I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1586 

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

Organization Act to establish a digital network technology program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2019 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

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

on Education and Labor, 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 National Telecommunications and Information 

Administration Organization Act to establish a digital 

network technology program, 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 ‘‘Building Resources 

5 Into Digital Growth and Education Act of 2019’’ or the 

6 ‘‘BRIDGE Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 

2 The National Telecommunications and Information 

3 Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘PART D—DIGITAL NETWORK TECHNOLOGY 

6 PROGRAM 

7 ‘‘SEC. 171. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

8 ‘‘The Secretary shall establish, within the Technology 

9 Opportunities Program of the NTIA, a digital network 

10 technology program through which the Secretary awards 

11 grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to eligible 

12 institutions to assist such institutions in acquiring, and 

13 augmenting use by such institutions of, broadband inter14 net access service to improve the quality and delivery of 

15 educational services provided by such institutions. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 172. ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED. 

17 ‘‘An eligible institution shall use a grant, contract, 

18 or cooperative agreement awarded under this part— 

19 ‘‘(1) to acquire broadband internet access serv20 ice, digital network technology, and infrastructure to 

21 further the objective of the program described in 

22 section 171; 

23 ‘‘(2) to develop and provide training, education, 

24 and professional development programs, including 

25 faculty development, to increase the use of, and use26 fulness of, broadband internet access service; 


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1 ‘‘(3) to provide teacher education, including the 

2 provision of preservice teacher training and in-serv3 ice professional development at eligible institutions, 

4 library and media specialist training, and preschool 

5 and teacher aid certification to individuals who seek 

6 to acquire or enhance technology skills in order to 

7 use broadband internet access service in the class8 room or instructional process, including instruction 

9 in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology 

10 subjects; 

11 ‘‘(4) to obtain capacity-building technical assist12 ance, including through remote technical support, 

13 technical assistance workshops, and distance learn14 ing services; 

15 ‘‘(5) to foster the use of broadband internet ac16 cess service to improve research and education, in17 cluding scientific, mathematics, engineering, and 

18 technology instruction; or 

19 ‘‘(6) to create or support centers at the eligible 

20 institution designed to support innovation, oppor21 tunity, and advancement for entrepreneurs and 

22 start-ups. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 173. APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCEDURES. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant, 

25 contract, or cooperative agreement under this part, an eliVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1586.IH H1586

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1 gible institution shall submit an application to the Sec2 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

3 information as the Secretary may require. Such applica4 tion, at a minimum, shall include a description of how the 

5 funds will be used, including a description of any digital 

6 network technology to be acquired, and a description of 

7 how the institution will ensure that broadband internet ac8 cess service will be made accessible to, and employed by, 

9 students, faculty, and administrators. The Secretary, in 

10 consultation with the advisory council established under 

11 subsection (b) and consistent with subsection (c), shall es12 tablish procedures to review such applications. The Sec13 retary shall publish the application requirements and re14 view criteria in the Federal Register, along with a state15 ment describing the availability of funds. 

16 ‘‘(b) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Secretary shall es17 tablish an advisory council to advise the Secretary on the 

18 best approaches to encourage maximum participation by 

19 eligible institutions in the program established under this 

20 part, and on the procedures to review applications sub21 mitted to the program. In selecting the members of the 

22 advisory council, the Secretary shall consult with rep23 resentatives of appropriate organizations, including rep24 resentatives of eligible institutions, to ensure that the 

25 membership of the advisory council includes representaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1586.IH H1586

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1 tives of minority businesses and eligible institution com2 munities. The Secretary shall also consult with experts in 

3 digital network technology to ensure that such expertise 

4 is represented on the advisory council. 

5 ‘‘(c) REVIEW PANEL.—Each application submitted 

6 under this part by an eligible institution shall be reviewed 

7 by a panel of individuals selected by the Secretary to judge 

8 the quality and merit of the proposal, including the extent 

9 to which the eligible institution can effectively and success10 fully utilize the proposed grant, cooperative agreement, or 

11 contract to carry out the objective of the program de12 scribed in section 171. The Secretary shall ensure that 

13 the review panels include representatives of eligible insti14 tutions and others who are knowledgeable about eligible 

15 institutions and technology issues. The Secretary shall en16 sure that no individual assigned under this subsection to 

17 review any application has a conflict of interest with re18 gard to that application. The Secretary shall take into con19 sideration the recommendations of the review panel in de20 termining whether to award a grant, cooperative agree21 ment, or contract to an eligible institution. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 174. AWARDS. 

23 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION.—An eligible institution that re24 ceives a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract under 

25 this part that exceeds $2,500,000 shall not be eligible to 


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1 receive another grant, cooperative agreement, or contract 

2 under this part. 

3 ‘‘(b) CONSORTIA.—Grants, cooperative agreements, 

4 and contracts under this part may only be awarded to eli5 gible institutions. Eligible institutions may seek funding 

6 under this part for consortia, which may include other eli7 gible institutions, States or State educational agencies, 

8 local educational agencies, institutions of higher edu9 cation, community-based organizations, national nonprofit 

10 organizations, or businesses, including minority busi11 nesses. 

12 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION AND PARTNERSHIP WITH PRI13 VATE PROVIDERS.—In seeking funding under this part, 

14 eligible institutions are encouraged, where feasible, to co15 ordinate and partner with qualified private providers of 

16 the services and activities supported under section 172. 

