I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3152 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish an Office of 

Rural Broadband Initiatives in the Department of Agriculture, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2015 

Mr. NOLAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 

A BILL 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish 

an Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives in the Department of Agriculture, 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 ‘‘Rural Broadband Ini5 tiative Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 

2 helped bring electricity and telephone service to 

3 rural America, thus removing major barriers to the 

4 development of our rural economies. 

5 (2) A lack of affordable broadband presents a 

6 similar barrier to the development of our rural econ7 omy. 

8 (3) According to the Federal Communications 

9 Commission, 53 percent of rural Americans lack ac10 cess to service delivering broadband speeds of 25 

11 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. 

12 (4) High-speed broadband access helps rural 

13 communities compete and grow in our digital econ14 omy. 

15 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

16 It is the sense of the Congress that necessary funds 

17 should be made available to provide universal and afford18 able broadband access to the United States of America 

19 with a focus on underserved rural communities. 

20 SEC. 4. OFFICE OF RURAL BROADBAND INITIATIVES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Rural Electrifica22 tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.) is amended— 

23 (1) by redesignating sections 601 through 603 

24 as sections 603 through 605, respectively; and 


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1 (2) by inserting before section 603 (as so redes2 ignated) the following new sections: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS. 

4 ‘‘In this title: 

5 ‘‘(1) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of6 fice of Rural Broadband Initiatives established by 

7 section 602(a)(1). 

8 ‘‘(2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘Under 

9 Secretary’ means the Under Secretary for Rural 

10 Broadband Initiatives appointed under section 

11 602(a)(2). 

12 ‘‘SEC. 602. OFFICE OF RURAL BROADBAND INITIATIVES. 

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

15 Department of Agriculture an office to be known as 

16 the ‘Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives’. 

17 ‘‘(2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The head of the Of18 fice shall be the Under Secretary for Rural 

19 Broadband Initiatives, who shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the President, by and 

21 with the advice and consent of the Senate; and 

22 ‘‘(B) report directly to the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) as of the date of enactment of this 

2 section, administer all rural broadband-related 

3 grant and loan programs previously adminis4 tered by the Administrator of the Rural Utili5 ties Service, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) the rural broadband access loan 

7 and loan guarantee program established 

8 under section 603; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the Community Connect Grant 

10 Program described in subpart A of part 

11 1739 of title 7, Code of Federal Regula12 tions (or successor regulations); and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the Telecommunications Infra14 structure Loan program established under 

15 this Act. 

16 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Under Secretary 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) conduct extensive, nationwide out19 reach to rural areas; 

20 ‘‘(B) foster the development of a com21 prehensive rural broadband strategic vision; 

22 ‘‘(C) plan coordination of Federal re23 sources for State, regional, and local govern24 ments to assist citizens living and working in 

25 rural areas; 


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1 ‘‘(D) assess all relevant technologies (in2 cluding WiFi, WIMAX, DSL, cable, satellite, 

3 fiber, and broadband over power lines), as the 

4 technologies are able to support in whole or in 

5 part rural broadband needs and requirements; 

6 ‘‘(E) serve as a single information source 

7 for all rural broadband programs and services 

8 administered by Federal agencies, and coordi9 nate the activities undertaken under Federal 

10 rural broadband programs; and 

11 ‘‘(F) provide technical assistance to State, 

12 regional, and local governments to develop 

13 broadband deployment strategies. 

14 ‘‘(c) COMPREHENSIVE RURAL BROADBAND STRAT15 EGY.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the appointment of the first Under Secretary, 

18 the Under Secretary shall submit to the President 

19 and Congress a report describing comprehensive 

20 rural broadband strategy that includes— 

21 ‘‘(A) recommendations— 

22 ‘‘(i) to promote interagency coordina23 tion of Federal agencies in regards to poli24 cies, procedures, and targeted resources, 


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1 and to improve and streamline the policies, 

2 programs, and services; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to coordinate among Federal 

4 agencies regarding existing rural broad5 band or rural initiatives that could be of 

6 value to rural broadband development; 

7 ‘‘(iii) to address both short- and long8 term solutions and needs assessments for a 

9 rapid build-out of rural broadband solu10 tions and applications for Federal, State, 

11 regional, and local government policy mak12 ers; 

13 ‘‘(iv) to identify how specific Federal 

14 agency programs and resources can best 

15 respond to rural broadband requirements 

16 and overcome obstacles that currently im17 pede rural broadband deployment; and 

18 ‘‘(v) to promote successful model de19 ployments and appropriate technologies 

20 being used in rural areas so that State, re21 gional, and local governments can benefit 

22 from the cataloging of successes of other 

23 State, regional, and local governments; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) a description of goals and timeframes 

2 to achieve the strategic plans and visions identi3 fied in the report. 

