I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3413 

To authorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Department of Commerce to make grants for the establishment of information technology centers in rural areas. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2009 

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself and Mr. SPACE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Department of Commerce to 

make grants for the establishment of information technology centers in rural areas. 

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 Information 

5 Technology Investment Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR RURAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 

2 CENTERS. 

3 Part C of the National Telecommunications and In4 formation Administration Organization Act is amended by 

5 inserting after section 158 (47 U.S.C. 942) the following 

6 new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 159. GRANTS FOR RURAL INFORMATION TECH8 NOLOGY CENTERS. 

9 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The NTIA shall make grants 

10 to eligible entities, and determine (subject to subsection 

11 (e)) the amount of such grants, for the establishment of 

12 information technology centers in rural areas. 

13 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Eligible entities may 

14 be— 

15 ‘‘(1) any small business or not-for-profit organi16 zation or business operating in a rural area, as de17 termined by the NTIA; and 

18 ‘‘(2) any State, local, or tribal government serv19 ing such an area. 

20 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under 

22 this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an applica23 tion to the NTIA in such time and manner, and hav24 ing such content, as the NTIA may by rule require. 

25 ‘‘(2) MATCHING REQUIRED.—An eligible entity 

26 shall include in the application an assurance that the 


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1 entity will provide, from State, local, or tribal gov2 ernment sources, an amount equal to not less than 

3 15 percent of the grant amount in order to carry out 

4 the establishment of the information technology cen5 ter under the grant. 

6 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this Act, 

7 the NTIA shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) give priority to eligible entities that— 

9 ‘‘(A) promote information technology re10 search and development at any institution of 

11 higher education (as such term is defined in 

12 section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) serving a rural area; 

14 ‘‘(B) are located in a county with an un15 employment rate, as determined on the basis 

16 the most recent data available from the Bureau 

17 of Labor Statistics, of at least 1.1 times the na18 tional unemployment rate for the period to 

19 which such data relate; 

20 ‘‘(C) are certified by the Small Business 

21 Administration as qualified HUBZone small 

22 businesses; or 

23 ‘‘(D) work in conjunction with a local 

24 Workforce Investment Board (established purVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:26 Aug 01, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3413.IH H3413

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1 suant to section 117 of the Workforce Invest2 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2832)); and 

3 ‘‘(2) take into consideration— 

4 ‘‘(A) the comprehensive nationwide inven5 tory map of existing broadband service capa6 bility and availability in the United States de7 veloped and maintained pursuant to section 

8 6001(l) of division B of the American Recovery 

9 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (PL 111–5; 123 

10 Stat. 516) or any other applicable data admin11 istered by a State, local, or tribal agency; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the availability of service capabilities 

13 in the area for which the eligible entity is apply14 ing for with reference to such map, and the 

15 speed of Internet service, and other relevant 

16 factors. 

17 ‘‘(e) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNTS.—In deter18 mining the amount of each grant awarded for a fiscal year 

19 under this section, the NTIA shall specify a minimum 

20 amount and such amount may be renewed for up to one 

21 year upon a finding by the NTIA that the grant recipient 

22 has satisfied subsection (f). 

23 ‘‘(f) AUDITS.—Each grant recipient under this sec24 tion shall undergo an audit administered by the NTIA. 


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1 The NTIA shall report findings of the audits to Congress 

2 on an annual basis. 

3 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of 

5 fiscal years 2010 through 2012 to carry out this section. 

6 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

7 ‘‘(1) the term ‘information technology’ means 

8 the use of hardware, software, services, and sup9 porting infrastructure to manage and deliver infor10 mation using voice, data, and video by means of a 

11 computer or data network or networks; 

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘information technology center’ 

13 means a for-profit or not-for-profit business venture 

14 that offers information technology services including 

15 application maintenance and support, application de16 velopment, help desk services, personal computer 

17 maintenance and support, network management, 

18 data center management, database management, 

19 server management, or web hosting, and is designed 

20 to expand high tech job opportunities in rural areas; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(3) the term ‘rural area’ means the terms 

23 ‘rural’ and ‘rural area’ mean any area other than— 

24 ‘‘(A) a city or town that has a population 

25 of greater than 50,000 inhabitants; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the urbanized area contiguous and 

2 adjacent to such a city or town.’’. 

Æ 


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