I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2399 
To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish a vetting 
process for prospective applicants for high-cost universal service program 
funding. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 27, 2025 
Mrs. HOUCHIN (for herself and Ms. KELLY of Illinois) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To require the Federal Communications Commission to es-
tablish a vetting process for prospective applicants for 
high-cost universal service program funding. 
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 Pro-
tection Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. VETTING PROCESS FOR PROSPECTIVE HIGH-COST 
UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND APPLICANTS. 
Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 254) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(m) VETTING OF HIGH-COST FUND RECIPIENTS.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘covered funding’ means any 
new offer of high-cost universal service program 
funding, including funding provided through a 
reverse competitive bidding mechanism provided 
under this section, for the deployment of a 
broadband-capable network and the provision of 
supported services over the network; and 
‘‘(B) the term ‘new covered funding award’ 
means an award of covered funding that is 
made based on an application submitted to the 
Commission on or after the date on which rules 
are promulgated under paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) COMMISSION
RULEMAKING.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
subsection, the Commission shall initiate a rule-
making proceeding to establish a vetting process for 
applicants for, and other recipients of, a new covered 
funding award. 
‘‘(3) CONTENTS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In promulgating rules 
under paragraph (2), the Commission shall pro-
vide that, consistent with principles of tech-
nology neutrality, the Commission will only 
award covered funding to applicants that can 
demonstrate that they meet the qualifications in 
subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS
DESCRIBED.—An 
applicant for a new covered funding award shall 
include in the initial application a proposal con-
taining sufficient detail and documentation for 
the Commission to ascertain that the applicant 
possesses the technical, financial, and oper-
ational capabilities, and has a reasonable busi-
ness plan, to deploy the proposed network and 
deliver services with the relevant performance 
characteristics and requirements defined by the 
Commission and as pledged by the applicant. 
‘‘(C) EVALUATION
OF
PROPOSAL.—The 
Commission shall evaluate a proposal described 
in subparagraph (B) against— 
‘‘(i) reasonable and well-established 
technical, financial, and operational stand-
ards, including the technical standards 
adopted by the Commission in orders of 
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the Commission relating to Establishing 
the Digital Opportunity Data Collection 
(WC Docket No. 19–195) (or orders of the 
Commission relating to modernizing any 
successor collection) for purposes of enti-
ties that must report broadband avail-
ability coverage; and 
‘‘(ii) the applicant’s history of com-
plying with requirements in the Commis-
sion and other government broadband de-
ployment funding programs. 
‘‘(D) PENALTIES FOR PRE-AUTHORIZATION 
DEFAULTS.—In adopting rules for any new cov-
ered funding award, the Commission shall set a 
penalty for pre-authorization defaults of at least 
$9,000 per violation and may not limit the base 
forfeiture to an amount less than 30 percent of 
the applicant’s total support, unless the Com-
mission demonstrates the need for lower pen-
alties in a particular instance.’’. 
Æ 
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