effort called ‘‘Global Con23 nect’’. 

24 (5) Internet access in developing countries is 

25 hampered, in part, by a lack of infrastructure and 


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1 a poor regulatory environment for investment. Build2 once policies and approaches, which seek to coordi3 nate public and private sector investments in roads 

4 and other critical infrastructure, can reduce the 

5 number and scale of excavation and construction ac6 tivities when installing telecommunications infra7 structure in rights-of-way, thereby reducing installa8 tion costs for high-speed Internet networks and serv9 ing as a development best practice. 

10 SEC. 4. EXPANDING INTERNET ACCESS IN DEVELOPING 

11 COUNTRIES. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT14 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com15 mittees’’ means— 

16 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

17 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

18 Transportation, and the Committee on Appro19 priations of the Senate; and 

20 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

21 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the 

22 Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

23 Representatives. 

24 (2) BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘broadband’’ 

25 means an Internet Protocol-based transmission servVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1359.IH H1359

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1 ice that enables users to send and receive voice, 

2 video, data, graphics, or a combination thereof, 

3 using technologies including fiber optic, mobile, sat4 ellite, and Wi-Fi. 

5 (3) BROADBAND CONDUIT.—The term ‘‘broad6 band conduit’’ means a conduit for fiber optic cables 

7 and other connectivity technologies that support 

8 broadband or wireless facilities for broadband serv9 ice. 

10 (4) BUILD-ONCE POLICIES AND APPROACHES.— 

11 The term ‘‘build-once policies and approaches’’ 

12 means policies or practices that encourage the inte13 gration of Internet infrastructure into traditional in14 frastructure projects that minimize the number and 

15 scale of excavation and construction activities when 

16 installing telecommunications infrastructure in 

17 rights-of-way to reduce costs, such as by laying fiber 

18 optic cable simultaneously with road construction. 

19 (5) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘stakeholders’’ 

20 means the private sector, the public sector, coopera21 tives, civil society, the technical community that de22 velops Internet technologies, standards, implementa23 tion, operations, and applications, and other groups 

24 that are working to increase Internet access or are 


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1 impacted by the lack of Internet access in their com2 munities. 

3 (b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States to 

4 consult, partner, and coordinate with the governments of 

5 foreign countries, international organizations, regional 

6 economic communities, businesses, civil society, and other 

7 stakeholders in a concerted effort to close the digital gap 

8 by increasing public and private investments in secure 

9 Internet infrastructure and creating conditions for uni10 versal Internet access and usage worldwide by pro11 moting— 

12 (1) first-time access to fixed or mobile broad13 band Internet by 2027 for at least 1,500,000,000 

14 people living in urban and rural areas in developing 

15 countries; 

16 (2) Internet deployment and related coordina17 tion, capacity building, and build-once policies and 

18 approaches in developing countries, including actions 

19 to encourage— 

20 (A) standardization of build-once policies 

21 and approaches for the inclusion of broadband 

22 conduit in rights-of-way projects that are fund23 ed, co-funded, or partially financed by the 

24 United States or any international organization 

25 that includes the United States as a member, in 


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1 consultation with telecommunications providers, 

2 unless a cost-benefit analysis determines that 

3 the cost of such approach outweighs the bene4 fits; 

5 (B) adoption and integration of build-once 

6 policies and approaches into the development 

7 and investment strategies of national and local 

8 government agencies of developing countries 

9 and donor governments and organizations that 

10 will enhance coordination with the private sec11 tor for road building, pipe laying, major infra12 structure projects, and development-related con13 struction such as schools, clinics, and civic 

14 buildings; 

15 (C) provision of increased financial support 

16 by international organizations, including 

17 through grants, loans, technical assistance, and 

18 partnerships to expand information and com19 munications access and Internet connectivity; 

20 and 

21 (D) avoidance of vendors and contractors 

22 likely to be subject to extrajudicial direction 

23 from a foreign government; 

24 (3) policy and regulatory approaches that pro25 mote a competitive market for investment and innoVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1359.IH H1359

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1 vation in Internet infrastructure and service to en2 courage first-time, affordable access to the Internet 

3 in developing countries, including actions to encour4 age, as appropriate— 

5 (A) the integration of universal and gen6 der-equitable Internet access and adoption 

7 goals, to be informed by the collection of related 

8 gender disaggregated data and research on so9 cial norms that often limit women’s and girls’ 

