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Bill 8 of 50
Broadband Expansion Grant Initiative of 2001 (Introduced in House)
HR 1416 IH
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) introduced 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 Representatives 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 infrastructure for underserved
rural communities will increase 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-effective 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 investment in infrastructure
advances.
SEC. 3. FACILITATION OF DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
CAPABILITIES TO UNDERSERVED RURAL AREAS.
(a) IN GENERAL- In order to facilitate the deployment by the private sector of
broadband telecommunications
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 Secretary 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 technologies to bring broadband telecommunications
services to underserved rural areas on a cost-effective basis.
(3) Use broadband
telecommunications services to stimulate economic development, such as
providing 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 Commerce 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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