I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5243 
To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
Organization Act to establish a mobile hotspot grant program, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2019 
Ms. MENG (for herself, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mrs. BUSTOS, 
Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. 
ESPAILLAT, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of 
Georgia, Mr. KHANNA, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. RYAN, Mr. 
SABLAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, Ms. 
VELA´ZQUEZ, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 
addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To amend the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration Organization Act to establish a mobile 
hotspot grant program, 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 ‘‘Closing the Homework 
Gap Through Mobile Hotspots Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:52 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5243.IH
H5243
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
SEC. 2. MOBILE HOTSPOT GRANT PROGRAM. 
The National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C 901 et seq.) 
is amended by adding after section 158 the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 159 MOBILE HOTSPOT GRANT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Assistant Secretary 
shall establish a program (to be known as the ‘Mobile 
Hotspot Grant Program’) to provide grants to eligible in-
stitutions to facilitate mobile hotspot programs. 
‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Assistant Secretary 
may provide grants to eligible institutions under the pro-
gram established in subsection (a). 
‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
provided under this section, an eligible institution shall 
submit an application at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Assistant Secretary 
may require. 
‘‘(d) USE OF GRANTS.—A grant provided under this 
section shall be used to facilitate a mobile hotspot program 
that provides a hotspot device to an enrolled student, or 
the family or guardian of such enrolled student, and such 
hotspot device shall— 
‘‘(1) be portable; 
‘‘(2) not contain a data limitation; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:52 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5243.IH
H5243
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(3) comply with the Children’s Online Privacy 
Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.). 
‘‘(e) PRIORITY OF GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 
shall prioritize providing a grant to eligible institu-
tions that create a mobile hotspot program that will 
provide hotspot devices to the highest number of 
low-income students. 
‘‘(2) SET ASIDES.— 
‘‘(A) FEDERALLY
RECOGNIZED
INDIAN 
TRIBES.—To the extent practicable, at least 5 
percent of the amounts appropriated to carry 
out this section shall be used to provide grants 
to federally recognized Indian Tribes. 
‘‘(B) U.S. TERRITORIES
AND
THE
DIS-
TRICT
OF
COLUMBIA.—To the extent prac-
ticable, at least 5 percent of the amounts ap-
propriated to carry out this section shall be 
used to provide grants to territories of the 
United States and the District of Columbia. 
‘‘(f) GRANT LIMIT.—An eligible institution may not 
receive more than 2 percent of the total sum appropriated 
for a fiscal year to carry out this section. 
‘‘(g) REPORT.—The Assistant Secretary shall submit 
to Congress a report on— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:52 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5243.IH
H5243
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(1) the number of eligible institutions that re-
ceive a grant provided under this section; 
‘‘(2) the number of enrolled students that re-
ceive access to broadband internet access service 
through a grant provided under this section; 
‘‘(3) the number of enrolled students that are 
part of the homework gap; 
‘‘(4) how hotspot devices are used; and 
‘‘(5) the amount of data used per hotspot de-
vice. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each 
fiscal year 2020 through 2025. 
‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) BROADBAND
INTERNET
ACCESS
SERV-
ICE.—The term ‘broadband internet access service’ 
has the meaning given such term in section 8.1(b) 
of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc-
cessor regulation). 
‘‘(2) 
ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL; 
SECONDARY 
SCHOOL.—The terms ‘elementary school’ and ‘sec-
ondary school’ have the meanings given such terms 
in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:52 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5243.IH
H5243
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi-
ble institution’ means any of the following: 
‘‘(A) An elementary school. 
‘‘(B) A secondary school. 
‘‘(C) An institution of higher education. 
‘‘(D) A federally recognized Indian Tribe. 
‘‘(E) A library. 
‘‘(F) A library consortium. 
‘‘(G) A State library administrative agen-
cy. 
‘‘(4) ENROLLED STUDENT.—The term ‘enrolled 
student’ means a student who is enrolled in an ele-
mentary school, a secondary school, or an institution 
of higher education. 
‘‘(5) 
FEDERALLY
RECOGNIZED
INDIAN 
TRIBE.—The term ‘federally recognized Indian 
Tribe’ has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ 
in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
‘‘(6) HOMEWORK GAP.—The term ‘homework 
gap’ means unequal access to digital devices and 
broadband internet access service that prevents an 
enrolled student from completing homework. 
‘‘(7) HOTSPOT DEVICE.—The term ‘hotspot de-
vice’ means a portable device— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:52 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5243.IH
H5243
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(A) that connects to broadband internet 
access service using a cellular data connection; 
‘‘(B) to which other devices wirelessly con-
nect by means of Wi-Fi; and 
‘‘(C) that enables the devices described in 
subparagraph (B) to connect to the broadband 
internet access service described in subpara-
graph (A). 
‘‘(8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 
The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 101 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
‘‘(9) LIBRARY; LIBRARY
CONSORTIUM; STATE 
LIBRARY ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY.—The terms ‘li-
brary’, ‘library consortium’, and ‘State library ad-
ministrative agency’ have the meanings given such 
terms in section 213 of the Museum and Library 
Services Act (20 U.S.C. 9122). 
‘‘(10) LOW-INCOME STUDENT.—The term ‘low- 
income student’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 6122 of the America COMPETES Act (20 
U.S.C. 9832).’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:52 Dec 04, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5243.IH
H5243
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS