I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3278 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for the establishment 

of a program to expand access to broadband. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Mr. LOEBSACK (for himself, Mr. LUJA ́N, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MCNERNEY, 

Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 

Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, and Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for 

the establishment of a program to expand access to 

broadband. 

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 ‘‘Connect America Act 

5 of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF BROADBAND ACCESS. 

2 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

3 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 14. EXPANSION OF BROADBAND ACCESS. 

6 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Not later than 180 

7 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

8 Commission, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary, 

9 shall establish a program to expand access to broadband 

10 for unserved areas, underserved areas, and unserved an11 chor institutions in accordance with the requirements of 

12 this section that— 

13 ‘‘(1) is separate from any universal service pro14 gram established pursuant to section 254; and 

15 ‘‘(2) does not require funding recipients to be 

16 designated as eligible telecommunications carriers 

17 under section 214(e). 

18 ‘‘(b) USE OF PROGRAM FUNDS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) EXPANDING ACCESS TO BROADBAND

20 THROUGH NATIONAL REVERSE AUCTION.—Not later 

21 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of 

22 this section, the Commission shall award 75 percent 

23 of the amounts appropriated under subsection (h) 

24 through a national reverse auction to funding recipi25 ents only to expand access to broadband in unserved 

26 areas. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXPANDING ACCESS TO BROADBAND

2 THROUGH STATES.— 

3 ‘‘(A) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS TO

4 STATES.—Not later than 255 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this section, the Com6 mission shall distribute 25 percent of the 

7 amounts appropriated under subsection (h) 

8 among the States, in direct proportion to the 

9 population of each State. 

10 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 195 

11 days after the date of the enactment of this sec12 tion, the Commission shall issue a public notice 

13 informing each State and the public of the 

14 amounts to be distributed under this para15 graph. The notice shall include— 

16 ‘‘(i) the manner in which a State shall 

17 inform the Commission of that State’s ac18 ceptance or acceptance in part of the 

19 amounts to be distributed under this para20 graph; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the date (which is 30 days after 

22 the date on which the public notice is 

23 issued) by which such acceptance or ac24 ceptance in part is due; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the requirements as set forth 

2 under this section and as may be further 

3 prescribed by the Commission. 

4 ‘‘(C) ACCEPTANCE BY STATES.—Not later 

5 than 30 days after the date on which the public 

6 notice is issued under subparagraph (B), each 

7 State accepting amounts to be distributed 

8 under this paragraph shall inform the Commis9 sion of the acceptance or acceptance in part by 

10 the State of the amounts to be distributed 

11 under this paragraph in the manner described 

12 by the Commission in the public notice. 

13 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT

14 OF AMOUNTS DISTRIBUTED.—Each State ac15 cepting amounts distributed under this para16 graph— 

17 ‘‘(i) shall only award such amounts 

18 through a statewide reverse auction or auc19 tions, in the manner prescribed by the 

20 State but subject to the requirements as 

21 set forth under this section and as may be 

22 further prescribed by the Commission; 

23 ‘‘(ii) shall make such awards only— 


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1 ‘‘(I) to funding recipients to ex2 pand access to broadband in unserved 

3 areas; 

4 ‘‘(II) to funding recipients to ex5 pand access to broadband to unserved 

6 anchor institutions; or 

7 ‘‘(III) to funding recipients to ex8 pand access to broadband in under9 served areas, but only if a State does 

10 not have, or no longer has, any 

11 unserved areas; 

12 ‘‘(iii) shall conduct separate reverse 

13 auctions for awards made to unserved an14 chor institutions under clause (ii)(II), if a 

15 State awards any funding provided by this 

16 section to unserved anchor institutions; 

17 ‘‘(iv) shall return any unused portion 

18 of such amounts to the Commission within 

19 10 years after the date of the enactment of 

20 this section and shall submit a certification 

21 to the Commission before receiving such 

22 amounts that the State will return such 

23 amounts; and 

24 ‘‘(v) may not use more than 5 percent 

25 of the amounts distributed under this 


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1 paragraph to administer a reverse auction 

2 or auctions authorized by this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION OF FEDERAL AND STATE

4 FUNDING.—The Commission shall establish proc5 esses through the rulemaking under subsection (e) 

6 to— 

7 ‘‘(A) enable States to conduct statewide re8 verse auctions as part of, or in coordination 

9 with, the national reverse auction; 

10 ‘‘(B) assist States in conducting statewide 

11 reverse auctions; 

12 ‘‘(C) coordinate with States to ensure that 

13 program funds awarded by the Commission and 

14 program funds awarded by the States are not 

15 used to expand access to broadband in the same 

16 unserved areas; and 

17 ‘‘(D) coordinate with other Federal pro18 grams that expand access to broadband, such 

19 as the Connect America Fund or the 

20 Broadband e-Connectivity Pilot Program, to en21 sure the efficient use of program funds. 

22 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY REQUIRED.— 

24 Any entity administering a reverse auction (either 


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1 the State or the Commission) in making awards may 

2 not favor a project using any particular technology. 

