I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5172 

To assist Indian tribes in maintaining, expanding, and deploying broadband 

systems. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2018 

Mr. O’HALLERAN (for himself and Mr. PEARCE) 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 assist Indian tribes in maintaining, expanding, and 

deploying broadband systems. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR INDIAN TRIBES 

4 IN APPLYING FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 

5 TO MAINTAIN, EXPAND, OR DEPLOY 

6 BROADBAND SYSTEMS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 

8 through the Office of Tribal Relations in the Department 

9 of Agriculture, shall, in consultation with the Office of NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Mar 09, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5172.IH H5172

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1 tive Affairs and Policy of the Federal Communications 

2 Commission— 

3 (1) create a database of Federal programs and 

4 activities under which Indian tribes and tribal orga5 nizations, and agencies and instrumentalities of In6 dian tribes and tribal organizations, may obtain fi7 nancial assistance for the maintenance, expansion, 

8 or deployment of broadband systems; 

9 (2) provide technical assistance to entities de10 scribed in paragraph (1) in applying for or using the 

11 financial assistance; and 

12 (3) submit to the Congress annual reports on— 

13 (A) the number of the entities to which the 

14 technical assistance was provided in the fiscal 

15 year covered by the report; 

16 (B) the number of applications for the fi17 nancial assistance that the entities submitted in 

18 the fiscal year covered by the report; and 

19 (C) the number of efforts made to facili20 tate the efforts of the entities to obtain the fi21 nancial assistance in the fiscal year covered by 

22 the report. 

23 (b) MODEL BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT PLAN.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 


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1 Agriculture, through the Office of Tribal Relations 

2 in the Department of Agriculture, shall develop and 

3 publish in the Federal Register a model broadband 

4 development plan using the database created under 

5 subsection (a)(1), that— 

6 (A) identifies overlaps and unique target 

7 areas in each programs listed in the database; 

8 (B) identifies options for obtaining the fi9 nancial assistance referred to in subsection 

10 (a)(1), and propose opportunities to enable the 

11 entities described in subsection (a)(1) overcome 

12 any obstacles in doing so; 

13 (C) describes the goals of technical assist14 ance provided under subsection (a)(2); and 

15 (D) proposes a course for the provision of 

16 the technical assistance that is proven to en17 hance broadband access on tribal lands. 

18 (2) CONSULTATIONS REQUIRED.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), in developing the plan, the Secretary 

21 of Agriculture and the Federal Communications 

22 Commission shall jointly— 

23 (i) conduct an in-person consultation 

24 with the Indian tribes and tribal members 

25 involved, in a forum open to the public; 


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1 (ii) publish in the Federal Register 

2 the date of the consultation not later than 

3 14 days before that date; 

4 (iii) within 30 days after the date of 

5 the consultation, transcribe or record the 

6 consultation, and make the transcription or 

7 record available to the public; and 

8 (iv) not later than 30 days before fi9 nalizing the plan, make available to the 

10 public a document that demonstrates how 

11 the consultation affected the development 

12 of the plan. 

13 (B) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 

14 of Agriculture and the Federal Communications 

15 Commission may jointly waive the requirement 

16 of subparagraph (A) with respect to a group of 

Indian tribes if at least 5 17 ⁄6 of the Indian tribes 

18 involved agree to the waiver. 

19 (c) DEFINITION OF INDIAN TRIBE.—In this section, 

20 the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has the meaning given the term 

21 in section 102(2) of the Federally Recognized Indian 

22 Tribe List Act of 1994. 

23 (d) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO24 PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are authorVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Mar 09, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5172.IH H5172

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1 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture not 

2 more than $500,000 for each fiscal year. 

3 SEC. 2. PARITY FOR TRIBAL REGULATORY COMMISSIONS. 

4 Section 306(a)(20)(E) of the Consolidated Farm and 

5 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)(20)(E)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘and tribal’’ after ‘‘State’’; and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘states’’ and inserting ‘‘States 

9 and tribal lands’’. 

10 SEC. 3. SUBSTANTIALLY UNDERSERVED TRUST AREAS. 

11 Section 306F of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 

12 (7 U.S.C. 936f) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(e) REFINANCING LOANS IN SUBSTANTIALLY UN15 DERSERVED TRUST AREAS.—Notwithstanding any other 

16 provision of this Act, the Secretary or a designee of the 

17 Secretary may make or guarantee a loan to refinance a 

18 loan made to any person who has applied for, or has out19 standing, a loan or loan guarantee from the Rural Utilities 

20 Service for a project under an eligible program, to improve 

21 or continue the availability of projects that serve commu22 nities in substantially underserved trust areas.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DISTANCE LEARNING AND TELEMEDICINE GRANTS 

2 ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 

3 Section 2333(d)(5) of the Food, Agriculture, Con4 servation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa– 

5 2(d)(5)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(including on and off 

6 an Indian reservation)’’ after ‘‘geographical diversity’’. 

Æ 


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