114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5537 

AN ACT 

To promote internet access in developing countries and update foreign policy toward the internet, 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, 
2 

•HR 5537 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Global Access 

3 Policy Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘Digital GAP Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

5 The purpose of this Act is to encourage the efforts 

6 of developing countries to improve mobile and fixed access 

7 to the Internet in order to spur economic growth and job 

8 creation, improve health, education, and financial services, 

9 reduce poverty and gender inequality, mitigate disasters, 

10 promote democracy and good governance, strengthen cy11 bersecurity, and update the Department of State’s struc12 ture to address cyberspace policy. 

13 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

14 Congress finds the following: 

15 (1) Since 2005, the number of Internet users 

16 has more than tripled from 1 billion to 3.2 billion. 

17 (2) 4.2 billion people, 60 percent of the world’s 

18 population, remain offline and the growth rate of 

19 Internet access is slowing. An estimated 75 percent 

20 of the offline population lives in just 20 countries 

21 and is largely rural, female, elderly, illiterate, and 

22 low-income. 

23 (3) Studies suggest that across the developing 

24 world, women are nearly 50 percent less likely to ac25 cess the Internet than men living within the same 

26 communities, and that this digital gender divide car-
3 

•HR 5537 EH

1 ries with it a great economic cost. According to a 

2 study, ‘‘Women and the Web’’, bringing an addi3 tional 600 million women online would contribute 

4 $13 billion–$18 billion to annual GDP across 144 

5 developing countries. 

6 (4) Without increased Internet access, the de7 veloping world risks falling behind. 

8 (5) Internet access in developing countries is 

9 hampered by a lack of infrastructure and a poor reg10 ulatory environment for investment. 

11 (6) Build-once policies and approaches are poli12 cies or practices that minimize the number and scale 

13 of excavation and construction activities when in14 stalling telecommunications infrastructure in rights15 of-way, thereby lowering the installation costs for 

16 high-speed Internet networks and serve as a develop17 ment best practice. 

18 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

19 Congress declares that it is the policy of the United 

20 States to partner, consult, and coordinate with the govern21 ments of foreign countries, international organizations, re22 gional economic communities, businesses, civil society, and 

23 other stakeholders in a concerted effort to— 

24 (1) promote first-time Internet access to mobile 

25 or broadband Internet for at least 1.5 billion people 
4 

•HR 5537 EH

1 in developing countries by 2020 in both urban and 

2 rural areas; 

3 (2) promote Internet deployment and related 

4 coordination, capacity building, and build-once poli5 cies and approaches in developing countries, includ6 ing actions to encourage— 

7 (A) a build-once approach by standardizing 

8 the inclusion of broadband conduit pipes which 

9 house fiber optic communications cable that 

10 support broadband or wireless facilities for 

11 broadband service as part of rights-of-way 

12 projects, including sewers, power transmission 

13 facilities, rail, pipelines, bridges, tunnels, and 

14 roads, that are funded, co-funded, or partially 

15 financed by the United States or any inter16 national organization that includes the United 

17 States as a member, in consultation with tele18 communications providers, unless a cost-benefit 

19 analysis determines that the cost of such ap20 proach outweighs the benefits; 

21 (B) national and local government agencies 

22 of developing countries and donor governments 

23 and organizations to coordinate road building, 

24 pipe laying, and major infrastructure with the 

25 private sector so that, for example, fiber optic 
5 

•HR 5537 EH

1 cable could be laid below roads at the time such 

2 roads are built; and 

3 (C) international organizations to increase 

4 their financial support, including grants and 

5 loans, and technical assistance to expand infor6 mation and communications access and Internet 

7 connectivity; 

8 (3) promote policy changes that encourage first9 time affordable access to the Internet in developing 

10 countries, including actions to encourage— 

11 (A) integration of universal and gender-eq12 uitable Internet access goals, to be informed by 

13 the collection of related gender disaggregated 

14 data, and Internet tools into national develop15 ment plans and United States Government 

16 country-level strategies; 

17 (B) reforms of competition laws and spec18 trum allocation processes that may impede the 

19 ability of companies to provide Internet serv20 ices; and 

21 (C) efforts to improve procurement proc22 esses to help attract and incentivize investment 

23 in Internet infrastructure; 

24 (4) promote the removal of tax and regulatory 

25 barriers to Internet access; 
6 

•HR 5537 EH

1 (5) promote the use of the Internet to increase 

2 economic growth and trade, including— 

3 (A) policies and strategies to remove re4 strictions to e-commerce, cross-border informa5 tion flows, and competitive marketplaces; and 

6 (B) entrepreneurship and distance learning 

7 enabled by access to technology; 

8 (6) promote the use of the Internet to bolster 

9 democracy, government accountability, transparency, 

10 and human rights, including— 

11 (A) policies, initiatives, and investments, 

12 including the development of national Internet 

13 plans, that are consistent with United States 

14 human rights goals, including freedom of ex15 pression, religion, and association; 

16 (B) policies and initiatives aimed at pro17 moting the multistakeholder model of Internet 

18 governance; and 

19 (C) policies and support programs, re20 search, and technologies that safeguard human 

21 rights and fundamental freedoms online, and 

22 enable political organizing and activism, free 

23 speech, and religious expression that are in 

24 compliance with international human rights 

25 standards; 
7 

•HR 5537 EH

1 (7) promote Internet access and inclusion into 

2 Internet policymaking for women, people with dis3 abilities, minorities, low-income and marginalized 

4 groups, and underserved populations; and 

5 (8) promote cybersecurity and data protection, 

6 including international use of the National Institute 

7 of Standards and Technology (NIST) Framework 

8 for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity 

9 that are industry-led, globally recognized cybersecu10 rity standards and best practices. 

