I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1083 

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 

MARCH 15, 2011 

Mr. OWENS 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. OFFICE OF RURAL BROADBAND INITIATIVES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Rural Electrifica8 tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating sections 601 and 602 as 

2 sections 603 and 604, respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting before section 603 (as so redes4 ignated) the following new sections: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS. 

6 ‘‘In this title: 

7 ‘‘(1) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of8 fice of Rural Broadband Initiatives established by 

9 section 602(a)(1). 

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

11 Secretary’ means the Under Secretary for Rural 

12 Broadband Initiatives appointed under section 

13 602(a)(2). 

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

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

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

17 Department of Agriculture an office to be known as 

18 the ‘Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives’. 

19 ‘‘(2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The head of the Of20 fice shall be the Under Secretary for Rural 

21 Broadband Initiatives, who shall— 

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

23 with the advice and consent of the Senate; and 

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

25 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 


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

2 shall— 

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

4 section, administer all rural broadband-related 

5 grant and loan programs previously adminis6 tered by the Administrator of the Rural Utili7 ties Service, including— 

8 ‘‘(i) the rural broadband access loan 

9 and loan guarantee program established 

10 under section 603; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the Community Connect Grant 

12 Program described in subpart A of part 

13 1739 of title 7, Code of Federal Regula14 tions (or successor regulations). 

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

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) conduct extensive, nationwide out18 reach to rural areas; 

19 ‘‘(B) foster the development of a com20 prehensive rural broadband strategic vision; 

21 ‘‘(C) plan coordination of Federal re22 sources for State, regional, and local govern23 ments to assist citizens living and working in 

24 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 

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

10 regional, and local governments to develop 

11 broadband deployment strategies. 

12 ‘‘(c) COMPREHENSIVE RURAL BROADBAND STRAT13 EGY.— 

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

15 after the appointment of the first Under Secretary, 

16 the Under Secretary shall submit to the President 

17 and Congress a report describing comprehensive 

18 rural broadband strategy that includes— 

19 ‘‘(A) recommendations— 

20 ‘‘(i) to promote interagency coordina21 tion of Federal agencies in regards to poli22 cies, procedures, and targeted resources, 

23 and to improve and streamline the policies, 

24 programs, and services; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to coordinate among Federal 

2 agencies regarding existing rural broad3 band or rural initiatives that could be of 

4 value to rural broadband development; 

5 ‘‘(iii) to address both short- and long6 term solutions and needs assessments for a 

7 rapid build-out of rural broadband solu8 tions and applications for Federal, State, 

9 regional, and local government policy mak10 ers; 

11 ‘‘(iv) to identify how specific Federal 

12 agency programs and resources can best 

13 respond to rural broadband requirements 

14 and overcome obstacles that currently im15 pede rural broadband deployment; and 

16 ‘‘(v) to promote successful model de17 ployments and appropriate technologies 

18 being used in rural areas so that State, re19 gional, and local governments can benefit 

20 from the cataloging of successes of other 

21 State, regional, and local governments; and 

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

23 to achieve the strategic plans and visions identi24 fied in the report. 


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1 ‘‘(2) UPDATES.—The Under Secretary shall up2 date and evaluate the report described in paragraph 

3 (1) on an annual basis. 

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

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

6 after the date of appointment of the first Under Sec7 retary, the Under Secretary shall submit to Con8 gress a plan to establish a Rural Broadband Advi9 sory Panel (referred to in this subsection as the 

10 ‘Panel’). 

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

12 chaired by the Under Secretary or a designee. 

13 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Panel shall be com14 posed of representatives of— 

15 ‘‘(A) State government; 

16 ‘‘(B) local government; 

17 ‘‘(C) communications equipment vendors 

18 (including broadband data service providers); 

19 ‘‘(D) public utility services; 

20 ‘‘(E) local exchange carriers; 

21 ‘‘(F) wireless carriers; 

22 ‘‘(G) satellite communications services; and 

23 ‘‘(H) other appropriate public or private 

24 sector entities, as determined by the Under Sec25 retary. 


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

2 than 4 times each year. 

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

4 ‘‘(A) assist the Under Secretary in updat5 ing the annual report described in subsection 

6 (c)(2); 

7 ‘‘(B) evaluate the effectiveness of all Fed8 eral broadband assistance programs and policies 

9 aimed at fostering broadband access in rural 

10 and underserved areas; 

11 ‘‘(C) evaluate best practices employed at 

12 the State and local government level to foster 

13 broadband access in rural and underserved 

14 areas; and 

15 ‘‘(D) cooperate with the Under Secretary 

16 in addressing and evaluating issues determined 

17 by the Under Secretary to be critical to fos18 tering broadband access and connectivity in 

19 rural and underserved areas. 

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

21 Secretary shall establish a comprehensive and interactive 

22 rural broadband Web-based clearinghouse that describes 

23 options, opportunities, resources, successful public-private 

24 partnerships, comprehensive funding sources, and tech25 nology tutorials for rural broadband, including— 


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1 ‘‘(1) case studies; 

2 ‘‘(2) descriptions of best practices; 

3 ‘‘(3) assessments of various technology solu4 tions; 

5 ‘‘(4) feasibility studies; 

6 ‘‘(5) applications, including telework, telemedi7 cine, distance learning, training, homeland security, 

8 senior citizen connectivity and program development, 

9 and business and economic development; 

10 ‘‘(6) rural broadband options and policies anal11 ysis; and 

12 ‘‘(7) support for networks among rural commu13 nities and economic development agencies.’’. 

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

15 Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (as redesignated by sub16 section (a)(1)) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (d)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘sub18 section (k)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (l)’’; 

19 (2) in subsection (j), by striking ‘‘Adminis20 trator’’ and inserting ‘‘Under Secretary’’; 

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

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

23 (4) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol24 lowing: 

25 ‘‘(k) RULES REVISION.— 


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

2 after the date of appointment of the first Under Sec3 retary, the Under Secretary shall submit to Con4 gress a revision of the rules and qualification criteria 

5 for the loan and loan guarantee programs under this 

6 section. 

7 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In preparing the revi8 sion, the Under Secretary shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) emphasize streamlining the applica10 tion process and processing time; 

11 ‘‘(B) ensure that the financial require12 ments for applicants do not unduly disqualify 

13 applicants that have demonstrated a viable 

14 business plan; and 

15 ‘‘(C) not diminish the mission of the pro16 gram to deliver broadband service to under17 served rural areas.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. SUFFICIENCY OF RESOURCES. 

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

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

21 shall submit to Congress a report describing the resources 

22 and staff necessary to carry out this Act and the amend23 ments made by this Act. 


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

2 provide the Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives the re3 sources and staff necessary to carry out this section. 

4 (c) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.— 

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

6 the United States shall review the report submitted 

7 under subsection (a) for validity. 

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

9 date on which the report is submitted under sub10 section (a), the Comptroller General of the United 

11 States shall submit to Congress a report containing 

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

Æ 


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