10 use of the Internet, into national development 

11 plans and United States Government country12 level strategies; 

13 (B) effective, transparent, and efficient 

14 spectrum allocation processes and reforms of 

15 competition laws that may impede the ability of 

16 companies to provide Internet services; and 

17 (C) efforts to improve procurement proc18 esses to help attract and incentivize investment 

19 in secure Internet infrastructure; 

20 (4) the removal of tax and regulatory barriers 

21 to Internet access, as appropriate; 

22 (5) the use of the Internet to increase economic 

23 growth and trade, including, as appropriate— 


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1 (A) policies and strategies to remove re2 strictions to e-commerce, cross-border informa3 tion flows, and competitive marketplaces; and 

4 (B) entrepreneurship and distance learning 

5 enabled by access to technology; 

6 (6) the use of the Internet to bolster democ7 racy, government accountability, transparency, gen8 der equity, and human rights, including through the 

9 establishment of policies, initiatives, and investments 

10 that— 

11 (A) support the development of national 

12 broadband plans or information and commu13 nication technologies strategies that are con14 sistent with fundamental civil and political 

15 rights, including freedom of expression, religion, 

16 belief, assembly, and association; 

17 (B) expand online access to government in18 formation and services to enhance government 

19 accountability and service delivery, including for 

20 areas in which government may have limited 

21 presence; and 

22 (C) support expression of free speech and 

23 enable political organizing and activism in sup24 port of human rights and democracy through 

25 activities that expand access to independent 


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1 sources of news and information and safeguard 

2 human rights and fundamental freedoms online, 

3 in compliance with international human rights 

4 standards; 

5 (7) programs and mechanisms that actively pro6 mote and advance access to and adoption of Internet 

7 and other information and communications tech8 nologies by women, people with disabilities, minori9 ties, low-income and marginalized groups, and un10 derserved populations, such as programs that ad11 dress social norms and barriers to women’s active 

12 participation in the digital economy or Internet pol13 icymaking; 

14 (8) mechanisms for public and private financing 

15 of rural broadband connectivity and digital inclusion; 

16 (9) public Internet access facilities and Wi-Fi 

17 networks in places such as libraries, government 

18 buildings, community centers, and schools; 

19 (10) the creation and support of research and 

20 educational networks; 

21 (11) cybersecurity, data protection, and privacy, 

22 including international use of the latest version of 

23 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

24 Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure 

25 Cybersecurity; and 


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1 (12) interagency coordination and cooperation 

2 across all executive branch agencies regarding the 

3 promotion of Internet initiatives as a part of United 

4 States foreign policy. 

5 (c) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary of 

6 State, in coordination with other agencies, multilateral in7 stitutions, foreign countries, and stakeholders, shall ad8 vance the policy articulated in this Act and promote ex9 panded Internet connectivity worldwide, as appropriate, 

10 by— 

11 (1) encouraging foreign countries to prioritize 

12 secure Internet connectivity in development plans; 

13 (2) promoting the formation of region-specific 

14 multi-sector working groups to ensure technical and 

15 regulatory best practices; and 

16 (3) encouraging the development of digital lit17 eracy programs in developing countries. 

18 (d) USAID.—The Administrator of the United 

19 States Agency for International Development (USAID) 

20 should advance the policy articulated in this Act and sup21 port expanded Internet connectivity worldwide, as appro22 priate, by— 

23 (1) supporting efforts to expand secure Internet 

24 infrastructure and improve digital literacy, and other 

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1 ty and usage, in close coordination with the Sec2 retary of State; 

3 (2) encouraging public and private investment 

4 in Internet infrastructure and services of developing 

5 countries that takes into consideration the data se6 curity and integrity risks attendant to the products 

7 and services of vendors likely to be subject to 

8 extrajudicial direction from a foreign government; 

9 (3) integrating efforts to expand Internet ac10 cess, develop appropriate, sustainable, and equitable 

11 technologies, and enhance digital literacy and the 

12 availability of relevant local content across develop13 ment sectors, such as USAID health, education, ag14 riculture, and economic development programs; 

15 (4) expanding the utilization of information and 

16 communications technologies in humanitarian aid 

17 and disaster relief responses and United States oper18 ations involving reconstruction and stabilization to 

19 improve donor coordination, reduce duplication and 

20 waste, capture and share lessons learned, and aug21 ment disaster preparedness and risk mitigation 

22 strategies; 

23 (5) establishing and promoting guidelines for 

24 the protection of personal information of individuals 

25 served by humanitarian, disaster, and development 


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1 programs directly through the United States Gov2 ernment, and through contracts funded by the 

3 United States Government and by international or4 ganizations; and 

5 (6) establishing programs that directly address 

6 and seek to close gaps in access, adoption, and use 

7 of the Internet and other information and commu8 nications technologies by women, minorities, and 

9 other marginalized groups. 