3 ‘‘(2) FUNDS PREFERENCE.—There shall be a 

4 preference, as determined by the entity admin5 istering the reverse auction (either the State or the 

6 Commission), for bidders in a reverse auction pro7 posing projects— 

8 ‘‘(A) with at least 20 percent matching 

9 funds from private sources; 

10 ‘‘(B) that would expand access to 

11 broadband on tribal lands, as defined by the 

12 Commission; 

13 ‘‘(C) that would provide higher speeds than 

14 those specified in subsection (d)(2); 

15 ‘‘(D) that would expand access to 

16 broadband in advance of the time specified in 

17 subsection (e)(5); or 

18 ‘‘(E) that would expand access to 

19 broadband to areas where the median household 

20 income is below 150 percent of the poverty 

21 threshold as defined by the Bureau of the Cen22 sus. 

23 ‘‘(3) UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED AREAS.— 

24 In determining whether an area is an unserved area 

25 or an underserved area or whether an anchor instiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3278.IH H3278

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1 tution is an unserved anchor institution for any re2 verse auction authorized under this section, the 

3 Commission shall implement the following require4 ments through the rulemaking described in sub5 section (e): 

6 ‘‘(A) DATA FOR INITIAL DETERMINA7 TION.—To make an initial determination as to 

8 whether an area is an unserved area or an un9 derserved area or whether an anchor institution 

10 is an unserved anchor institution, the Commis11 sion shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) to the extent practicable, use the 

13 National Broadband Availability Map, up14 dated pursuant to the Consolidated Appro15 priations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141); 

16 ‘‘(ii) consider other data on access to 

17 broadband obtained or purchased by the 

18 Commission; 

19 ‘‘(iii) consider other publicly available 

20 data or information on access to 

21 broadband; 

22 ‘‘(iv) consider other publicly available 

23 data or information on State broadband 

24 deployment programs; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) not determine an area is not an 

2 unserved area or an underserved area on 

3 the basis that one location within such 

4 area does not meet the definition of an 

5 unserved area or an underserved area. 

6 ‘‘(B) INITIAL DETERMINATION.—The 

7 Commission shall make an initial determination 

8 of the areas that are unserved areas or under9 served areas and which anchor institutions are 

10 unserved anchor institutions not later than 270 

11 days after the date of the enactment of this sec12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(C) CHALLENGE OF DETERMINATION.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

15 shall provide for a process for challenging 

16 any initial determination regarding wheth17 er an area is an unserved area or an un18 derserved area or whether an anchor insti19 tution is an unserved anchor institution 

20 that, at a minimum, provides not less than 

21 45 days for a person to voluntarily submit 

22 information concerning— 

23 ‘‘(I) the broadband offered in the 

24 area; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) the broadband offered to 

2 the anchor institution. 

3 ‘‘(ii) STREAMLINED PROCESS.—The 

4 Commission shall ensure that such process 

5 is sufficiently streamlined such that a rea6 sonably prudent person may easily partici7 pate to challenge such initial determination 

8 with little burden on such person. 

9 ‘‘(D) FINAL DETERMINATION.—The Com10 mission shall make a final determination of the 

11 areas that are unserved areas or underserved 

12 areas and which anchor institutions are 

13 unserved anchor institutions within 1 year after 

14 the date of the enactment of this section. 

15 ‘‘(4) NOTICE, TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNT16 ABILITY, AND OVERSIGHT REQUIRED.—The program 

17 shall contain sufficient notice, transparency, ac18 countability, and oversight measures to provide the 

19 public with notice of the assistance provided under 

20 this section, and to deter waste, fraud, and abuse of 

21 program funds. 

