IB 

Union Calendar No. 149 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1343 

[Report No. 112–228, Part I] 

To return unused or reclaimed funds made available for broadband awards 

in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to the Treasury 

of the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 4, 2011 

Mr. BASS of New Hampshire introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 

Additional sponsors: Mr. WALDEN, Mr. TERRY, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. ROGERS

of Michigan, Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. BURGESS, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. GINGREY of 

Georgia, Mr. SCALISE, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. LATTA, Mr. 

LANCE, Mr. POMPEO, Mr. OLSON, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. HARPER, Mr. 

KINZINGER of Illinois, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. BARTON of 

Texas, Mr. UPTON, and Mr. PITTS

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 

Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 4, 2011] 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the 

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To return unused or reclaimed funds made available for 

broadband awards in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to the Treasury of the United 

States. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
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•HR 1343 RH

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

3 SECTION 1. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR BROADBAND STIMULUS 

4 FUNDS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service 

7 or the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communica8 tions and Information shall take prompt and appropriate 

9 action to terminate for cause any award made under the 

10 Broadband Initiatives Program or the Broadband Tech11 nology Opportunities Program, respectively, established 

12 pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

13 of 2009, if the Administrator or Assistant Secretary deter14 mines that cause exists to terminate the award. Such cause 

15 may include an insufficient level of performance, wasteful 

16 spending, or fraudulent spending. 

17 (b) DEOBLIGATION AND RETURN OF FUNDS TO TREAS18 URY.— 

19 (1) DEOBLIGATION.—Upon terminating an 

20 award under subsection (a), the Administrator or the 

21 Assistant Secretary shall immediately deobligate an 

22 amount equivalent to such award, less allowable costs, 

23 to the extent funds with respect to such award are 

24 available in the account relating to the Broadband 

25 Initiatives Program or the Broadband Technology 


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1 Opportunities Program, respectively. If the Adminis2 trator or the Assistant Secretary subsequently recovers 

3 any additional amounts from such award, the Ad4 ministrator or the Assistant Secretary shall deobligate 

5 such additional amounts immediately upon receipt. 

6 (2) RETURN TO TREASURY.—Not later than 30 

7 days after deobligating an amount under paragraph 

8 (1), the Administrator or the Assistant Secretary 

9 shall, without exception, return such amount to the 

10 general fund of the Treasury of the United States. 

11 (3) NO EXPENDITURES DURING TERMINATION

12 PROCESS.—The Administrator or the Assistant Sec13 retary shall promptly pursue available corrective 

14 measures to ensure that funds received through an 

15 award terminated under subsection (a) are not ex16 pended during the termination process. 

17 (4) ACCOUNTING BY AWARD RECIPIENT.—The 

18 Administrator or the Assistant Secretary shall direct 

19 the recipient of an award terminated under sub20 section (a) to provide to the Administrator or the As21 sistant Secretary a complete and accurate accounting, 

22 which may include an independent accounting, for 

23 any award funds that, as of the date of termination, 

24 the recipient has received but has not expended on al25 lowable costs. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISPOSITION OF UNUSED FUNDS. 

2 The Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service or the 

3 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 

4 Information shall return to the general fund of the Treasury 

5 of the United States an amount equivalent to any award, 

6 less allowable costs, made under the Broadband Initiatives 

7 Program or the Broadband Technology Opportunities Pro8 gram, respectively, established pursuant to the American 

9 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, if such award has 

10 been returned to the Administrator or Assistant Secretary 

11 or disclaimed by the award recipient at any time after the 

12 date of enactment of such Act. 

13 SEC. 3. OVERSIGHT AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

14 (a) ACTION ON INFORMATION FROM OIG OR GAO.— 

15 If the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service or the 

16 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 

17 Information receives information from an official described 

18 in subsection (b) with respect to an award made under the 

19 Broadband Initiatives Program or the Broadband Tech20 nology Opportunities Program, respectively, established 

21 pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

22 of 2009, and such information pertains to material non23 compliance with the award terms or provisions or improper 

24 usage of award funds, the Administrator or the Assistant 

25 Secretary shall— 

26 (1) immediately review such information; and 


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1 (2) not later than 30 days after receiving such 

2 information, determine whether cause exists to termi3 nate such award under section 1(a), unless the official 

4 who provided such information recommends that the 

5 Administrator or the Assistant Secretary limit or not 

6 make such a determination. 

7 (b) OFFICIALS DESCRIBED.—The officials described in 

8 this subsection are the following: 

9 (1) With respect to the Broadband Initiatives 

10 Program, the Inspector General of the Department of 

11 Agriculture. 

12 (2) With respect to the Broadband Technology 

13 Opportunities Program, the Inspector General of the 

14 Department of Commerce. 

15 (3) The Comptroller General of the United 

16 States. 

17 (c) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 days after 

19 making a determination described in subsection 

20 (a)(2), the Administrator or the Assistant Secretary 

21 shall provide a notification of such determination 

22 to— 

23 (A) the Committee on Agriculture of the 

24 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

25 Agriculture of the Senate or the Committee on 


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1 Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep2 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

3 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, re4 spectively; and 

5 (B) the official who provided the informa6 tion described in subsection (a). 

7 (2) CONTENTS OF NOTIFICATION.—The notifica8 tion required by paragraph (1) shall include an ex9 planation of— 

10 (A) the determination described in sub11 section (a)(2); and 

12 (B) any action taken as a result of the de13 termination or why no action was necessary. 

14 (3) CONFIDENTIAL NOTIFICATION UNDER CER15 TAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.—In the case of a determina16 tion by the Administrator or the Assistant Secretary 

17 under subsection (a)(2) that cause does not exist to 

18 terminate the award, the Administrator or the Assist19 ant Secretary may make the congressional notifica20 tion required by paragraph (1)(A) on a confidential 

21 basis, if the Administrator or the Assistant Secretary 

22 determines, after consultation with the official who 

23 provided the information described in subsection (a), 

24 that— 


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1 (A) there is no merit to such information; 

2 and 

3 (B) notification on a public basis would 

4 cause irreparable harm to any person the infor5 mation is regarding. 

6 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

7 Section 6001(i)(4) of the American Recovery and Re8 investment Act of 2009 (47 U.S.C. 1305(i)(4)) is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 

11 and 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘, and award these funds com13 petitively to new or existing applicants consistent 

14 with this section’’. 

15 SEC. 5. AWARD DEFINED. 

16 In this Act, the term ‘‘award’’ includes grants and 

17 loans. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS

srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 149 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1343 

[Report No. 112–228, Part I] 

A BILL 

To return unused or reclaimed funds made availTreasury of the United States. covery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to the able for broadband awards in the American ReSEPTEMBER 29, 2011 

Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

with an amendment 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to 

Union and ordered to be printed the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS