(7) Internet access and inclusion into Internet 
policymaking for women, people with disabilities, mi-
norities, low-income and marginalized groups, and 
underserved populations; 
(8) cybersecurity and data protection, including 
international use of the National Institute of Stand-
ards and Technology (NIST) Framework for Im-
proving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, that 
are industry-led and globally recognized cybersecu-
rity standards and best practices; and 
(9) inter-agency coordination and cooperation 
across all executive branch agencies regarding the 
construction and promotion of Internet initiatives as 
a greater part of United States foreign policy. 
SEC. 5. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT. 
In pursuing the policy described in section 4, the 
President should direct United States representatives to 
appropriate international bodies to use the influence of the 
United States, consistent with the broad development 
goals of the United States, to advocate that each such 
body— 
(1) commit to increase efforts and coordination 
to promote affordable and gender-equitable Internet 
access, in partnership with stakeholders and con-
sistent with host countries’ absorptive capacity; 
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(2) integrate affordable and gender-equitable 
Internet access data into existing economic and busi-
ness assessments, evaluations, and indexes such as 
the Millennium Challenge Corporation constraints 
analysis, the Doing Business Report, International 
Monetary Fund Article IV assessments and country 
reports, the Open Data Barometer, and the Afford-
ability Drivers Index; 
(3) standardize inclusion of broadband conduit 
as part of highway or comparable construction 
projects in developing countries, in consultation with 
telecommunications providers, unless such inclusion 
would create an undue burden, is not necessary 
based on the availability of existing broadband infra-
structure, or a cost-benefit analysis determines that 
the cost outweighs the benefits; 
(4) provide technical assistance to the regu-
latory authorities in developing countries to remove 
unnecessary barriers to investment in otherwise com-
mercially viable projects and strengthen weak regu-
lations or develop new regulations to support market 
growth and development; 
(5) utilize clear, accountable, and metric-based 
targets, including targets with gender-disaggregated 
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data, to measure the effectiveness of efforts to pro-
mote Internet access; and 
(6) promote and protect human rights online, 
such as the freedoms of expression, religion, assem-
bly, and association, through resolutions, public 
statements, projects, and initiatives, and advocate 
that other member states of such bodies are held ac-
countable when major violations are uncovered. 
SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ORGANIZATION. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the Secretary of State should seek to enhance 
the efficiency and effectiveness of United States foreign 
assistance efforts to carry out the policies and objectives 
established by this Act, including by redesignating an ex-
isting Assistant Secretary position in the Department of 
State to be the Assistant Secretary for Cyberspace to lead 
the Department’s diplomatic cyberspace policy generally, 
including for cybersecurity, Internet access, Internet free-
dom, and to promote an open, secure, and reliable infor-
mation and communications technology infrastructure. 
(b) ACTIVITIES.—In recognition of the added value 
of technical knowledge and expertise in the policymaking 
and diplomatic channels, the Secretary of State shall— 
(1) update existing training programs relevant 
to policy discussions; 
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(2) promote the recruitment of candidates with 
technical expertise into the Civil Service and the 
Foreign Service; and 
(3) work to improve inter-agency coordination 
and cooperation on cybersecurity and Internet initia-
tives. 
(c) OFFSET.—To offset any costs incurred by the De-
partment of State to carry out the designation of an As-
sistant Secretary for Cyberspace in accordance with sub-
section (a), the Secretary of State shall eliminate such po-
sitions within the Department of State, unless otherwise 
authorized or required by law, as the Secretary determines 
to be necessary to fully offset such costs. 
(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The redesignation of 
the Assistant Secretary position in the Department of 
State described in subsection (a) may not be construed 
as increasing the number of Assistant Secretary positions 
at the Department above the current level of 24 as author-
ized in section 1(c)(1) of the State Department Basic Au-
thorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(c)(1)). 
SEC. 7. USAID. 
It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator 
of the United States Agency for International Develop-
ment should— 
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(1) integrate efforts to expand Internet access, 
develop appropriate technologies, and enhance digital 
literacy into the education, development, and eco-
nomic growth programs of the agency, where appro-
priate; 
(2) expand the utilization of information and 
communications technologies in humanitarian aid 
and disaster relief responses and United States oper-
ations involving stabilization and security to improve 
donor coordination, reduce duplication and waste, 
capture and share lessons learned, and augment dis-
aster preparedness and risk mitigation strategies; 
and 
(3) establish and promote guidelines for the 
protection of personal information of individuals 
served by humanitarian, disaster, and development 
programs implemented directly through the United 
States Government, through contracts funded by the 
United States Government, and by international or-
ganizations. 
SEC. 8. PEACE CORPS. 
Section 3 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502) 
is amended by— 
(1) redesignating subsection (h) as subsection 
(e); and 
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(2) adding at the end the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(f) It is the sense of Congress that access to tech-
nology can transform agriculture, community economic de-
velopment, education, environment, health, and youth de-
velopment which are the sectors in which Peace Corps cur-
rently develops positions for Volunteers. 
‘‘(g) In giving attention to the programs, projects, 
training, and other activities referred to in subsection (f), 
the Peace Corps should develop positions for Volunteers 
that are focused on leveraging technology for development, 
education, and social and economic mobility.’’. 
SEC. 9. PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 
plans to promote partnerships by United States develop-
ment agencies, including the United States Agency for 
International Development and the Millennium Challenge 
Corporation, and international agencies funded by the 
United States Government with the private sector and 
other stakeholders to expand affordable and gender equi-
table access to the Internet in developing countries, includ-
ing the following elements: 
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(1) Methods for stakeholders to partner with 
such agencies in order to provide Internet access or 
Internet infrastructure in developing countries. 
(2) Methods of outreach to stakeholders to ex-
plore partnership opportunities for expanding Inter-
net access or Internet infrastructure, including co-
ordination with the private sector, when financing 
roads and telecommunications infrastructure. 
(3) Methods for early consultation with stake-
holders concerning projects in telecommunications 
and road construction to provide Internet access or 
Internet infrastructure. 
SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION 
EFFORTS. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 
a report on efforts to implement the policies specified in 
this Act and a discussion of the plans and existing efforts 
by the United States Government in developing countries 
to accomplish the following: 
(1) Developing a technical and regulatory road 
map for promoting Internet access in developing 
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countries and a path to implementing such road 
map. 
(2) Identifying the regulatory barriers that may 
unduly impede Internet access, including regulation 
of wireline broadband deployment or the infrastruc-
ture to augment wireless broadband deployment. 
(3) Strengthening and supporting development 
of regulations that incentivize market growth and 
sector development. 
(4) Encouraging further public and private in-
vestment 
in 
Internet 
infrastructure, 
including 
broadband networks and services. 
(5) Increasing gender-equitable Internet access 
and otherwise encourage or support Internet deploy-
ment, competition, and adoption. 
(6) Improving the affordability of Internet ac-
cess. 
(7) Promoting technology and cybersecurity ca-
pacity building efforts and consult technical experts 
for advice regarding options to accelerate the ad-
vancement of Internet deployment, adoption, and 
usage. 
(8) Promoting Internet freedom globally and in-
clude civil society and the private sector in the for-
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mulation of policies, projects, and advocacy efforts 
to protect human rights online. 
(9) Promoting and strengthening the multi- 
stakeholder model of Internet governance and ac-
tively participate in multi-stakeholder international 
fora, such as the Internet Governance Forum. 
(10) Advancing a strategy to promote— 
(A) global cybersecurity policy consistent 
with the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving 
Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity; 
(B) global Internet freedom principles, 
such as the freedoms of expression, religion, as-
sembly, and association, while combating efforts 
to impose restrictions on such freedoms; and 
(C) improved inter-agency coordination 
and cooperation on cybersecurity and Internet 
initiatives. 
SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
BROADBAND.—The 
term 
‘‘broadband’’ 
means an Internet Protocol-based transmission serv-
ice that enables users to send and receive voice, 
video, data, graphics, or a combination thereof. 
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(2) 
BROADBAND
CONDUIT.—The 
term 
‘‘broadband conduit’’ means a conduit for fiber optic 
cables that support broadband or wireless facilities 
for broadband service. 
(3) BUILD ONCE POLICIES AND APPROACHES.— 
The term ‘‘build once policies and approaches’’ 
means policies or practices that minimize the num-
ber and scale of excavation and construction activi-
ties when installing telecommunications infrastruc-
ture in rights-of-way. 
(4) CYBERSPACE.—The term ‘‘cyberspace’’ 
means the interdependent network of information 
technology infrastructures, and includes the Inter-
net, telecommunications networks, computer sys-
tems, and embedded processors and controllers in 
critical industries, and includes the virtual environ-
ment of information and interactions between peo-
ple. 
(5) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘stakeholders’’ 
means the private sector, the public sector, coopera-
tives, civil society, the technical community that de-
velops Internet technologies, standards, implementa-
tion, operations, and applications, and other groups 
that are working to increase Internet access or are 
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impacted by the lack of Internet access in their com-
munities. 
Æ 
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