I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1746

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to reduce telephone rates, provide

advanced telecommunications services to schools, libraries, and certain

health care facilities, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 11, 1999

Mr. TAUZIN (for himself, Mr. WELLER, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr.

WHITFIELD, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. GARY MILLER of California, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. GOSS, Mr. TANCREDO, and Mr. ROGAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in

addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 Communications Act of 1934 to reduce telephone rates, provide advanced telecommunications services to schools, libraries, and certain health care facilities,

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 ‘‘Schools and Libraries

5 Internet Access Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMIS2 SION AUTHORITY.

3 Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

4 U.S.C. 254) is amended—

5 (1) in subsection (b)—

6 (A) by striking paragraph (6); and

7 (B) by redesignating paragraph (7) as

8 paragraph (6);

9 (2) in subsection (c)—

10 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘edu11 cation, public health, or’’; and

12 (B) by striking paragraph (3); and

13 (3) by striking subsection (h).

14 SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF EXCISE TAX ON TELEPHONE AND

15 OTHER COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.

16 (a) PHASE-OUT OF TAX.—Section 4251(b)(2) of the

17 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as fol18 lows:

19 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—The term

20 ‘applicable percentage’ means—

21 ‘‘(A) 3.0 percent with respect to amounts

22 paid pursuant to bills first rendered before Jan23 uary 1, 2000; and

24 ‘‘(B) 1.0 percent with respect to amounts

25 paid pursuant to bills first rendered on or after

26 January 1, 2000, and before October 1, 2003.’’
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1 (b) REPEAL OF TAX.—Subchapter B of chapter 33

2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is repealed effective

3 with respect to bills first rendered on or after October 1,

4 2004.

5 SEC. 4. TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY TRUST

6 FUND.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 98 of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after section

9 9510 the following:

10 ‘‘SEC. 9511. TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY TRUST

11 FUND.

12 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab13 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund

14 to be known as the ‘‘Telecommunications Technology

15 Trust Fund’’, consisting of such amounts as may be ap16 propriated or credited pursuant to this section or section

17 9602(b).

18 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECH19 NOLOGY TRUST FUND AMOUNTS EQUIVALENT TO CER20 TAIN TAXES.—There are hereby appropriated to the Tele21 communications Technology Trust Fund amounts equiva22 lent to 100 percent of the taxes received in the Treasury

23 after December 31, 1998, under section 4251 (relating to

24 tax on communications).
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1 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM TELECOMMUNICATIONS

2 TECHNOLOGY TRUST FUND.—Amounts in the Tele3 communications Technology Trust Fund shall be available

4 for making expenditures to carry out the provisions of sec5 tion 106 of the National Telecommunications and Infor6 mation Administration Organization Act.

7 ‘‘(d) SUNSET.—The provisions of this section shall

8 cease to be effective on October 1, 2004.’’.

9 SEC. 5. PROVISION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

10 TO SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES, AND RURAL

11 HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.

12 Part A of the National Telecommunications and In13 formation Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C.

14 901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following

15 new section:

16 ‘‘SEC. 106. PROVISION OF ADVANCED TELECOMMUNI17 CATIONS SERVICES.

18 ‘‘(a) PROVISION OF CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS

19 AND RELATED SERVICES.—

20 ‘‘(1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary (or

21 the Secretary’s designee) shall award a grant for a

22 fiscal year to each State having an approved plan

23 under paragraph (3) for the following purposes:

24 ‘‘(A) To assist in acquiring telecommuni25 cations and related services which are necessary
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1 for the provision of health care services, includ2 ing instruction relating to such telecommuni3 cations and related services, by any public or

4 nonprofit health care provider that serves per5 sons who reside in a rural area, as defined in

6 section 1886(d)(2)(D) of the Social Security

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(2)(D)).

8 ‘‘(B) To assist in acquiring telecommuni9 cations and related services for elementary

10 schools, secondary schools, and libraries for

11 educational purposes.

12 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—From amounts

13 appropriated pursuant to subsection (b), the Sec14 retary shall allocate to each of the 50 States, the

15 District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of

16 Puerto Rico as follows, except that no State shall receive less than 1 17 ⁄2 of 1 percent of such amount:

18 ‘‘(A) Fifty percent shall be allocated

19 among such jurisdictions on the basis of their

20 relative populations of individuals aged five

21 through 17, as determined by the Secretary on

22 the basis of the most recent satisfactory data.

23 ‘‘(B) Fifty percent shall be allocated

24 among such jurisdictions in accordance with the

25 relative amounts such jurisdictions received
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1 under part A of title I of the Elementary and

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the pre3 ceding fiscal year.

