II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2880 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish an Office of 

Rural Broadband Initiatives in the Department of Agriculture, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2009 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish 

an Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives in the Department of Agriculture, 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 ‘‘Rural Broadband Ini5 tiative Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF RURAL BROADBAND INITIATIVES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Rural Electrifica8 tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating sections 601 and 602 as 

2 sections 603 and 604, respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting before section 603 (as so redes4 ignated) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS. 

6 ‘‘In this title: 

7 ‘‘(1) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of8 fice of Rural Broadband Initiatives established by 

9 section 602(a)(1). 

10 ‘‘(2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘Under 

11 Secretary’ means the Under Secretary for Rural 

12 Broadband Initiatives appointed under section 

13 602(a)(2). 

14 ‘‘SEC. 602. OFFICE OF RURAL BROADBAND INITIATIVES. 

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

17 Department of Agriculture an office to be known as 

18 the ‘Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives’. 

19 ‘‘(2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The head of the Of20 fice shall be the Under Secretary for Rural 

21 Broadband Initiatives, who shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the President, by and 

23 with the advice and consent of the Senate; and 

24 ‘‘(B) report directly to the Secretary. 

25 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) as of the date of enactment of this 

4 section, administer all rural broadband-related 

5 grant and loan programs previously adminis6 tered by the Administrator of the Rural Utili7 ties Service, including— 

8 ‘‘(i) the rural broadband access loan 

9 and loan guarantee program established 

10 under section 603; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the Community Connect Grant 

12 Program described in subpart A of part 

13 1739 of title 7, Code of Federal Regula14 tions (or successor regulations). 

15 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Under Secretary 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) conduct extensive, nationwide out18 reach to rural areas; 

19 ‘‘(B) foster the development of a com20 prehensive rural broadband strategic vision; 

21 ‘‘(C) plan coordination of Federal re22 sources for State, regional, and local govern23 ments to assist citizens living and working in 

24 rural areas; 


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1 ‘‘(D) assess all relevant technologies (in2 cluding WiFi, WIMAX, DSL, cable, satellite, 

3 fiber, optical fiber, and broadband) over power 

4 lines, as the technologies are able to support in 

5 whole or in part rural broadband needs and re6 quirements; 

7 ‘‘(E) serve as a single information source 

8 for all rural broadband programs and services 

9 administered by Federal agencies; and 

10 ‘‘(F) provide technical assistance to State, 

11 regional, and local governments to develop 

12 broadband deployment strategies. 

13 ‘‘(c) COMPREHENSIVE RURAL BROADBAND STRAT14 EGY.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the appointment of the first Under Secretary, 

17 the Under Secretary shall submit to the President 

18 and Congress a report describing comprehensive 

19 rural broadband strategy that includes— 

20 ‘‘(A) recommendations— 

21 ‘‘(i) to promote interagency coordina22 tion of Federal agencies in regards to poli23 cies, procedures, and targeted resources, 

24 and to improve and streamline the polices, 

25 programs, and services; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to coordinate among Federal 

2 agencies regarding existing rural broad3 band or rural initiatives that could be of 

4 value to rural broadband development; 

5 ‘‘(iii) to address both short- and long6 term solutions and needs assessments for a 

7 rapid build-out of rural broadband solu8 tions and applications for Federal, State, 

9 regional, and local government policy mak10 ers; 

11 ‘‘(iv) to identify how specific Federal 

12 agency programs and resources can best 

13 respond to rural broadband requirements 

14 and overcome obstacles that currently im15 pede rural broadband deployment; and 

16 ‘‘(v) to promote successful model de17 ployments and appropriate technologies 

18 being used in rural areas so that State, re19 gional, and local governments can benefit 

20 from the cataloging and successes of other 

21 State, regional, and local governments; and 

22 ‘‘(B) a description of goals and timeframes 

23 to achieve the strategic plans and visions identi24 fied in the report. 


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1 ‘‘(2) UPDATES.—The Under Secretary shall up2 date and evaluate the report described in paragraph 

3 (1) on an annual basis. 

4 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL RURAL BROADBAND INNOVATION

5 FUND.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

7 the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund, 

8 to be known as the ‘National Rural Broadband In9 novation Fund’ (referred to in this subsection as the 

10 ‘Fund’), consisting of— 

11 ‘‘(A) such amounts as are appropriated to 

12 the Fund under paragraph (5); and 

13 ‘‘(B) any interest earned on investment of 

14 amounts in the Fund under paragraph (4). 

15 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUND.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary 

17 shall use the amounts in the Fund to fund ex18 perimental and pilot rural broadband projects 

19 and applications, including WiFi, WIMAX, 

20 DSL, cable, satellite, fiber, optical fiber, and 

21 broadband delivery over power lines. 

22 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

23 after the date of appointment of the first Under 

24 Secretary, the Under Secretary shall submit to 

25 Congress a report that describes— 


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1 ‘‘(i) proposed rules for the administra2 tion of the Fund; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) proposed qualification guidelines 

4 for projects to receive funding under this 

5 subsection. 

6 ‘‘(3) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara8 graph (B), on request by the Under Secretary, 

9 the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer 

10 from the Fund to the Under Secretary such 

11 amounts as the Under Secretary determines are 

12 necessary to fund projects under paragraph (2). 

