I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4160 
To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to increase regional 
telecommunications development, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 2, 2015 
Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and Mr. NOLAN) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ag-
riculture, 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 amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to increase 
regional telecommunications development, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Broadband In-
frastructure Investment Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. RURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Rural Electrifica-
tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 922 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 208. REGIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVELOP-
MENT. 
‘‘In addition to any preference given under section 
201 with respect to a telephone loan made under this Act, 
the Secretary may give preference to an application for 
such a loan for a project that, as determined by the Sec-
retary, supports the development of telecommunications 
services on a multijurisdictional basis. In evaluating such 
an application, the Secretary shall consider whether— 
‘‘(1) the project that is the subject of the appli-
cation was developed through the collaboration and 
participation of multiple stakeholders in the service 
area of the project, including State, local, and tribal 
governments, nonprofit institutions, institutions of 
higher education, and private entities; 
‘‘(2) the applicant has an understanding of the 
applicable regional resources that could support the 
project, including natural resources, human re-
sources, infrastructure, and financial resources; and 
‘‘(3) the project has clear objectives and in-
cludes a means to establish measurable performance 
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measures and to track progress toward meeting such 
objectives.’’. 
(b) EXEMPTION FROM STATE AGENCY REQUIRE-
MENT.—Section 201 of the Rural Electrification Act of 
1936 (7 U.S.C. 922) is amended in the last sentence by 
inserting ‘‘or the application involved is an application de-
scribed in section 208’’ before the period at the end. 
(c) DEFINITION OF RURAL AREA.—Section 203(b) of 
the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 924(b)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘20,000’’. 
SEC. 3. RURAL BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) AWARD OF GRANTS.—Section 601 of the Rural 
Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘loans and 
loan guarantees’’ and inserting ‘‘loans, loan guaran-
tees, and grants’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 
‘‘AND
LOAN
GUARANTEES’’ and inserting 
‘‘LOAN GUARANTEES, AND GRANTS’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, and 
may make grants,’’ after ‘‘loans’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (2)— 
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(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
graph (A), by striking ‘‘loans or loan guar-
antees’’ and inserting ‘‘loans, loan guaran-
tees, or grants’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘loan and loan 
guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan 
guarantee, and grant’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘loans and loan 
guarantees’’ and inserting ‘‘loans, 
loan guarantees, and grants’’; and 
(iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
‘‘loans or loan guarantees’’ and inserting 
‘‘loans, loan guarantees, or grants’’; 
(3) in subsection (d)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 
by striking ‘‘loan or loan guarantee’’ and 
inserting ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, or grant’’; 
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘loan’’ 
and inserting ‘‘loan or grant’’; and 
(iii) in clause (iii)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘loan’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘loan or grant’’; and 
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(II) by striking ‘‘loan made or 
guaranteed’’ and inserting ‘‘loan or 
grant made or loan guaranteed’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 
preceding clause (i)— 
(I) by inserting ‘‘or the funds re-
ceived through a grant made’’ after 
‘‘guaranteed’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘loan or loan 
guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan 
guarantee, or grant’’; and 
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
‘‘loan or loan guarantee’’ and inserting 
‘‘loan, loan guarantee, or grant’’; 
(C) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘loan 
or loan guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan 
guarantee, or grant’’; 
(D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘loan or 
loan guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan guar-
antee, or grant’’; 
(E) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter 
preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘loan or loan 
guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, 
or grant’’; 
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(F) in paragraph (6)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘loan or loan guar-
antee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan guar-
antee, or grant’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘loan involved’’ and in-
serting ‘‘loan or grant involved’’; and 
(G) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘loan’’ 
and inserting ‘‘loan or grant’’; 
(4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘loan or loan 
guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, or 
grant’’; 
(5) in subsection (j)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘loan and loan guarantee’’ and in-
serting ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, and grant’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘loans’’ and inserting 
‘‘loans or grants’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘loan’’ and inserting 
‘‘loan or grant’’; 
(C) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘loan’’ and inserting ‘‘loan or grant’’; 
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‘‘(E) give priority to applicants that offer 
in the applications of the applicants to provide 
support for mutijurisdictional projects for the 
development of broadband service in rural areas 
that are developed through the collaboration 
and participation of multiple stakeholders in the 
service area of such a project, including State, 
local, and tribal governments, nonprofit institu-
tions, institutions of higher education, and pri-
vate entities.’’. 
Æ 
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