I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3369 

To codify the ReConnect Program, to expand rural broadband assistance, 

and to improve the administration and accountability of the broadband 

programs at the Department of Agriculture. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2021 

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mr. AUSTIN

SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. JACOBS of New York, Mr. 

HAGEDORN, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. CRAWFORD, 

Mr. ALLEN, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. ROUZER, Ms. LETLOW, Mr. MOORE of 

Alabama, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. MANN, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, 

Mr. FEENSTRA, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, 

Mr. LAMALFA, and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To codify the ReConnect Program, to expand rural 

broadband assistance, and to improve the administration 

and accountability of the broadband programs at the 

Department of Agriculture. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband for Rural 

3 America Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STREAMLINING DUPLICATIVE BROADBAND AU5 THORITIES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 601 of the Rural Elec7 trification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amended— 

8 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AC9 CESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

10 SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS’’ and inserting ‘‘RE11 CONNECT RURAL BROADBAND PROGRAM’’; 

12 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.—The Secretary 

15 shall establish a program, which shall be known as the 

16 ‘ReConnect Rural Broadband Program’, to provide grants, 

17 loans, and loan guarantees to finance the costs of the con18 struction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities and 

19 equipment for broadband service in rural areas.’’; 

20 (3) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (2) 

21 and redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2); 

22 (4) in subsection (c)— 

23 (A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert24 ing the following: 

25 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In providing assist2 ance under this section the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) give the highest priority to appli4 cations for projects to provide broadband 

5 service to unserved rural communities that 

6 do not have any residential broadband 

7 service of at least— 

8 ‘‘(I) a 10-Mbps downstream 

9 transmission capacity; and 

10 ‘‘(II) a 1-Mbps upstream trans11 mission capacity; 

12 ‘‘(ii) give priority to applicants for 

13 projects which propose to serve commu14 nities— 

15 ‘‘(I) with a population of less 

16 than 10,000 permanent residents; 

17 ‘‘(II) that are experiencing out18 migration and have adopted a stra19 tegic community investment plan 

20 under section 379H(d) of the Consoli21 dated Farm and Rural Development 

22 Act that includes considerations for 

23 improving and expanding broadband 

24 service; 


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1 ‘‘(III) with a high percentage of 

2 low income families or persons (as de3 fined in section 501(b) of the Housing 

4 Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471(b)); or 

5 ‘‘(IV) that are isolated from 

6 other significant population centers. 

7 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PRIORITY FOR AD8 VANCED PROJECTS.—After giving priority to 

9 the applications described in subparagraph (A), 

10 the Secretary shall then give priority to applica11 tions for projects which propose to provide— 

12 ‘‘(i) the maximum level of broadband 

13 service to the greatest proportion of rural 

14 premises in the proposed service area iden15 tified in the application; 

16 ‘‘(ii) rapid and expanded deployment 

17 of fixed and mobile broadband on cropland 

18 and ranchland within a service territory 

19 that is not supported by funds from the 

20 5G Fund for Rural America established by 

21 the Federal Communications Commission 

22 in the Report and Order in the matter of 

23 Establishing a 5G Fund for Rural America 

24 (FCC 20–150; adopted October 27, 2020), 


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1 for use in various applications of precision 

2 agriculture. 

3 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL PRIORITY FOR COMMU4 NITY STAKEHOLDERS.—The Secretary shall 

5 further prioritize projects based on the number 

6 of community stakeholders served, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) State, local, and tribal govern8 ment entities; 

9 ‘‘(ii) nonprofit institutions; 

10 ‘‘(iii) community anchor institutions, 

11 such as— 

12 ‘‘(I) public libraries; 

13 ‘‘(II) elementary schools and sec14 ondary schools (as defined in section 

15 8101 of the Elementary and Sec16 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

17 U.S.C. 7801)); 

18 ‘‘(III) institutions of higher edu19 cation; 

20 ‘‘(IV) health care facilities; or 

21 ‘‘(V) other essential community 

22 facilities; 

23 ‘‘(iv) rural businesses; or 

24 ‘‘(v) philanthropic organizations. 


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1 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATION.—In implementing 

2 this section, the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) provide equal consideration to all 

4 eligible entities, including those that have 

5 not previously received assistance under 

6 this title; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) with respect to 2 or more appli8 cations that are given the same priority 

9 under this paragraph, give priority to an 

10 application that is proposing to serve the 

11 highest number of households without suf12 ficient broadband service.’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘GRANT AMOUNTS’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘ADDITIONAL REQUIRE16 MENTS FOR GRANT AWARDS’’; and 

17 (ii) by striking subparagraph (E) and 

18 inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(E) APPLICATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) GRANT-ONLY APPLICATIONS.— 

21 The Secretary shall establish an applica22 tion process that permits an application for 

23 a grant-only award. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) COMBINED APPLICATIONS.—The 

2 Secretary shall establish an application 

3 process that permits— 

4 ‘‘(I) a single application for a 

5 grant and a loan under title I or II, 

6 or this title, that is associated with 

7 the grant; and 

8 ‘‘(II) provides a single decision to 

9 award the grant and the loan.’’; 

10 (5) in subsection (d)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

13 (I) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs 

14 (B) and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara15 graph (B)’’; 

16 (II) by striking ‘‘submitted—’’ 

17 and all that follows through ‘‘(i)’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘submitted’’; and 

19 (III) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and all 

20 that follows through ‘‘providers’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking subparagraph (C); and 

22 (B) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by striking 

23 subclause (II) and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(II) demonstrated on the maps 

25 required to be created under section 


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1 802(c) of the Communications Act of 

2 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)), if address 

3 level data is available.’’; and 

4 (6) by striking subsection (j) and inserting the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(j) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO7 PRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

8 Secretary to carry out this section, to remain available 

9 until expended— 

10 ‘‘(1) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

11 ‘‘(2) $3,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

12 ‘‘(3) $3,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 

13 (b) SUNSET.—The authorities provided by section 

14 779 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public 

15 Law 115–141) shall have no force or effect after June 

16 30, 2022. 

