HR 2139 IH

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans for the development of broadband services in rural areas.

June 12, 2001

Mr. SMITH of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 concerned

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans for the development of broadband services in rural areas.

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 `Rural America Broadband Deployment Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds that--

(1) high-speed Internet access (broadband) will benefit rural communities, agricultural producers, and the American public by enabling--

(A) the improvement of productivity;

(B) the creation of new market outlets;

(C) the simplification of price discovery;

(D) the creation of risk management;

(E) forward pricing opportunities;

(2) according to a national survey, if United States farmers had broadband access last year, their savings in input costs and gains from greater marketing efficiencies would have netted them at least $5,800,000,000;

(3) as e-commerce becomes as revolutionary to the United States economy as the telegraph, telephone, and telefax has been, it is in the Nation's best overall interests not to leave rural communities and agriculture behind the technological curve.

SEC. 3. BROADBAND LOAN PROGRAM.

(a) IN GENERAL-

(1) LOAN AUTHORITY- The Secretary of Agriculture (in this section referred to as the `Secretary') shall make loans, to the extent of qualifying applications for such loans, to eligible persons and entities (including public entities) to provide or improve broadband service in rural areas where the Secretary determines services are not adequate.

(2) REFINANCING OF EXISTING LOANS- The Secretary may make a loan under this section to refinance an outstanding loan if the Secretary determines the refinancing is necessary to provide or improve broadband service in a rural area.

(b) LOAN TERMS AND CONDITIONS-

(1) INTEREST RATE- The interest rate charged for a loan under this section shall be determined by the Secretary and shall approximate the interest rate borne by securities issued by the Treasury of the United States with comparable maturities.

(2) TERM OF LOAN- The term of a loan under this section shall not exceed the composite useful life of the assets financed by the loan.

(3) FEASIBILITY AND SECURITY- The Secretary may not make a loan to a borrower under this section unless the Secretary determines that the borrower--

(A) can repay the loan in accordance with the loan terms; and

(B) has provided sufficient collateral to secure the loan.

(4) OTHER LOAN TERMS- The Secretary shall prescribe such other terms and conditions for loans made under this section as the Secretary deems appropriate.

(c) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- To carry out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2004.

(d) DEFINITIONS- In this section:

(1) BROADBAND SERVICE- The term `broadband service' means providing an information rate equivalent to at least 200 kilobits per second in the connection from the provider to the consumer and from the consumer to the provider.

(2) RURAL AREA- The term `rural area' means any area of the United States not included within the boundaries of any incorporated or unincorporated city, village, or borough having a population in excess of 50,000 inhabitants.

END