I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 555

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

FEBRUARY 4, 1997

Mr. RICHARDSON (for himself and Mr. MILLER of California) introduced the

following bill; which was 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 quality 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 on

15 Indian lands; 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 geographic coverage areas under

25 the jurisdiction of 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. DESIGNATION OF ELIGIBLE TELECOMMUNI16 CATIONS CARRIERS FOR THE PROVISION OF

17 UNIVERSAL SERVICE.

18 Section 214(e) of the Communications Act of 1934

19 (47 U.S.C. 214(e)) is amended by adding at the end the

20 following new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(6) SERVICE AREAS WITHIN INDIAN LANDS.—

22 With respect to the designation of eligible tele23 communications carriers for, and of service areas

24 within, any lands under the jurisdiction of a tribal

25 government (within the meaning of section 7871 of
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1 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.

2 7871)), the Commission shall exercise the authority

3 of, and comply with the requirements of this sub4 section on, State commissions. In exercising such

5 authority and complying with such requirements, the

6 Commission shall comply with the policies estab7 lished pursuant to section 12 of this Act.’’.

8 SEC. 4. ATTAINMENT OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE PRINCIPLES

9 IN INDIAN COUNTRY.

10 Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

11 U.S.C. 254) is amended—

12 (1) in subsection (b)—

13 (A) by redesignating paragraph (7) as

14 paragraph (8); and

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

16 following new paragraph:

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

18 States have not historically exercised the authority

19 to require telecommunications carriers to deliver

20 services on Indian lands, and because of the trust

21 responsibilities of the United States, the responsibil22 ity to ensure the availability of quality telecommuni23 cations services to Native Americans, including Alas24 kan Natives, at just, reasonable, and affordable
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1 rates is a Federal responsibility that should be as2 sured by means of the Federal universal service

3 support mechanisms established under this section,

4 taking into account any support mechanisms estab5 lished by the States.’’; and

6 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub7 section:

8 ‘‘(l) MAINTENANCE OF NATIVE AMERICAN

9 SUBSCRIBERSHIP AND AFFORDABILITY DATA.—The

10 Commission shall prescribe such regulations as are nec11 essary to obtain reliable statistics concerning the extent

12 of subscribership to, and the affordability of, telecommuni13 cations on Indian lands. Such data shall be maintained

14 by the Commission in a form that is easily accessible to

15 the public. The Commission shall periodically review and

16 summarize such data in its annual reports under section

17 4(k), and shall, on the basis of such review, take such

18 other actions as are necessary to carry out the purposes

19 of this section with respect to the delivery of universal tele20 communications services to Native Americans, including

21 Alaskan Natives, at just, reasonable, and affordable

22 rates.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT POLICY INITIA2 TIVES.

3 Section 103 of the National Telecommunications and

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

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

6 subsection:

7 ‘‘(d) NATIVE AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN8 FRASTRUCTURE POLICY INITIATIVES.—In carrying out

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

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

11 NTIA shall be responsible for designing and proposing

12 policy initiatives to encourage investment in, and the de13 ployment of, telecommunications systems on Indian

14 lands.’’.

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