11 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ORGANIZATION. 

12 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that the Secretary of State should redesignate an 

14 existing Assistant Secretary position to be the Assistant 

15 Secretary for Cyberspace to lead the Department of 

16 State’s diplomatic cyberspace policy generally, including 

17 for cybersecurity, Internet access, Internet freedom, and 

18 to promote an open, secure, and reliable information and 

19 communications technology infrastructure. 

20 (b) ACTIVITIES.—In recognition of the added value 

21 of technical knowledge and expertise in the policymaking 

22 and diplomatic channels, the Secretary of State should— 

23 (1) update existing training programs relevant 

24 to policy discussions; and 
8 

•HR 5537 EH

1 (2) promote the recruitment of candidates with 

2 technical expertise into the Civil Service and the 

3 Foreign Service. 

4 (c) OFFSET.—To offset any costs incurred by the De5 partment of State to carry out the designation of an As6 sistant Secretary for Cyberspace in accordance with sub7 section (a), the Secretary of State shall eliminate such po8 sitions within the Department of State, unless otherwise 

9 authorized or required by law, as the Secretary determines 

10 to be necessary to fully offset such costs. 

11 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The redesignation of 

12 the Assistant Secretary position described in subsection 

13 (a) may not be construed as increasing the number of As14 sistant Secretary positions at the Department of State 

15 above the current level of 24 as authorized in section 

16 1(c)(1) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 

17 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(c)(1)). 

18 SEC. 6. USAID. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator 

20 of the United States Agency for International Develop21 ment should— 

22 (1) integrate efforts to expand Internet access, 

23 develop appropriate technologies, and enhance digital 

24 literacy into the education, development, and eco-
9 

•HR 5537 EH

1 nomic growth programs of the agency, where appro2 priate; 

3 (2) expand the utilization of information and 

4 communications technologies in humanitarian aid 

5 and disaster relief responses and United States oper6 ations involving stabilization and security to improve 

7 donor coordination, reduce duplication and waste, 

8 capture and share lessons learned, and augment dis9 aster preparedness and risk mitigation strategies; 

10 and 

11 (3) establish and promote guidelines for the 

12 protection of personal information of individuals 

13 served by humanitarian, disaster, and development 

14 programs directly through the United States Gov15 ernment, through contracts funded by the United 

16 States Government and by international organiza17 tions. 

18 SEC. 7. PEACE CORPS. 

19 Section 3 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502) 

20 is amended by— 

21 (1) redesignating subsection (h) as subsection 

22 (e); and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub24 sections: 
10 

•HR 5537 EH

1 ‘‘(f) It is the sense of Congress that access to tech2 nology can transform agriculture, community economic de3 velopment, education, environment, health, and youth de4 velopment which are the sectors in which Peace Corps cur5 rently develops positions for Volunteers. 

6 ‘‘(g) In giving attention to the programs, projects, 

7 training, and other activities referred to in subsection (f), 

8 the Peace Corps should develop positions for Volunteers 

9 that are focused on leveraging technology for development, 

10 education, and social and economic mobility.’’. 

11 SEC. 8. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT. 

12 In pursuing the policy described in section 4, the 

13 President should direct United States representatives to 

14 appropriate international bodies to use the influence of the 

15 United States, consistent with the broad development 

16 goals of the United States, to advocate that each such 

17 body— 

18 (1) commit to increase efforts to promote gen19 der-equitable Internet access, in partnership with 

20 stakeholders and consistent with host countries’ ab21 sorptive capacity; 

22 (2) enhance coordination with stakeholders in 

23 increasing affordable and gender-equitable access to 

24 the Internet; 
11 

•HR 5537 EH

1 (3) integrate gender-equitable affordable Inter2 net access into existing economic and business as3 sessments, evaluations, and indexes such as the Mil4 lennium Challenge Corporation constraints analysis, 

5 the Doing Business Report, International Monetary 

6 Fund Article IV assessments and country reports, 

7 the Open Data Barometer, and the Affordability 

8 Drivers Index; 

9 (4) standardize inclusion of broadband con10 duit—fiber optic cables that support broadband or 

11 wireless facilities for broadband service—as part of 

12 highway or highway-comparable construction 

13 projects in developing countries, in consultation with 

14 telecommunications providers, unless such inclusion 

15 would create an undue burden, is not necessary 

16 based on the availability of existing broadband infra17 structure, or a cost-benefit analysis determines that 

