II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 535 

To establish grant programs for the development of telecommunications 

capacities in Indian country. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2005 

Mr. INOUYE (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish grant programs for the development of 

telecommunications capacities in Indian country. 

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 

5 Connectivity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1)(A) disparities exist in the areas of edu9 cation, health care, workforce training, commerce, 
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1 and economic activity of Indians due to the rural na2 ture of most Indian reservations; and 

3 (B) access to basic and advanced telecommuni4 cations infrastructure is critical in eliminating those 

5 disparities; 

6 (2) currently, only 67.9 percent of Indian 

7 homes have telephone service, compared with the na8 tional average of 95.1 percent; 

9 (3) the telephone service penetration rate on 

10 some reservations is as low as 39 percent; 

11 (4) even on reservations and trust land, non-In12 dian homes are more likely to have telephone service 

13 than Indian homes; 

14 (5) only 10 percent of Indian households on 

15 tribal land have Internet access; 

16 (6) only 17 percent of Indian tribes have devel17 oped comprehensive technology plans; 

18 (7) training and technical assistance have been 

19 identified as the most significant needs for the devel20 opment and effective use of telecommunications and 

21 information technology in Indian country; 

22 (8) funding for telecommunications and infor23 mation technology projects in Indian country re24 mains inadequate to address the needs of Indian 

25 communities; 
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1 (9) many Indian tribes are located on or adja2 cent to Indian land in which unemployment rates ex3 ceed 50 percent; 

4 (10) the lack of telecommunications infrastruc5 ture and low telephone and Internet penetration 

6 rates adversely affects the ability of Indian tribes to 

7 pursue economic development opportunities; and 

8 (11) primary, secondary, and postsecondary 

9 education, job training, health care, disease preven10 tion education, and cultural preservation are greatly 

11 enhanced with access to and use of telecommuni12 cations technology and electronic information. 

13 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

14 The purposes of this Act are— 

15 (1) to promote affordable and universal access 

16 among Indian tribal governments, tribal entities, 

17 reservation-based schools, tribal colleges and univer18 sities, and Indian households to telecommunications 

19 and information technology in Indian country; 

20 (2) to encourage and promote tribal economic 

21 development, self-sufficiency, and strong tribal gov22 ernments; 

23 (3) to enhance the health of Indian tribal mem24 bers through the availability and use of telemedicine 

25 and telehealth; 
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1 (4) to improve the quality of kindergarten, pri2 mary, secondary, postsecondary, and job-related 

3 training, through enhanced and sustained informa4 tion technology infrastructure; and 

5 (5) to assist in the retention and preservation 

6 of native languages and cultural traditions. 

7 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) BLOCK GRANT.—The term ‘‘block grant’’ 

10 means a grant provided under section 5. 

11 (2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘eligible 

12 activity’’ means an activity carried out— 

13 (A) to acquire or lease real property (in14 cluding licensed spectrum, water rights, dark 

15 fiber, exchanges, and other related interests) to 

16 provide telecommunications services, facilities, 

17 and improvements; 

18 (B) to acquire, construct, reconstruct, or 

19 install telecommunications facilities, sites, im20 provements (including design features), or utili21 ties; 

22 (C) to retain any real property acquired 

23 under this Act for tribal communications pur24 poses; 
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1 (D) to pay the non-Federal share required 

2 by a Federal grant program undertaken as part 

3 of activities funded under this Act; 

4 (E) to carry out activities necessary— 

5 (i) to develop a comprehensive tele6 communications development plan; and 

7 (ii) to develop a policy, planning, and 

8 management capacity so that an eligible 

9 entity can more rationally and effectively— 

10 (I) determine the needs of the 

11 entity; 

12 (II) set long term and short term 

13 goals; 

14 (III) devise programs and activi15 ties to meet the goals of the entity, in16 cluding, if appropriate, telehealth; 