22 ‘‘(5) COMPETENCE.—The program shall contain 

23 sufficient processes and requirements, as established 

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1 ing recipients participating in such a reverse auc2 tion— 

3 ‘‘(A) are capable of carrying out the 

4 project in a competent manner in compliance 

5 with all applicable Federal, State, and local 

6 laws; and 

7 ‘‘(B) have the financial capacity to meet 

8 the buildout obligations of the project and re9 quirements as set forth under this section and 

10 as may be further prescribed by the Commis11 sion. 

12 ‘‘(6) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.—Any la13 borer or mechanic employed by any contractor or 

14 subcontractor in the performance of work on any 

15 project under this section shall be paid wages at 

16 rates not less than those prevailing on similar con17 struction in the locality as determined by the Sec18 retary of Labor under subchapter IV of chapter 31 

19 of title 40, United States Code (commonly referred 

20 to as the Davis-Bacon Act). 

21 ‘‘(d) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—Any project funded 

22 through the program shall meet the following require23 ments: 

24 ‘‘(1) The project shall adhere to quality-of-serv25 ice standards as established by the Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The project shall offer broadband with a 

2 download speed of at least 100 megabits per second, 

3 an upload speed of at least 20 megabits per second, 

4 and a latency that is sufficiently low to allow real5 time, interactive applications. 

6 ‘‘(3) For any project that involves laying fiber7 optic cables along a roadway, the project shall in8 clude interspersed conduit access points at regular 

9 and short intervals. 

10 ‘‘(4) The project may not offer broadband that 

11 does not, at a minimum, provide a download speed 

12 of at least 25 megabits per second, an upload speed 

13 of at least 3 megabits per second, and a latency that 

14 is sufficiently low to allow real-time, interactive ap15 plications. 

16 ‘‘(5) The project shall incorporate prudent cy17 bersecurity and supply chain risk management prac18 tices, as specified by the Commission, through the 

19 rulemaking described in subsection (e), in consulta20 tion with the Director of the National Institute of 

21 Standards and Technology and the Assistant Sec22 retary. 

23 ‘‘(6) The project shall incorporate best prac24 tices, as defined by the Commission, for ensuring reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3278.IH H3278

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1 liability and resiliency of the network during disas2 ters. 

3 ‘‘(7) Any funding recipient must agree to have 

4 the project meet the requirements established under 

5 section 224, as if the project were classified as a 

6 ‘utility’ under such section. 

7 ‘‘(e) RULEMAKING AND DISTRIBUTION AND AWARD

8 OF FUNDS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

9 the enactment of this section, the Commission, in con10 sultation with the Assistant Secretary, shall promulgate 

11 rules— 

12 ‘‘(1) that implement the requirements of this 

13 section, as appropriate, including the program re14 quirements of subsections (a), (b), and (c) and the 

15 project requirements of subsection (d); 

16 ‘‘(2) that establish the design of and rules for 

17 the nationwide reverse auction; 

18 ‘‘(3) that establish notice requirements for all 

19 reverse auctions authorized under this section that, 

20 at a minimum, provide the public with notice of— 

21 ‘‘(A) the initial determination of which 

22 areas are unserved areas or underserved areas; 

23 ‘‘(B) the final determination of which 

24 areas are unserved areas or underserved areas 


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1 after the process for challenging the initial de2 termination has concluded; 

3 ‘‘(C) which entities have applied to bid for 

4 funding; and 

5 ‘‘(D) the results of any reverse auctions, 

6 including identifying the funding recipients, 

7 which areas each project will serve, the nature 

8 of the service that will be provided by the 

9 project in each of those areas, and how much 

10 funding the funding recipients will receive in 

11 each of those areas; 

12 ‘‘(4) that establish broadband buildout mile13 stones and periodic certification by funding recipi14 ents to ensure compliance with the broadband build15 out milestones for all reverse auctions authorized 

16 under this section; 

17 ‘‘(5) that establish a maximum buildout time18 frame of four years beginning on the date on which 

19 funding is provided under this section for any 

20 project by a funding recipient for a project under 

21 this section; 

22 ‘‘(6) that establish periodic reporting require23 ments for funding recipients of projects and that 

24 identify, at a minimum, the nature of the service 


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1 provided in each area for any reverse auction au2 thorized under this section; 

3 ‘‘(7) that establish standard penalties for the 

4 noncompliance of funding recipients or projects with 

5 the requirements as set forth under this section and 

6 as may be further prescribed by the Commission for 

7 any reverse auction authorized under this section; 

8 ‘‘(8) that establish procedures for recovery of 

9 funds, in whole or in part, from funding recipients 

10 in the event of the default or noncompliance of the 

11 funding recipient or project with the requirements 

12 established under this section for any reverse auc13 tion authorized under this section; and 

14 ‘‘(9) that establish mechanisms to reduce waste, 

15 fraud, and abuse within the program for any reverse 

16 auction authorized under this section. 

