II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2205 

To improve access by Indian tribes to support from the Schools and Libraries 

Universal Service Support program (E-rate) of the Federal Communications Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2017 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. HELLER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve access by Indian tribes to support from the 

Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support program 

(E-rate) of the Federal Communications Commission, 

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 ‘‘Tribal Connect Act 

5 of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES AND QUALI2 FYING ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS FOR E-RATE 

3 SUPPORT. 

4 Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

5 U.S.C. 254) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (h)(4), by inserting ‘‘, except 

7 as provided in subsection (m),’’ before ‘‘is a library 

8 or library consortium’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(m) ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES AND

11 QUALIFYING ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS FOR E-RATE SUP12 PORT.— 

13 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

14 ‘‘(A) the term ‘broadband Internet access 

15 service’ has the meaning given the term in sec16 tion 8.2 of title 47, Code of Federal Regula17 tions, or any successor regulation; 

18 ‘‘(B) the term ‘E-rate program’ means the 

19 universal service program for schools and li20 braries authorized under subsection (h)(1)(B), 

21 the rules of which are set forth under subpart 

22 F of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regu23 lations (or any successor regulation), as author24 ized under subsection (h)(2)(A); 

25 ‘‘(C) the term ‘E-rate support’ means uni26 versal service discounts on eligible services in 


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1 accordance with subpart F of part 54 of title 

2 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc3 cessor regulation), as authorized under sub4 section (h)(2)(A); 

5 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the mean6 ing given the term in section 20.1 of title 25, 

7 Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

8 regulation; and 

9 ‘‘(E) the term ‘qualifying anchor institu10 tion’ means a facility owned by an Indian tribe, 

11 including a tribal government building, chapter 

12 house, longhouse, community center, senior cen13 ter, or other similar public building. 

14 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES FOR E15 RATE SUPPORT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES

17 AS LIBRARIES ELIGIBLE FOR E-RATE SUP18 PORT.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An Indian tribe 

20 that is eligible for support under section 

21 261 of the Library Services and Tech22 nology Act (20 U.S.C. 9161) may des23 ignate a tribal library or tribal library con24 sortium as a library or consortium that is 

25 eligible for E-rate support, without regard 


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1 to whether the library or library consor2 tium is eligible for assistance from a State 

3 Library Administrative Agency under the 

4 Library Services and Technology Act (20 

5 U.S.C. 9121 et seq.), if the library or li6 brary consortium is eligible for support 

7 from an Indian tribe under such section 

8 261. 

9 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

10 Nothing in clause (i) shall be construed to 

11 exempt a tribal library from any require12 ment under the E-rate program not de13 scribed in that clause, including the other 

14 requirements relating to eligible recipients 

15 under section 54.501 of title 47, Code of 

16 Federal Regulations (or any successor reg17 ulation). 

18 ‘‘(B) TRIBAL ANCHOR INSTITUTION DEM19 ONSTRATION PROGRAM.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, 

21 in consultation with the Institute of Mu22 seum and Library Services and any other 

23 agency with relevant responsibilities, shall 

24 establish a pilot program to be known as 

25 the ‘Tribal Anchor Institution Program’, 


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1 under which the Commission shall provide 

2 E-rate support to Indian tribes for quali3 fying anchor institutions designated by the 

4 Indian tribes. 

5 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBILITY.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible 

7 to obtain E-rate support under this 

8 subparagraph, a tribal government 

9 shall not have an existing tribal li10 brary eligible for the Schools and Li11 braries Universal Service Support pro12 gram within the tribal community. 

13 ‘‘(II) REQUIREMENTS.—E-rate 

14 support obtained under this subpara15 graph shall only be available for an 

16 Indian tribe if— 

17 ‘‘(aa) the proposed quali18 fying anchor institution is exclu19 sively owned by the Indian tribe; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(bb) the proposed quali22 fying anchor institution intends 

23 to deliver publicly available Inter24 net access to students, teachers, 

25 librarians, and members of the 


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1 community for educational pur2 poses. 

3 ‘‘(III) RULE OF CONSTRUC4 TION.—Nothing in this clause shall be 

5 construed to provide the Commission 

6 with the authority to modify the eligi7 bility requirements described in this 

8 clause. 

9 ‘‘(iii) USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—Of 

10 the amount collected for the Universal 

11 Service Fund under subsection (d), 

12 $20,000,000 shall be made available for 

13 each of the first 5 fiscal years beginning 

14 after the date of enactment of the Tribal 

15 Connect Act of 2017 to the Commission to 

16 carry out this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

18 FOR TRIBAL SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Commission 

20 shall direct the Administrator of the Schools 

21 and Libraries Universal Service Support pro22 gram to submit an annual report to the Com23 mission regarding the actions of the Schools 

24 and Libraries Universal Service Support pro25 gram to ensure that tribal schools and libraries 


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1 can participate fully and effectively in the E2 rate program, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) outreach efforts targeted to tribal 

4 schools and libraries to promote awareness 

5 of the E-rate program; 

6 ‘‘(ii) specific E-rate training programs 

7 for tribal schools and libraries; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) other technical assistance initia9 tives regarding the program’s application 

10 process that are available to tribal schools 

11 and libraries. 

12 ‘‘(B) REVIEW OF ANNUAL REPORTS.—The 

13 Commission shall review each annual report re14 quired under subparagraph (A) to determine 

15 whether additional steps are necessary to en16 sure that tribal schools and libraries can par17 ticipate fully and effectively in the E-rate pro18 gram. 

19 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION AND PERFORMANCE MEAS20 UREMENT.—The Commission shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) improve the reliability of the data of 

22 the Commission relating to institutions that re23 ceive E-rate support by defining the term ‘trib24 al’ on the application for E-rate support; and 


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1 ‘‘(B)(i) develop performance goals and 

2 measures to track progress on achieving the 

3 strategic objective of the Commission of ensur4 ing that all tribal libraries have affordable ac5 cess to broadband Internet access service tech6 nologies for educational purposes for students, 

7 teachers, librarians, and members of the com8 munity; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) not later than 1 year after the date 

10 of enactment of this subsection, submit to Con11 gress and make public a report on the goals 

12 and measures developed under clause (i).’’. 

Æ 


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