17 (IV) evaluate the progress of the 

18 programs and activities in meeting the 

19 goals of the entity; and 

20 (V) carry out management, co21 ordination, and monitoring of activi22 ties necessary for effective planning 

23 implementation; 

24 (F) to pay reasonable administrative costs 

25 and carrying charges related to the planning 
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1 and execution of telecommunications develop2 ment activities, including the provision of infor3 mation and resources about the planning and 

4 execution of the activities to residents of areas 

5 in which telecommunications development ac6 tivities are to be concentrated; 

7 (G) to increase the capacity of an eligible 

8 entity to carry out telecommunications activi9 ties, including the development of telecommuni10 cations regulations and related regulatory mat11 ters; 

12 (H) to provide assistance to institutions of 

13 higher education (including tribal colleges and 

14 universities) that have a demonstrated capacity 

15 to carry out eligible activities; 

16 (I) to enable an eligible entity to facilitate 

17 telecommunications development by— 

18 (i) providing technical assistance, ad19 vice, and business support services (includ20 ing services for developing business plans, 

21 securing funding, and conducting mar22 keting); and 

23 (ii) providing general support (includ24 ing peer support programs and mentoring 
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1 programs) to Indian tribes in developing 

2 telecommunications projects; 

3 (J) to evaluate eligible activities to ascer4 tain and promote effective telecommunications 

5 and information technology deployment prac6 tices and usages among Indian tribes; or 

7 (K) to provide research, analysis, data col8 lection, data organization, and dissemination of 

9 information relevant to telecommunications and 

10 information technology in Indian country for 

11 the purpose of promoting effective telecommuni12 cations and information technology deployment 

13 practices and usages among tribes. 

14 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti15 ty’’ means— 

16 (A) an Indian tribe or consortium of In17 dian tribes; 

18 (B) a tribally chartered organization; or 

19 (C) an Indian organization, intertribal or20 ganization, tribal college or university, or a pri21 vate or public institution of higher education 

22 acting under an agreement with an Indian 

23 tribe. 

24 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

25 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
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1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

3 (5) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘information 

5 technology’’ means any equipment or inter6 connected system or subsystem of equipment 

7 that is used in the automatic acquisition, stor8 age, analysis, evaluation, manipulation, man9 agement, movement, control, display, switching, 

10 interchange, transmission, or reception of data 

11 or information. 

12 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘information 

13 technology’’ includes computers, ancillary equip14 ment (including imaging peripherals, input, out15 put, and storage devices necessary for security 

16 and surveillance), peripheral equipment de17 signed to be controlled by the central processing 

18 unit of a computer, software, firmware and 

19 similar procedures, services (including support 

20 services), and related resources. 

21 (6) PLANNING.—The term ‘‘planning’’ means 

22 community-based planning developed in consultation 

23 with the local community based on the needs of the 

24 local community. 
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1 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Commerce. 

3 (8) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘tech4 nical assistance’’ means the facilitation of skills and 

5 knowledge in planning, developing, assessing, and 

6 administering eligible activities. 

7 (9) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

8 GRANT.—The term ‘‘training and technical assist9 ance grant’’ means a grant provided under section 

10 6. 

11 (10) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

12 term ‘‘tribal college or university’’ has the meaning 

13 given the term ‘‘tribally controlled college or univer14 sity’’ in section 2 of the Tribally Controlled Commu15 nity College Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 

16 1801), except that the term includes an institution 

17 listed in the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Sta18 tus Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note). 

19 (11) TELEHEALTH.—The term ‘‘telehealth’’ 

20 means the use of electronic information and tele21 communications technologies to support long-dis22 tance clinical health care, patient and professional 

23 health-related education, public health, and health 

24 administration. 
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1 SEC. 5. BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

3 the National Telecommunications and Information Ad4 ministration a Native American telecommunications block 

5 grant program to provide grants on a competitive basis 

6 to eligible entities to carry out activities under subsection 

7 (c). 