17 ‘‘(f) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 

18 ‘‘(1) INSPECTOR GENERAL AND COMPTROLLER

19 GENERAL REPORT.—Not later than June 30 and 

20 December 31 of each year following the awarding of 

21 the first funds under the program, the Inspector 

22 General of the Commission and the Comptroller 

23 General of the United States shall submit to the 

24 Committees on Energy and Commerce of the House 

25 of Representatives and Commerce, Science, and 


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1 Transportation of the Senate a report for the pre2 vious 6 months that reviews the program. Such re3 port shall include any recommendations to address 

4 waste, fraud, and abuse. 

5 ‘‘(2) STATE REPORTS.—Any State that receives 

6 funds under the program shall submit an annual re7 port to the Commission on how such funds were 

8 spent, along with a certification of compliance with 

9 the requirements as set forth under this section and 

10 as may be further prescribed by the Commission, in11 cluding a description of each service provided and 

12 the number of individuals to whom the service was 

13 provided. 

14 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) ANCHOR INSTITUTION.—The term ‘anchor 

16 institution’ means a public or private school, a li17 brary, a medical or healthcare provider, a museum, 

18 a public safety entity, public housing, a community 

19 college, an institution of higher education, or any 

20 other community support organization or agency. 

21 ‘‘(2) AREA.—The term ‘area’ means the geo22 graphic unit of measurement with the greatest level 

23 of granularity reasonably feasible for the Commis24 sion to use in making eligibility determinations 


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1 under this section and in meeting the requirements 

2 and deadlines of this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘As4 sistant Secretary’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

5 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

6 ‘‘(4) BROADBAND.—The term ‘broadband’— 

7 ‘‘(A) means broadband internet access 

8 service that is a mass-market retail service, or 

9 a service provided to an anchor institution, by 

10 wire or radio that provides the capability to 

11 transmit data to and receive data from all or 

12 substantially all internet endpoints, including 

13 any capabilities that are incidental to and en14 able the operation of the communications serv15 ice; 

16 ‘‘(B) includes any service that is a func17 tional equivalent of the service described in sub18 paragraph (A); and 

19 ‘‘(C) does not include dial-up internet ac20 cess service. 

21 ‘‘(5) FUNDING RECIPIENT.—The term ‘funding 

22 recipient’ means an entity that receives funding for 

23 a project under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM.—Unless otherwise indicated, 

2 the term ‘program’ means the program established 

3 under subsection (a). 

4 ‘‘(7) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ means an 

5 undertaking by a funding recipient under this sec6 tion to construct and deploy infrastructure for the 

7 provision of broadband. 

8 ‘‘(8) REVERSE AUCTION.—The term ‘reverse 

9 auction’ means an auction in which bids are sub10 mitted for a particular project and the bids serving 

11 the most locations for the lowest cost to the entity 

12 administering the reverse auction (either the State 

13 or the Commission), taking into consideration the 

14 funding preferences in subsection (c)(2) are selected 

15 for funding. 

16 ‘‘(9) UNDERSERVED AREA.—The term ‘under17 served area’ means an area that has access to 

18 broadband offered— 

19 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 25 

20 megabits per second and not more than 99 

21 megabits per second; 

22 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 10 

23 megabits per second; and 

24 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

25 allow real-time, interactive applications. 


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1 ‘‘(10) UNSERVED ANCHOR INSTITUTION.—The 

2 term ‘unserved anchor institution’ means an anchor 

3 institution that has no access to broadband or does 

4 not have access to broadband offered— 

5 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 1 

6 gigabit per second; 

7 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 1 

8 gigabit per second; and 

9 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

10 allow multiple, simultaneous, real-time, inter11 active applications. 

12 ‘‘(11) UNSERVED AREA.—The term ‘unserved 

13 area’ means an area that has no access to 

14 broadband or does not have access to broadband of15 fered— 

16 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of at least 25 

17 megabits per second; 

18 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of at least 3 

19 megabits per second; and 

20 ‘‘(C) with latency that is sufficiently low to 

21 allow real-time, interactive applications. 

22 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission 

24 $40,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 to carry out the proVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:23 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3278.IH H3278

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1 gram and such amount is authorized to remain available 

2 for 10 years.’’. 

Æ 


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