I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2038
To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Organization Act to encourage deployment of broadband service to rural
America.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 25, 2001
Mr. STUPAK (for himself and Mr. POMEROY) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in
addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration Organization Act to encourage deploy-
ment of broadband service to rural America.
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 En-
hancement Act’’.
SEC. 
2. 
LOAN 
PROGRAM 
FOR 
DEPLOYMENT 
OF
BROADBAND SERVICE IN RURAL AREAS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of title I of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Or-
ganization Act (47 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 156. BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to
make loans and other extensions of credit to provide funds
for the costs of the construction, improvement, and acqui-
sition of facilities and equipment for the provision of
broadband service in eligible rural communities.
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE LOANS AND OTHER
EXTENSIONS OF CREDIT.—The Rural Utilities Service of
the Department of Agriculture shall, in consultation with
the NTIA, make loans or other extensions of credit to eli-
gible entities to provide funds for the construction, im-
provement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment (in-
cluding consumer equipment) for the provision of
broadband service in eligible rural communities.
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible for a
loan or other extension of credit under this section is any
non-Federal public or private entity, including an incor-
porated or limited liability entity, cooperative, non-profit
organization, or limited dividend or mutual association,
that submits a plan for a project meeting the requirements
of subsection (e).
‘‘(d) BROADBAND SERVICE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, broadband service is any technology identified
by the Rural Utilities Service, in consultation with
the NTIA, as having the capacity to transmit data
so as to enable a subscriber to such service to origi-
nate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics,
or video.
‘‘(2) MODIFICATION.—The NTIA shall, from
time to time as advances in technology so warrant,
review and recommend modifications of rate-of-data
transmission criteria for purposes of the identifica-
tion of technologies under paragraph (1).
‘‘(e) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A project meeting the re-
quirements of this subsection is any project deter-
mined to have the capability—
‘‘(A) to deliver broadband service; and
‘‘(B) to make access to broadband service
generally available throughout an eligible rural
community.
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—For pur-
poses of determining whether or not to make a loan
or other extension of credit for a project under this
section, the following matters shall also be taken
into consideration:
‘‘(A) The extent to which the area to be
served by the project is unserved or underserved
by broadband service.
‘‘(B) The size of the area to be served by
the project.
‘‘(C) The potential number of subscribers
to the broadband service available through the
project.
‘‘(3) TECHNOLOGICAL NEUTRALITY.—For pur-
poses of determining whether or not to make a loan
or other extension of credit for a project under this
section, the type of technology proposed to be em-
ployed under the project may not be taken into con-
sideration.
‘‘(f) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A loan or other ex-
tension of credit under this section shall—
‘‘(1) be made available in accordance with the
requirements of the Federal Credit Reform Act of
1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.);
‘‘(2) bear interest at an annual rate of not
more than 2 percent per annum; and
‘‘(3) have a term not to exceed the useful life
of the assets constructed, improved, or acquired with
the proceeds of the loan or extension of credit.
‘‘(g) LIMITATION ON VALUE OF LOANS AND CRED-
IT.—The aggregate value of all loans and other extensions
of credit made under this section shall not exceed
$3,000,000,000.
‘‘(h) ELIGIBLE RURAL COMMUNITY DEFINED.—In
this section, the term ‘eligible rural community’ means any
incorporated or unincorporated place that—
‘‘(1) has not more than 20,000 inhabitants,
based on the most recent available population statis-
tics of the Bureau of the Census; and
‘‘(2) is not located in an area designated as a
Metropolitan Area by the Office of Management and
Budget.
‘‘(i) SUNSET.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No loan or other extension
of credit may be made under this section after Sep-
tember 30, 2006.
‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not
affect the validity of any loan or extension of credit
made under this section before the date specified in
that paragraph.’’.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
hereby authorized to be appropriated for the Department
of Commerce such sums as may be necessary to cover the
cost, as defined in section 502 of the Federal Credit Re-
form Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a), of loans and other ex-
tensions of credit made under section 156 of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration Or-
ganization Act, as added by subsection (a).
Æ