8 (b) BLOCK GRANTS.—The Secretary may provide a 

9 block grant to an eligible entity that submits a block grant 

10 application to the Secretary for approval. 

11 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A grant under this sec12 tion may only be used for an eligible activity. 

13 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pro15 mulgate regulations establishing specific criteria for the 

16 competition conducted to select eligible entities to receive 

17 grants under this section for each fiscal year. 

18 SEC. 6. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS. 

19 (a) NOTIFICATION AND CRITERIA.—The Secretary— 

20 (1) shall provide notice of the availability of 

21 training and technical assistance grants; and 

22 (2) publish criteria for selecting recipients. 

23 (b) GRANTS.—The Secretary may provide training 

24 and technical assistance grants to eligible entities with a 

25 demonstrated capacity to carry out eligible activities. 
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1 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A training and technical assist2 ance grant shall be used— 

3 (1) to develop a training program to facilitate 

4 local use and maintenance of new telecommuni5 cations technologies; 

6 (2) to develop and implement— 

7 (A) telecommunications and information 

8 technology work study programs; and 

9 (B) postsecondary telecommunications and 

10 information technology-related education, devel11 opment, planning, and management programs; 

12 (3) to develop a training program for tele13 communications employees; or 

14 (4) to provide assistance to students who— 

15 (A) participate in telecommunications or 

16 information technology work study programs; 

17 and 

18 (B) are enrolled in a full-time graduate or 

19 undergraduate program in telecommunications20 related education, development, planning, or 

21 management. 

22 (d) SETASIDE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, the 

24 Secretary shall set aside 10 percent of the amount 

25 made available under section 12 for training and 
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1 technical assistance grants, to remain available until 

2 expended. 

3 (2) TREATMENT.—A training and technical as4 sistance grant to an entity shall be in addition to 

5 any block grant provided to the entity. 

6 (e) PROVISION OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE BY THE

7 SECRETARY.—The Secretary may provide technical assist8 ance, directly or through contracts, to— 

9 (1) eligible entities; and 

10 (2) persons or entities that assist tribal govern11 ments. 

12 SEC. 7. COMPLIANCE. 

13 (a) AUDIT BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

15 the United States may audit any financial trans16 action involving grant funds that is carried out by 

17 a block grant recipient or training and technical as18 sistance grant recipient. 

19 (2) SCOPE OF AUTHORITY.—In conducting an 

20 audit under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General 

21 shall have access to all books, accounts, records, re22 ports, files, and other papers, things, or property be23 longing to or in use by the grant recipient that re24 late to the financial transaction and are necessary to 

25 facilitate the audit. 
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1 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—After consultation with In3 dian tribes, the Secretary may promulgate regula4 tions to carry out this subsection that— 

5 (A) ensure that the policies of the National 

6 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

7 4321 et seq.), and other laws that further the 

8 purposes of that Act (as specified by the regula9 tions), are most effectively implemented in con10 nection with the expenditure of funds under 

11 this Act; and 

12 (B) assure the public of undiminished pro13 tection of the environment. 

14 (2) SUBSTITUTE MEASURES.—Subject to para15 graph (3), the Secretary may provide for the release 

16 of funds under this Act for eligible activities to grant 

17 recipients that assume all of the responsibilities for 

18 environmental review, decisionmaking, and related 

19 action under the National Environmental Policy Act 

20 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and other laws 

21 that further the purposes of that Act (as specified 

22 by the regulations promulgated under paragraph 

23 (1)), that would apply to the Secretary if the Sec24 retary carried out the eligible activities as Federal 

25 projects. 
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1 (3) RELEASE.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ap3 prove the release of funds under paragraph (2) 

4 if, at least 15 days prior to approval, the grant 

5 recipient submits to the Secretary a request for 

6 release accompanied by a certification that 

7 meets the requirements of paragraph (4). 