17 ‘‘(d) INSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY.—In awarding 

18 grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts under this 

19 part to eligible institutions, the Secretary shall ensure, to 

20 the extent practicable, that awards are made to all types 

21 of institutions eligible for assistance under this part. 

22 ‘‘(e) NEED.—In awarding grants, cooperative agree23 ments, and contracts under this part, the Secretary shall 

24 give priority to the eligible institution with the greatest 

25 demonstrated need for assistance. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 175. INFORMATION DISSEMINATION. 

2 ‘‘The Secretary shall convene an annual meeting of 

3 eligible institutions receiving grants, cooperative agree4 ments, or contracts under this part to foster collaboration 

5 and capacity-building activities among eligible institutions. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 176. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 

7 ‘‘The Secretary may not award a grant, contract, or 

8 cooperative agreement to an eligible institution under this 

9 part unless such institution agrees that, with respect to 

10 the costs to be incurred by the institution in carrying out 

11 the program for which the grant, contract, or cooperative 

12 agreement was awarded, such institution will make avail13 able (directly or through donations from public or private 

14 entities) non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to 

15 25 percent of the amount of the grant, contract, or cooper16 ative agreement awarded by the Secretary, or $500,000, 

17 whichever is the lesser amount. The Secretary shall waive 

18 the matching requirement for any institution or consor19 tium that, as of the date of the submission of the applica20 tion for the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, has 

21 no endowment or an endowment the value of which is less 

22 than $50,000,000. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 177. ANNUAL REPORT AND EVALUATION. 

24 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED FROM RECIPI25 ENTS.—Each eligible institution that receives a grant, 

26 contract, or cooperative agreement under this part shall 


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1 provide an annual report to the Secretary on its use of 

2 the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. 

3 ‘‘(b) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) CONTRACT TO CONDUCT ASSESSMENTS.— 

5 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact6 ment of this part, the Secretary shall enter into a 

7 contract with the National Academy of Public Ad8 ministration to conduct periodic assessments of the 

9 program established under this part. The assess10 ments shall be conducted once every 3 years during 

11 the 10-year period following the date of the enact12 ment of this part. 

13 ‘‘(2) EVALUATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

14 The assessments described in paragraph (1) shall in15 clude— 

16 ‘‘(A) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

17 the program established under this part in im18 proving the education and training of students, 

19 faculty, and staff at eligible institutions that 

20 have been awarded grants, cooperative agree21 ments, or contracts under this part; 

22 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

23 the program in improving access to, and famili24 arity with, digital network technology and 


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1 broadband internet access service for students, 

2 faculty, and staff at all eligible institutions; 

3 ‘‘(C) an evaluation of the procedures estab4 lished under section 173(a); and 

5 ‘‘(D) recommendations for improving the 

6 program, including recommendations con7 cerning the continuing need for Federal sup8 port. 

9 ‘‘(3) REVIEW OF REPORTS.—In carrying out 

10 the assessments under this subsection, the National 

11 Academy of Public Administration shall review the 

12 reports submitted to the Secretary under subsection 

13 (a). 

14 ‘‘(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Upon completion of 

15 each assessment under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

16 transmit the assessment to Congress along with a sum17 mary of the plans of the Secretary, if any, to implement 

18 the recommendations of the National Academy of Public 

19 Administration.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

21 Section 102(a) of the National Telecommunications 

22 and Information Administration Organization Act (47 

23 U.S.C. 901(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 

25 ‘‘(6) The term ‘eligible institution’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an institution of higher education 

2 that is— 

3 ‘‘(i) an institution described in section 

4 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)); 

6 ‘‘(ii) an institution described in sec7 tion 326(e)(1) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

8 1063b(e)(1)); 

9 ‘‘(iii) a minority institution (as de10 fined in section 365 of such Act (20 

11 U.S.C. 1067k)) that has an enrollment of 

12 needy students (as defined in section 

13 312(d) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1058(d))); 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(iv) an institution determined by the 

16 Secretary, in consultation with the Sec17 retary of Education, to have a substantial 

18 enrollment of minority students who are el19 igible to receive Federal Pell Grants under 

20 subpart 1 of part A of title IV of such Act 

21 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.); or 

22 ‘‘(B) a consortium of institutions described 

23 in subparagraph (A). 

24 ‘‘(7) The term ‘digital network technology’ 

25 means computer and communications equipment and 


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1 software that facilitates the transmission of informa2 tion in a digital format. 

3 ‘‘(8) The term ‘minority’ means an American 

4 Indian, Alaskan Native, Black (not of Hispanic ori5 gin), Hispanic (including persons of Mexican, Puerto 

6 Rican, Cuban, and Central or South American ori7 gin), or Pacific Islander individual. 

8 ‘‘(9) The term ‘State’ has the meaning given 

9 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

10 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

11 ‘‘(10) The term ‘State educational agency’ has 

12 the meaning given such term in section 8101 of the 

13 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

14 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

15 ‘‘(11) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

16 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of 

17 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1001). 

19 ‘‘(12) The term ‘local educational agency’ has 

20 the meaning given such term in section 8101 of the 

21 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

22 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

23 ‘‘(13) The term ‘broadband internet access 

24 service’ means a mass-market retail service by wire 

25 or radio that provides the capability to transmit data 


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1 to, and receive data from, all or substantially all 

2 internet endpoints, including any capabilities that 

3 are incidental to, and enable the operation of, the 

4 communications service, but excluding dial-up inter5 net access service. Such term also includes any serv6 ice the Commission finds to be providing a func7 tional equivalent of such service.’’. 

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