I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1416

To provide grants and other incentives to promote new communications

technologies, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mr. LAFALCE (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mrs. MALONEY of

New York, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, and Mr. BOEHLERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy

and Commerce

A BILL

To provide grants and other incentives to promote new

communications technologies, 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 ‘‘Broadband Expansion

5 Grant Initiative of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Investing in a telecommunications infra9 structure for underserved rural communities will in-
2

•HR 1416 IH

1 crease the potential for long-term economic growth

2 in those areas.

3 (2) Currently, too many families have to make

4 long distance calls to connect to the Internet, and

5 the deployment of broadband networks would make

6 sure that connection to the Internet is more cost-ef7 fective and only a local call away.

8 (3) Small businesses would benefit from access

9 to high-speed Internet links that would allow them

10 to compete on national and international levels.

11 (4) Broadband deployment grants and loan

12 guarantees would encourage private-sector invest13 ment in infrastructure advances.

14 SEC. 3. FACILITATION OF DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND

15 TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITIES TO

16 UNDERSERVED RURAL AREAS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to facilitate the deploy18 ment by the private sector of broadband telecommuni19 cations networks and capabilities (including wireless and

20 satellite networks and capabilities) to underserved rural

21 areas, the Secretary of Commerce (in this section, referred

22 to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may—

23 (1) make grants to eligible recipients for that

24 purpose;
3

•HR 1416 IH

1 (2) guarantee loans, either whole or in part, of

2 eligible recipients the proceeds of which are to be

3 used for that purpose; or

4 (3) carry out activities under both paragraphs

5 (1) and (2).

6 (b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—For purposes of this

7 section, an eligible recipient of a grant or loan guarantee

8 under subsection (a) is any person or entity selected by

9 the Secretary in accordance with such procedures as the

10 Secretary shall establish.

11 (c) UNDERSERVED RURAL AREAS.—The Secretary

12 shall identify the areas that constitute underserved rural

13 areas for purposes of this section.

14 (d) EMPHASIS ON PARTICULAR CAPABILITIES.—In

15 selecting a person or entity as an eligible recipient of a

16 grant or loan guarantee under subsection (a), the Sec17 retary shall give particular emphasis to persons or entities

18 that propose to use the grant or the proceeds of the loan

19 guaranteed, as the case may be, to leverage non-Federal

20 resources to do one or more of the following:

21 (1) Provide underserved rural areas with access

22 to Internet service by local telephone.

23 (2) Demonstrate new models or emerging tech24 nologies to bring broadband telecommunications
4

•HR 1416 IH

1 services to underserved rural areas on a cost-effec2 tive basis.

3 (3) Use broadband telecommunications services

4 to stimulate economic development, such as pro5 viding connections between and among industrial

6 parks located in such areas and providing high-speed

7 telecommunications service links to small business

8 incubators.

9 (e) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary may consult

10 with the Federal Communications Commission in carrying

11 out activities under this section.

12 (f) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT.—The amount of any

13 grants made under this section, and the cost (as defined

14 in section 502(5) of the Federal Credit Reform Act of

15 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a(5)) of any loans guaranteed under

16 this section, may not, in the aggregate, exceed

17 $100,000,000.

18 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

19 authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Com20 merce for purposes of grants and loan guarantees under

21 this section $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such

22 sums as are necessary for each fiscal year thereafter.

Æ