4 ‘‘(3) STATE PLANS.—In order for a State to re5 ceive a grant or an allocation of funds under this

6 part for any fiscal year, such State shall have in ef7 fect for such fiscal year a State plan. Such plan

8 shall—

9 ‘‘(A) designate the State educational agen10 cy (as such term is defined in section 14101 of

11 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

12 of 1965) as the State agency responsible for the

13 administration of the program assisted under

14 this part;

15 ‘‘(B) set forth a program under which

16 funds paid to the State in accordance with this

17 section will be expended solely for—

18 ‘‘(i) acquiring certain telecommuni19 cations and related services under sub20 section (a); and

21 ‘‘(ii) administration of the State plan,

22 except that the amount used for adminis23 tration of the State plan in any fiscal year

24 shall not exceed 2 percent of the amount
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1 available to such State under this section

2 for such fiscal year;

3 ‘‘(C) set forth criteria to be used in allot4 ting funds among the eligible entities in the

5 State, taking into consideration the relative eco6 nomic need of the eligible entities, including the

7 number of students or other persons who are—

8 ‘‘(i) living in areas with high con9 centrations of low-income families;

10 ‘‘(ii) from or part of a low-income

11 family; and

12 ‘‘(iii) living in sparsely populated

13 areas; and

14 ‘‘(D) contain assurance that funds paid to

15 the State in accordance with this section will be

16 expended in accordance with the regulations

17 prescribed by the Secretary under paragraph

18 (5).

19 ‘‘(4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Telecommuni20 cations and related services and network capacity

21 provided to a school, library, or health care provider

22 under this section may not be sold, resold, or other23 wise transferred by such user in consideration for

24 money or any other thing of value.
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1 ‘‘(5) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Secretary

2 (or the Secretary’s designee) shall prescribe such

3 regulations as may be necessary to establish quali4 fications and conditions to carry out the provisions

5 of this section. Such regulations shall include cri6 teria by which States shall determine, in the case of

7 any acquisition of telecommunications and related

8 services for elementary schools, secondary schools,

9 and libraries for educational purposes that includes

10 the installation of equipment within any such school

11 or library, whether the installation is essential to

12 permit such school or library to have access to ad13 vanced technologies.

14 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec15 tion:

16 ‘‘(A) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY

17 SCHOOLS.—The terms ‘elementary schools’ and

18 ‘secondary schools’ have the same meanings

19 given those terms in paragraphs (14) and (25),

20 respectively, of section 14101 of the Elementary

21 and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

22 ‘‘(B) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—The term

23 ‘health care provider’ includes—
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1 ‘‘(i) post-secondary educational insti2 tutions offering health care instructions,

3 teaching hospitals, and medical schools;

4 ‘‘(ii) community health centers or

5 health centers providing health care to mi6 grants;

7 ‘‘(iii) local health departments or

8 agencies;

9 ‘‘(iv) community mental health cen10 ters;

11 ‘‘(v) not-for-profit hospitals;

12 ‘‘(vi) rural health clinics; and

13 ‘‘(vii) consortia of health care pro14 viders consisting of 1 or more of the above

15 described entities.

16 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Notwith17 standing subparagraph (A) or (B), no entity

18 shall be entitled to receive grants authorized

19 under this section if such entity operates as

20 other than a not-for-profit business, is a school

21 described in subparagraph (A) with an endow22 ment of more than $50,000,000, or is a library

23 or library consortium not eligible for assistance

24 from a State library administrative agency

25 under the Library Services and Technology Act.
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1 ‘‘(b) EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY.—

2 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATIONS FROM TRUST FUND.—

3 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to sub4 paragraphs (B) and (C), there are authorized to

5 be appropriated from the Telecommunications

6 Technology Trust Fund, established pursuant

7 to section 9511 of the Internal Revenue Code of

8 1986, such funds as may be necessary for each

9 of the fiscal years 2000 through 2004 to

10 fund—

11 ‘‘(i) the grants authorized by section

12 (a)(1); and

13 ‘‘(ii) such expenditures as may be nec14 essary to administer the programs estab15 lished by this section.

16 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION BASED ON COLLEC17 TIONS.—No amount may be appropriated pur18 suant to subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year for

19 grants pursuant to section (a)(1) that in the

20 aggregate exceed 100 percent of the trust fund

21 receipts credited to the Telecommunications

22 Technology Trust Fund with respect to the pre23 ceding fiscal year.

24 ‘‘(C) FISCAL YEAR 1999 LIMITATION.—The

25 amount appropriated under subparagraph (A)
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1 for fiscal year 2000 shall not exceed

2 $1,700,000,000.

3 ‘‘(D) UNEXPENDED BALANCES.—Any bal4 ances in the Telecommunications Technology

5 Trust Fund after deduction of the amount ap6 propriated under subparagraph (A) for any fis7 cal year are authorized to be transferred to and

8 deposited in the general fund of the Treasury,

9 to the extent so provided in an appropriations

10 Act.

11 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATIONS AFTER EXPIRATION OF

12 TAX RECEIPTS.—For fiscal year 2005 and each of

13 the succeeding fiscal years, there are authorized to

14 be appropriated, from funds in the Treasury not

15 otherwise appropriated, not to exceed $500,000,000

16 to fund—

17 ‘‘(A) the grants authorized by section

18 (a)(1); and

19 ‘‘(B) such expenditures as may be nec20 essary to administer the programs established

21 by this section.’’.

22 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATES.

23 (a) DELAYED DATE.—The amendments made by sec24 tions 2 and 5 of this Act shall be effective 180 days after

25 the date of enactment of this Act.
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1 (b) IMMEDIATE EFFECT.—The amendments made by

2 sections 3 and 4 of this Act shall be effective on the date

3 of enactment of this Act.

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