8 (B) APPROVAL.—The approval by the Sec9 retary of a certification shall be deemed to sat10 isfy the responsibilities of the Secretary under 

11 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

12 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the laws specified 

13 by the regulations promulgated under para14 graph (1), to the extent that those responsibil15 ities relate to the release of funds for projects 

16 described in the certification. 

17 (4) CERTIFICATION.—A certification shall— 

18 (A) be in a form acceptable to the Sec19 retary; 

20 (B) be executed by the tribal government; 

21 (C) specify that the grant recipient has 

22 fully assumed the responsibilities described in 

23 paragraph (2); and 

24 (D) specify that the tribal officer— 
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1 (i) assumes the status of a responsible 

2 Federal official under the National Envi3 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

4 4321 et seq.) and each law specified by the 

5 regulations promulgated under paragraph 

6 (1), to the extent that the provisions of 

7 that Act or law apply; and 

8 (ii) is authorized to consent, and con9 sents, on behalf of the grant recipient and 

10 on behalf of the tribal officer to accept the 

11 jurisdiction of the Federal courts for en12 forcement of the responsibilities of the 

13 tribal officer as a responsible Federal offi14 cial. 

15 SEC. 8. REMEDIES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE. 

16 (a) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If the Secretary finds, on 

17 the record after opportunity for an agency hearing, that 

18 a block grant recipient or training and technical assistance 

19 grant recipient has failed to comply substantially with any 

20 provision of this Act, the Secretary, until satisfied that 

21 there is no longer a failure to comply, shall— 

22 (1) terminate payments to the grant recipient; 

23 (2) reduce payments to the grant recipient by 

24 an amount equal to the amount of payments that 

25 were not expended in accordance with this Act; 
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1 (3) limit the availability of payments under this 

2 Act to programs, projects, or activities not affected 

3 by the failure to comply; or 

4 (4) refer the matter to the Attorney General 

5 with a recommendation that the Attorney General 

6 bring an appropriate civil action. 

7 (b) ACTION BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.—After a 

8 referral by the Secretary under subsection (a)(4), the At9 torney General may bring a civil action in United States 

10 district court for appropriate relief (including mandatory 

11 relief, injunctive relief, and recovery of the amount of the 

12 assistance provided under this Act that was not expended 

13 in accordance with this Act). 

14 SEC. 9. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

15 (a) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

16 180 days after the end of each fiscal year in which assist17 ance under this Act is provided, the Secretary shall submit 

18 to Congress a report that includes— 

19 (1) a description of the progress made in ac20 complishing the objectives of this Act; 

21 (2) a summary of the use of funds under this 

22 Act during the preceding fiscal year; and 

23 (3) an evaluation of the status of telephone, 

24 Internet, and personal computer penetration rates, 
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1 by type of technology, among Indian households 

2 throughout Indian country on a tribe-by-tribe basis. 

3 (b) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—The Secretary may 

4 require grant recipients under this Act to submit reports 

5 and other information necessary for the Secretary to pre6 pare the report under subsection (a). 

7 SEC. 10. CONSULTATION. 

8 In carrying out this Act, the Secretary shall consult 

9 with— 

10 (1) other Federal agencies administering Fed11 eral grant programs relating to the development of 

12 telecommunications capacities or infrastructure; and 

13 (2) the Government Accountability Office and 

14 Indian tribes to determine the proportion of grant 

15 funds necessary to address training and technical as16 sistance and eligible activity needs. 

17 SEC. 11. HISTORIC PRESERVATION REQUIREMENTS. 

18 A telecommunications project funded under this Act 

19 shall comply with the National Historic Preservation Act 

20 (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) and the Native American Graves 

21 Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.). 

22 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro24 priated to carry out this Act— 

25 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and 
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1 (2) such sums as are necessary for each subse2 quent fiscal year. 

3 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Funds made available under 

4 subsection (a) shall remain available until expended. 

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