I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 486

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to promote greater telecommunications and information services to Native Americans, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 21, 1997

Mr. RICHARDSON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to promote

greater telecommunications and information services to

Native Americans, 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 ‘‘Native American Tele5 communications Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF INDIAN TELECOMMUNI2 CATIONS POLICY.

3 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title I of the Communications

4 Act of 1934 is amended by inserting after section 11 (47

5 U.S.C. 161) the following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 12. ESTABLISHMENT OF INDIAN TELECOMMUNI7 CATIONS POLICY.

8 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

9 ‘‘(1) Indian and Alaskan Native people live in

10 some of the most geographically remote areas of the

11 country, with 50 percent of Indian and Alaskan Na12 tive people living in Oklahoma, California, South

13 Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and Wash14 ington;

15 ‘‘(2) Indian poverty in reservation areas is 3.9

16 times the national average rate;

17 ‘‘(3) the average phone penetration rates for

18 rural Native Americans is only 50 percent and ac19 tual penetration rates are often much lower;

20 ‘‘(4) what phone service there is in Indian coun21 try is often substandard and prohibitively expensive;

22 ‘‘(5) the Telecommunications Act of 1996 es23 tablishes a Federal-State Joint Board which issued

24 recommendations on how to make low-cost telephone

25 service affordable to all and to define what is

26 deemed to be ‘universal service’;
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1 ‘‘(6) the Telecommunications Act of 1996 re2 quires the Federal Communications Commission to

3 implement the recommendations from the Joint

4 Board by May 8, 1997;

5 ‘‘(7) the benefits of Federal universal service

6 policies have often not reached Indian country;

7 ‘‘(8) the Federal Government and the States

8 have not historically adequately required tele9 communications carriers to provide telecommuni10 cations services on Indian lands; and

11 ‘‘(9) the United States recognizes the sov12 ereignty of Indian tribes in relation to the States

13 through a government-to-government relationship, as

14 reflected in the Constitution, treaties, Federal stat15 utes, and the course of dealings of the United States

16 with Indian tribes.

17 ‘‘(b) POLICY REQUIRED.—Within 120 days after the

18 date of enactment of this section, the Commission shall

19 initiate a proceeding to develop and establish an official

20 policy regarding the relations between the Commission

21 and American Indians, including Alaskan Natives. In es22 tablishing such policy, the Commission shall—

23 ‘‘(1) recognize—
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1 ‘‘(A) the special needs of American Indi2 ans, including Alaskan Natives, as determined

3 under subsection (a);

4 ‘‘(B) the sovereign authority of tribal gov5 ernments; and

6 ‘‘(C) the trust obligations of the United

7 States;

8 ‘‘(2) promote the exercise of sovereign authority

9 of tribal governments over the establishment of com10 munications policies and regulations within their ju11 risdictions;

12 ‘‘(3) seek to promote Native Americans’, includ13 ing Alaskan Natives’, participation in the consump14 tion and provision of telecommunications services;

15 and

16 ‘‘(4) not preclude the opportunity for improved

17 negotiations between tribes and the States.

18 ‘‘(c) NOTICE OBLIGATIONS.—The policy established

19 pursuant to subsection (b) shall include procedures for

20 giving Native Americans, including Alaskan Natives, no21 tice and the opportunity for meaningful participation and

22 comment in any proceedings affecting tribal lands, includ23 ing competitive bidding conducted under section 309(j) of

24 bands of frequencies in areas under the jurisdiction of

25 tribal governments.
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1 ‘‘(d) FORBEARANCE.—The Commission shall forbear

2 from applying any provision of this Act or any regulation

3 thereunder to the extent that such forbearance—

4 ‘‘(1) is necessary to ensure compliance with the

5 trust responsibility of the United States; and

6 ‘‘(2) is consistent with the public interest.

7 ‘‘(e) TRIENNIAL REVIEW.—The Commission shall re8 view and revise as necessary the policies established pursu9 ant to subsection (b) at least once every 3 years after the

10 establishment of such policies.’’.

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

12 309(j)(3)(B) of such Act (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(3)(B)) is

13 amended by inserting ‘‘Indian tribes, Alaskan Native vil14 lages,’’ after ‘‘including’’.

15 SEC. 3. ATTAINMENT OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE PRINCIPALS

16 IN INDIAN COUNTRY.

17 Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

18 U.S.C. 254) is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (b)—

20 (A) by redesignating paragraph (7) as

21 paragraph (8); and

22 (B) by inserting after paragraph (6) the

23 following new paragraph:

24 ‘‘(7) ACCESS BY NATIVE AMERICANS.—Because

25 States have not historically exercised the authority
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1 to require telecommunications carriers to deliver

2 services on Indian lands, and because of the trust

3 responsibilities of the United States, the responsibil4 ity to ensure the delivery of telecommunications and

5 information services to Native Americans, including

6 Alaskan Natives, at just, reasonable, and affordable

7 rates is a Federal responsibility that should be as8 sured by means of the Federal support mechanisms

9 established under this section, taking into account

10 any support mechanisms established by the States.’’;

11 and

12 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub13 section:

14 ‘‘(l) MAINTENANCE OF NATIVE AMERICAN

15 SUBSCRIBERSHIP AND AFFORDABILITY DATA.—The

16 Commission shall prescribe such regulations as are nec17 essary to obtain reliable statistics concerning the extent

18 of subscribership to, and the affordability of, telecommuni19 cations and information services on Indian lands. Such

20 data shall be maintained by the Commission in a form

21 that is easily accessible to the public. The Commission

22 shall periodically review and summarize such data in its

23 annual reports under section 4(k), and shall, on the basis

24 of such review, take such other actions as are necessary

25 to carry out the purposes of this section with respect to
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1 the delivery of telecommunications and information serv2 ices to Native Americans, including Alaskan Natives, at

3 just, reasonable, and affordable rates.’’.

4 SEC. 4. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT POLICY INITIA5 TIVES.

6 Section 103 of the National Telecommunications and

7 Information Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C.

8 902) is amended by adding at the end the following new

9 subsection:

10 ‘‘(d) NATIVE AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN11 FRASTRUCTURE POLICY INITIATIVES.—In carrying out

12 the authority to serve as the President’s adviser under

13 subsection (b)(2)(D), the Assistant Secretary and the

14 NTIA shall be responsible for designing and proposing

15 policy initiatives to encourage investment in, and the de16 ployment of, telecommunications systems on Indian

17 lands.’’.

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