I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1416
To provide grants and other incentives to promote new communications
technologies, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 4, 2001
Mr. LAFALCE (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mrs. MALONEY of
New York, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, and Mr. BOEHLERT) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy
and Commerce
A BILL
To provide grants and other incentives to promote new
communications technologies, 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 ‘‘Broadband Expansion
Grant Initiative of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Investing in a telecommunications infra-
structure for underserved rural communities will in-
crease the potential for long-term economic growth
in those areas.
(2) Currently, too many families have to make
long distance calls to connect to the Internet, and
the deployment of broadband networks would make
sure that connection to the Internet is more cost-ef-
fective and only a local call away.
(3) Small businesses would benefit from access
to high-speed Internet links that would allow them
to compete on national and international levels.
(4) Broadband deployment grants and loan
guarantees would encourage private-sector invest-
ment in infrastructure advances.
SEC. 3. FACILITATION OF DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
CAPABILITIES 
TO
UNDERSERVED RURAL AREAS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to facilitate the deploy-
ment by the private sector of broadband telecommuni-
cations networks and capabilities (including wireless and
satellite networks and capabilities) to underserved rural
areas, the Secretary of Commerce (in this section, referred
to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may—
(1) make grants to eligible recipients for that
purpose;
(2) guarantee loans, either whole or in part, of
eligible recipients the proceeds of which are to be
used for that purpose; or
(3) carry out activities under both paragraphs
(1) and (2).
(b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—For purposes of this
section, an eligible recipient of a grant or loan guarantee
under subsection (a) is any person or entity selected by
the Secretary in accordance with such procedures as the
Secretary shall establish.
(c) UNDERSERVED RURAL AREAS.—The Secretary
shall identify the areas that constitute underserved rural
areas for purposes of this section.
(d) EMPHASIS ON PARTICULAR CAPABILITIES.—In
selecting a person or entity as an eligible recipient of a
grant or loan guarantee under subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall give particular emphasis to persons or entities
that propose to use the grant or the proceeds of the loan
guaranteed, as the case may be, to leverage non-Federal
resources to do one or more of the following:
(1) Provide underserved rural areas with access
to Internet service by local telephone.
(2) Demonstrate new models or emerging tech-
nologies to bring broadband telecommunications
services to underserved rural areas on a cost-effec-
tive basis.
(3) Use broadband telecommunications services
to stimulate economic development, such as pro-
viding connections between and among industrial
parks located in such areas and providing high-speed
telecommunications service links to small business
incubators.
(e) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary may consult
with the Federal Communications Commission in carrying
out activities under this section.
(f) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT.—The amount of any
grants made under this section, and the cost (as defined
in section 502(5) of the Federal Credit Reform Act of
1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a(5)) of any loans guaranteed under
this section, may not, in the aggregate, exceed
$100,000,000.
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Com-
merce for purposes of grants and loan guarantees under
this section $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such
sums as are necessary for each fiscal year thereafter.
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