13 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An 

14 amount not exceeding 10 percent of the 

15 amounts in the Fund shall be available for each 

16 fiscal year to pay the administrative expenses 

17 necessary to carry out this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(4) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

20 Treasury shall invest such portion of the Fund 

21 as is not, in the judgment of the Secretary of 

22 the Treasury, required to meet current with23 drawals. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INTEREST-BEARING OBLIGATIONS.— 

2 Investments may be made only in interest-bear3 ing obligations of the United States. 

4 ‘‘(C) ACQUISITION OF OBLIGATIONS.—For 

5 the purpose of investments under subparagraph 

6 (A), obligations may be acquired— 

7 ‘‘(i) on original issue at the issue 

8 price; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) by purchase of outstanding obli10 gations at the market price. 

11 ‘‘(D) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obliga12 tion acquired by the Fund may be sold by the 

13 Secretary of the Treasury at the market price. 

14 ‘‘(E) CREDITS TO FUND.—The interest on, 

15 and the proceeds from the sale or redemption 

16 of, any obligations held in the Fund shall be 

17 credited to, and form a part of, the Fund. 

18 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

20 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

21 2012. 

22 ‘‘(e) RURAL BROADBAND ADVISORY PANEL.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

24 after the date of appointment of the first Under Sec25 retary, the Under Secretary shall submit to ConVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:13 Dec 15, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2880.IS S2880

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1 gress a plan to establish a Rural Broadband Advi2 sory Panel (referred to in this subsection as the 

3 ‘Panel’). 

4 ‘‘(2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Panel shall be 

5 chaired by the Under Secretary or a designee. 

6 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Panel shall be com7 posed of representatives of— 

8 ‘‘(A) State government; 

9 ‘‘(B) local government; 

10 ‘‘(C) communications equipment vendors 

11 (including broadband data service providers); 

12 ‘‘(D) public utility services; 

13 ‘‘(E) local exchange carriers; 

14 ‘‘(F) wireless carriers; 

15 ‘‘(G) satellite communications services; and 

16 ‘‘(H) other appropriate public or private 

17 sector entities, as determined by the Under Sec18 retary. 

19 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Panel shall meet not less 

20 than 4 times each year. 

21 ‘‘(5) DUTIES.—The Advisory Panel shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) assist the Under Secretary in updat23 ing the annual report described in subsection 

24 (c)(2); 


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1 ‘‘(B) evaluate the effectiveness of all Fed2 eral broadband assistance programs and policies 

3 aimed at fostering broadband access in rural 

4 and underserved areas; 

5 ‘‘(C) evaluate best practices employed at 

6 the State and local government level to foster 

7 broadband access in rural and underserved 

8 areas; and 

9 ‘‘(D) cooperate with the Under Secretary 

10 in addressing and evaluating issues determined 

11 by the Under Secretary to be critical to fos12 tering broadband access and connectivity in 

13 rural and underserved areas. 

14 ‘‘(f) WEB-BASED CLEARINGHOUSE.—The Under 

15 Secretary shall establish a comprehensive and interactive 

16 rural broadband Web-based clearinghouse that describes 

17 options, opportunities, resources, successful public-private 

18 partnerships, comprehensive funding sources, and tech19 nology tutorials for rural broadband, including— 

20 ‘‘(1) case studies; 

21 ‘‘(2) descriptions of best practices; 

22 ‘‘(3) assessments of various technology solu23 tions; 

24 ‘‘(4) feasibility studies; 


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1 ‘‘(5) applications, including telework, telemedi2 cine, distance learning, training, homeland security, 

3 senior citizen connectivity and program development, 

4 and business and economic development; 

5 ‘‘(6) rural broadband options and policies anal6 ysis; and 

7 ‘‘(7) support for networks among rural commu8 nities and economic development agencies.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 603 of the 

10 Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (as redesignated by sub11 section (a)(1)) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (d)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘sub13 section (k)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (l)’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (j), by striking ‘‘Adminis15 trator’’ and inserting ‘‘Under Secretary’’; 

16 (3) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as 

17 subsections (l) and (m), respectively; and 

18 (4) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol19 lowing : 

20 ‘‘(k) RULES REVISION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

22 after the date of appointment of the first Under Sec23 retary, the Under Secretary shall submit to Con24 gress a revision of the rules and qualification criteria 


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1 for the loan and loan guarantee program under this 

2 section. 

3 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In preparing the revi4 sion, the Under Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) emphasize streamlining the applica6 tion process and processing time; 

7 ‘‘(B) ensure that the financial require8 ments for applicants do not unduly disqualify 

9 applicants that have demonstrated a viable 

10 business plan; and 

11 ‘‘(C) not diminish the mission of the pro12 gram to deliver broadband service to under13 served rural areas.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. SUFFICIENCY OF RESOURCES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

17 shall submit to Congress a report describing the resources 

18 and staff necessary to carry out this Act and the amend19 ments made by this Act. 

20 (b) PREPARATION OF REPORT.—The Secretary shall 

21 provide the Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives the re22 sources and staff necessary to carry out this section. 

23 (c) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.— 


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

2 the United States shall review the report submitted 

3 under subsection (a) for validity. 

4 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the 

5 date on which the report is submitted under sub6 section (a), the Comptroller General of the United 

7 States shall submit to Congress a report containing 

8 the findings of the review under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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