4 ‘‘(2) UPDATES.—The Under Secretary shall up5 date and evaluate the report described in paragraph 

6 (1) on an annual basis. 

7 ‘‘(d) RURAL BROADBAND ADVISORY PANEL.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

9 after the date of appointment of the first Under Sec10 retary, the Under Secretary shall submit to Con11 gress a plan to establish a Rural Broadband Advi12 sory Panel (referred to in this subsection as the 

13 ‘Panel’). 

14 ‘‘(2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Panel shall be 

15 chaired by the Under Secretary or a designee. 

16 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Panel shall be com17 posed of representatives of— 

18 ‘‘(A) State government; 

19 ‘‘(B) local government; 

20 ‘‘(C) communications equipment vendors 

21 (including broadband data service providers); 

22 ‘‘(D) public utility services; 

23 ‘‘(E) local exchange carriers; 

24 ‘‘(F) wireless carriers; 

25 ‘‘(G) satellite communications services; and 


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1 ‘‘(H) other appropriate public or private 

2 sector entities, as determined by the Under Sec3 retary. 

4 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Panel shall meet not less 

5 than 4 times each year. 

6 ‘‘(5) DUTIES.—The Advisory Panel shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) assist the Under Secretary in updat8 ing the annual report described in subsection 

9 (c)(2); 

10 ‘‘(B) evaluate the effectiveness of all Fed11 eral broadband assistance programs and policies 

12 aimed at fostering broadband access in rural 

13 and underserved areas; 

14 ‘‘(C) evaluate best practices employed at 

15 the State and local government level to foster 

16 broadband access in rural and underserved 

17 areas; and 

18 ‘‘(D) cooperate with the Under Secretary 

19 in addressing and evaluating issues determined 

20 by the Under Secretary to be critical to fos21 tering broadband access and connectivity in 

22 rural and underserved areas. 

23 ‘‘(e) WEB-BASED CLEARINGHOUSE.—The Under 

24 Secretary shall establish a comprehensive and interactive 

25 rural broadband Web-based clearinghouse that describes 


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1 options, opportunities, resources, successful public-private 

2 partnerships, comprehensive funding sources, and tech3 nology tutorials for rural broadband, including— 

4 ‘‘(1) case studies; 

5 ‘‘(2) descriptions of best practices; 

6 ‘‘(3) assessments of various technology solu7 tions; 

8 ‘‘(4) feasibility studies; 

9 ‘‘(5) applications, including telework, telemedi10 cine, distance learning, training, homeland security, 

11 senior citizen connectivity and program development, 

12 and business and economic development; 

13 ‘‘(6) rural broadband options and policies anal14 ysis; and 

15 ‘‘(7) support for networks among rural commu16 nities and economic development agencies.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 603 of the 

18 Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (as so redesignated by 

19 subsection (a)(1)) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (d)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘sub21 section (k)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (l)’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (j), by striking ‘‘Adminis23 trator’’ and inserting ‘‘Under Secretary’’; 

24 (3) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as 

25 subsections (l) and (m), respectively; and 


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1 (4) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(k) RULES REVISION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

5 after the date of appointment of the first Under Sec6 retary, the Under Secretary shall submit to Con7 gress a revision of the rules and qualification criteria 

8 for the loan and loan guarantee programs under this 

9 section. 

10 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In preparing the revi11 sion, the Under Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) emphasize streamlining the applica13 tion process and processing time; 

14 ‘‘(B) ensure that the financial require15 ments for applicants do not unduly disqualify 

16 applicants that have demonstrated a viable 

17 business plan; and 

18 ‘‘(C) not diminish the mission of the pro19 gram to deliver broadband service to under20 served rural areas.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. SUFFICIENCY OF RESOURCES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

24 shall submit to Congress a report describing the resources 


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1 and staff necessary to carry out this Act and the amend2 ments made by this Act. 

3 (b) PREPARATION OF REPORT.—The Secretary shall 

4 provide the Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives the re5 sources and staff necessary to carry out this section. 

6 (c) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

8 the United States shall review the report submitted 

9 under subsection (a) for validity. 

10 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the 

11 date on which the report is submitted under sub12 section (a), the Comptroller General of the United 

13 States shall submit to Congress a report containing 

14 the findings of the review under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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