17 (c) TRANSITION RULES.— 

18 (1) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR ADMINISTRA19 TIVE COSTS.—Not more than 1 percent of the unob20 ligated balances of amounts made available as of 

21 June 1, 2021, to carry out the pilot program de22 scribed in section 779 of the Consolidated Appro23 priations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141) may be 

24 used for the costs of transitioning from the pilot 

25 program to the program under section 601 of the 


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1 Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended by 

2 this Act. 

3 (2) CONSOLIDATION OF FUNDS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The unobligated bal5 ances of all amounts made available on or be6 fore June 30, 2022, to carry out the pilot pro7 gram described in section 779 of the Consoli8 dated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 

9 115–141) that are in excess of the amount de10 scribed in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph 

11 are hereby transferred to and merged with 

12 amounts made available to carry out the pro13 gram authorized under section 601 of the Rural 

14 Electrification Act of 1936. 

15 (B) UNFUNDED APPROVALS.—The amount 

16 described in this subparagraph is the amount 

17 required to fully fund each project approved as 

18 of June 30, 2022, under the pilot program de19 scribed in such section 779 for which amounts 

20 were not obligated or partially obligated as of 

21 such date. 

22 SEC. 3. EXPANDING MIDDLE-MILE INFRASTRUCTURE IN 

23 RURAL AMERICA. 

24 Section 602(g) of the Rural Electrification Act of 

25 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–1(g)) is amended by striking 


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1 ‘‘$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘$150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021’’. 

3 SEC. 4. FOSTERING BROADBAND TECHNOLOGY INNOVA4 TION. 

5 Section 603(e) of the Rural Electrification Act of 

6 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–2(e)) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021’’. 

9 SEC. 5. BROADBAND PROGRAM OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNT10 ABILITY. 

11 Section 701 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 

12 (7 U.S.C. 950cc) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by inserting 

14 ‘‘(which data shall include maps required to be cre15 ated under section 802(c) of the Communications 

16 Act of 1934)’’ before ‘‘and the Administrator’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (e)— 

18 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

19 by striking ‘‘program level amounts available 

20 pursuant to’’ and inserting ‘‘the’’; and 

21 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

22 through (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), re23 spectively, and inserting before paragraph (2) 

24 (as so redesignated) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) administrative costs for carrying out such 

2 title;’’. 

3 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL BROADBAND PROGRAM 

4 COORDINATION REQUIREMENTS. 

5 Section 6212 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 

6 2018 (7 U.S.C. 950bb–6) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking subsection (a); 

8 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) through (d) 

9 as subsections (d) through (f), respectively; and 

10 (3) by inserting before subsection (d) (as so re11 designated) the following: 

12 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION.—The Secretary 

13 shall consult with the Commission to assist in the verifica14 tion of eligibility of the broadband loan and grant pro15 grams of the Department of Agriculture. In providing as16 sistance under the preceding sentence, the Commission 

17 shall make available the broadband assessment and map18 ping capabilities of the Commission. 

19 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION-SHARING.— 

20 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall semiannually submit 

21 to the Assistant Secretary and the Commission com22 plete, reliable, and precise information (in a manner 

23 consistent with how information is submitted under 

24 section 802 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

25 U.S.C. 642)) which identifies the areas for which 


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1 broadband service has been deployed under a loan or 

2 grant program of the Department of Agriculture. 

3 ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary shall semiannually 

4 submit to the Secretary complete, reliable, and pre5 cise information (in a manner consistent with how 

6 information is submitted under section 802 of the 

7 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642)) 

8 which identifies the areas for which broadband serv9 ice has been deployed under any assistance provided 

10 by the Assistant Secretary, unless the Assistant Sec11 retary has submitted the information to the Com12 mission and the information is incorporated into the 

13 maps required to be created under section 802(c) of 

14 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)) 

15 and is shared with the Secretary under paragraph 

16 (3) of this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(3) On request of the Secretary, the Commis18 sion shall provide to the Secretary the maps required 

19 to be created under section 802(c) of the Commu20 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 642(c)). 

21 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN USDA AND

22 NTIA.— 

23 ‘‘(1) BY USDA.—The Secretary shall consult 

24 with the Assistant Secretary before providing 

25 broadband assistance for a project to serve an area 


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1 with respect to which another entity is receiving as2 sistance under any broadband assistance program 

3 administered by the Assistant Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(2) BY NTIA.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

5 consult with the Secretary before offering or pro6 viding broadband assistance for a project to serve an 

7 area with respect to which another entity has re8 ceived broadband assistance under a loan or grant 

9 program of the Department of Agriculture.’’. 

Æ 


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