10 (e) PEACE CORPS.—Section 3 of the Peace Corps Act 

11 (22 U.S.C. 2502) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub13 section (e); and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(f) It is the sense of Congress that access to the 

16 Internet can transform agriculture, community economic 

17 development, education, environment, health, and youth 

18 development, which are the sectors in which Peace Corps 

19 develops positions for volunteers. 

20 ‘‘(g) In giving attention to the programs, projects, 

21 training, and other activities referred to in subsection (f), 

22 the Peace Corps should develop positions for volunteers 

23 that include leveraging the Internet, as appropriate, for 

24 development, education, and social and economic mobil25 ity.’’. 


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1 (f) LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT.—In 

2 pursuing the policy described in this Act, the President 

3 should direct United States representatives to appropriate 

4 international bodies to use the influence of the United 

5 States, consistent with the broad development goals of the 

6 United States, to advocate that each such body— 

7 (1) commit to increase efforts and coordination 

8 to promote affordable, open, and gender-equitable 

9 Internet access, in partnership with stakeholders and 

10 consistent with host countries’ absorptive capacity; 

11 (2) integrate affordable and gender-equitable 

12 Internet access data into existing economic and busi13 ness assessments, evaluations, and indexes such as 

14 the Millennium Challenge Corporation constraints 

15 analysis, the Doing Business reports, International 

16 Monetary Fund Article IV assessments and country 

17 reports, and the Affordability Drivers Index; 

18 (3) standardize the inclusion of broadband con19 duit as part of highway or comparable construction 

20 projects in developing countries, in consultation with 

21 telecommunications providers, unless— 

22 (A) such inclusion would create an undue 

23 burden; 


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1 (B) such inclusion is not necessary based 

2 on the availability of existing broadband infra3 structure; 

4 (C) such inclusion would require the incor5 poration of the hardware, software, or mainte6 nance of vendors likely to be subject to 

7 extrajudicial direction from a foreign govern8 ment; or 

9 (D) a cost-benefit analysis determines that 

10 the cost of such inclusion outweighs the bene11 fits; 

12 (4) provide technical assistance to the regu13 latory authorities in developing countries to remove 

14 unnecessary barriers to investment and develop reg15 ulations to support market growth and development; 

16 (5) utilize clear, accountable, and metric-based 

17 targets, including targets with gender-disaggregated 

18 data, to measure the effectiveness of efforts to pro19 mote Internet access; and 

20 (6) promote and protect human rights online, 

21 such as the freedoms of expression, religion, belief, 

22 assembly, and association, through resolutions, pub23 lic statements, projects, and initiatives, and advo24 cating that member states of such bodies are held 

25 accountable for violations. 


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1 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION

2 EFFORTS.—Not later than one year after the date of the 

3 enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the 

4 appropriate congressional committees a report on efforts 

5 to implement the policy described in this Act and, to the 

6 extent practicable, describe efforts by the United States 

7 Government to— 

8 (1) provide technical and regulatory assistance 

9 to promote Internet access in developing countries; 

10 (2) strengthen and support development of reg11 ulations that incentivize market growth that contrib12 utes to increased Internet access in developing coun13 tries; 

14 (3) encourage public and private investment in 

15 Internet infrastructure, including broadband net16 works and services, in developing countries; 

17 (4) increase gender-equitable Internet access 

18 and close gender gaps in Internet and other infor19 mation and communications technology adoption and 

20 use, especially in countries in which social norms 

21 limit such adoption and use by women and girls, and 

22 otherwise encourage or support Internet deployment, 

23 competition, and adoption; and 


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1 (5) conduct outreach and explore partnership 

2 opportunities with the private sector on activities 

3 that advance the policy described in this Act. 

4 SEC. 5. COST LIMITATION. 

5 No additional funds are authorized to be appro6 priated to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

7 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

8 Nothing in this Act may be construed to infringe 

9 upon the related functions of any Executive agency (as 

10 defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code) vest11 ed in such agency under any other provision of law. 

Æ 


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