18 the cost outweighs the benefits; 

19 (5) provide technical assistance to the regu20 latory authorities in developing countries to remove 

21 unnecessary barriers to investment in otherwise com22 mercially viable projects and strengthen weak regu23 lations or develop new ones to support market 

24 growth and development; 
12 

•HR 5537 EH

1 (6) utilize clear, accountable, and metric-based 

2 targets, including targets with gender-disaggregated 

3 metrics, to measure the effectiveness of efforts to 

4 promote Internet access; and 

5 (7) promote and protect human rights online, 

6 such as the freedoms of speech, assembly, associa7 tion, religion, and belief, through resolutions, public 

8 statements, projects, and initiatives, and advocating 

9 that other member states of such bodies are held ac10 countable when major violations are uncovered. 

11 SEC. 9. PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Com14 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

15 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

16 plans to promote partnerships by United States develop17 ment agencies, including the United States Agency for 

18 International Development and the Millennium Challenge 

19 Corporation, as well as international agencies funded by 

20 the United States Government for partnership with stake21 holders, that contain the following elements: 

22 (1) Methods for stakeholders to partner with 

23 such agencies in order to provide Internet access or 

24 Internet infrastructure in developing countries. 
13 

•HR 5537 EH

1 (2) Methods of outreach to stakeholders to ex2 plore partnership opportunities for expanding Inter3 net access or Internet infrastructure, including co4 ordination with the private sector, when financing 

5 roads and telecommunications infrastructure. 

6 (3) Methods for early consultation with stake7 holders concerning projects in telecommunications 

8 and road construction to provide Internet access or 

9 Internet infrastructure. 

10 SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION 

11 EFFORTS. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Com14 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

15 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

16 a report on efforts to implement the policy specified in 

17 section 4 and a discussion of the plans and existing efforts 

18 by the United States Government in developing countries 

19 to accomplish the following: 

20 (1) Develop a technical and regulatory road 

21 map for promoting Internet access in developing 

22 countries and a path to implementing such road 

23 map. 

24 (2) Identify the regulatory barriers that may 

25 unduly impede Internet access, including regulation 
14 

•HR 5537 EH

1 of wireline broadband deployment or the infrastruc2 ture to augment wireless broadband deployment. 

3 (3) Strengthen and support development of reg4 ulations that incentivize market growth and sector 

5 development. 

6 (4) Encourage further public and private in7 vestment in Internet infrastructure, including 

8 broadband networks and services. 

9 (5) Increase gender-equitable Internet access 

10 and otherwise encourage or support Internet deploy11 ment, competition, and adoption. 

12 (6) Improve the affordability of Internet access. 

13 (7) Promote technology and cybersecurity ca14 pacity building efforts and consult technical experts 

15 for advice regarding options to accelerate the ad16 vancement of Internet deployment, adoption, and 

17 usage. 

18 (8) Promote Internet freedom globally and in19 clude civil society and the private sector in the for20 mulation of policies, projects, and advocacy efforts 

21 to protect human rights online. 

22 (9) Promote and strengthen the multistake23 holder model of Internet governance and actively 

24 participate in multistakeholder international fora, 

25 such as the Internet Governance Forum. 
15 

•HR 5537 EH

1 SEC. 11. CYBERSPACE STRATEGY. 

2 The President should include in the next White 

3 House Cyberspace Strategy information relating to the 

4 following: 

5 (1) Methods to promote Internet access in de6 veloping countries. 

7 (2) Methods to globally promote cybersecurity 

8 policy consistent with the National Institute of 

9 Standards and Technology (NIST) Framework for 

10 Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. 

11 (3) Methods to promote global Internet freedom 

12 principles, such as the freedoms of expression, as13 sembly, association, and religion, while combating ef14 forts to impose restrictions on such freedoms. 

15 SEC. 12. DEFINITION. 

16 In this Act— 

17 (1) BUILD ONCE POLICIES AND APPROACHES.— 

18 The term ‘‘build once policies and approaches’’ 

19 means policies or practices that minimize the num20 ber and scale of excavation and construction activi21 ties when installing telecommunications infrastruc22 ture in rights-of-way. 

23 (2) CYBERSPACE.—The term ‘‘cyberspace’’ 

24 means the interdependent network of information 

25 technology infrastructures, and includes the Inter26 net, telecommunications networks, computer sys-
16 

•HR 5537 EH

1 tems, and embedded processors and controllers in 

2 critical industries, and includes the virtual environ3 ment of information and interactions between peo4 ple. 

5 (3) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘stakeholders’’ 

6 means the private sector, the public sector, coopera7 tives, civil society, the technical community that de8 velops Internet technologies, standards, implementa9 tion, operations, and applications, and other groups 

10 that are working to increase Internet access or are 

11 impacted by the lack of Internet access in their com12 munities. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 7, 

2016. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5537 

AN ACT 

To promote internet access in developing countries 

and for other purposes. and update foreign policy toward the internet,