[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3893 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3893

 To promote the deployment and adoption of telecommunications services 
         and information technologies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 18, 2007

Mr. Allen (for himself and Mr. Michaud) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To promote the deployment and adoption of telecommunications services 
         and information 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 ``Connect America Now Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The deployment and adoption of broadband services and 
        information technology has resulted in enhanced economic 
        development and public safety for communities across the 
        Nation, improved health care and educational opportunities, and 
        a better quality of life for all Americans.
            (2) Continued progress in the deployment and adoption of 
        broadband services is vital to ensuring that our Nation remains 
        competitive and continues to create business and job growth.
            (3) The Federal Government should also recognize and 
        encourage complementary State efforts to improve the quality 
        and usefulness of data about broadband service and its 
        deployment and should encourage and support the partnership of 
        the public and private sectors in the continued growth of 
        broadband services and information technology for the residents 
        and businesses of the Nation.

SEC. 3. ENCOURAGING STATE INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE BROADBAND.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of any grant under subsection (b) are--
            (1) to ensure that all citizens and businesses in a State 
        have access to affordable, reliable broadband service;
            (2) to achieve improved technology literacy, increased 
        computer ownership, and home broadband use among such citizens 
        and businesses;
            (3) to establish and empower local grassroots technology 
        teams in each State to plan for improved technology use across 
        multiple community sectors; and
            (4) to establish and sustain an environment ripe for 
        broadband services and information technology investment.
    (b) Establishment of State Broadband Data and Development Grant 
Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce shall award 
        grants, taking into account the results of the peer review 
        process under subsection (d), to entities for the development, 
        implementation and support of statewide initiatives to identify 
        and track the availability and adoption of broadband services 
        within each State.
            (2) Competitive basis.--Any grant under this subsection 
        shall be awarded on a competitive basis.
    (c) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
subsection (b), an eligible entity shall--
            (1) submit an application to the Secretary of Commerce, at 
        such time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
        the Secretary may require; and
            (2) contribute matching non-Federal funds in an amount 
        equal to not less than 20 percent of the total amount of the 
        grant.
    (d) Peer Review.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall by regulation require 
        appropriate technical and scientific peer review of 
        applications made for grants under this section.
            (2) Review procedures.--The regulations required under 
        paragraph (1) shall require that any technical and scientific 
        peer review group--
                    (A) be provided a written description of the grant 
                to be reviewed;
                    (B) provide the results of any review by such group 
                to the Secretary of Commerce; and
                    (C) certify that such group will enter into 
                voluntary nondisclosure agreements as necessary to 
                prevent the unauthorized disclosure of confidential and 
                propriety information provided by broadband service 
                providers in connection with projects funded by any 
                such grant.
    (e) Use of Funds.--A grant awarded to an eligible entity under 
subsection (b) shall be used to the maximum extent possible--
            (1) to provide a baseline assessment of broadband service 
        deployment in each State;
            (2) to identify and track--
                    (A) areas in each State that have low levels of 
                broadband service deployment;
                    (B) the rate at which residential and business 
                adopt broadband service and other related information 
                technology services; and
                    (C) possible suppliers of such services;
            (3) to identify barriers to the adoption by individuals and 
        businesses of broadband service and related information 
        technology services, including whether or not--
                    (A) the demand for such services is absent; and
                    (B) the supply for such services is capable of 
                meeting the demand for such services;
            (4) to create and facilitate, in each county or designated 
        region in a State, a local technology planning team--
                    (A) with members representing a cross section of 
                the community, including representatives of business, 
                telecommunications labor organizations, elementary and 
                secondary education, health care, libraries, higher 
                education, community-based organizations, local 
                government, tourism, parks and recreation, and 
                agriculture; and
                    (B) which shall--
                            (i) measure, against relevant benchmarks, 
                        technology use across relevant community 
                        sectors;
                            (ii) set goals for improved technology use 
                        within each sector; and
                            (iii) develop a tactical business plan for 
                        achieving its goals, with specific 
                        recommendations for online application 
                        development and demand creation;
            (5) to work collaboratively with broadband service 
        providers and information technology companies to encourage 
        deployment and use, especially in unserved and underserved 
        areas, through the use of local demand aggregation, mapping 
        analysis, and the creation of market intelligence to improve 
        the business case for providers to deploy;
            (6) to establish programs to improve computer ownership and 
        Internet access for unserved and underserved populations;
            (7) to collect and analyze detailed market data concerning 
        the use and demand for broadband service and related 
        information technology services;
            (8) to facilitate information exchange regarding the use 
        and demand for broadband services between public and private 
        sectors; and
            (9) to create within each State a geographic inventory map 
        of broadband service, which shall--
                    (A) identify gaps in such service through a method 
                of geographic information system mapping of service 
                availability at the census block level; and
                    (B) provide a baseline assessment of statewide 
                broadband deployment in terms of households with high-
                speed availability.
    (f) Participation Limit.--For each State, an eligible entity may 
not receive a new grant under this section to fund the activities 
described in subsection (d) within such State if such organization 
obtained prior grant awards under this section to fund the same 
activities in that State in each of the previous 4 consecutive years.
    (g) Report.--Each recipient of a grant under subsection (b) shall 
submit a report on the use of the funds provided by the grant to the 
Secretary of Commerce.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        nonprofit organization or public sector entity that is selected 
        by a State to work in partnership with State agencies and 
        private sector partners in identifying and tracking the 
        availability and adoption of broadband services within each 
        State.
            (2) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit 
        organization'' means an organization--
                    (A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 
                Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 
                501(a) of such Code;
                    (B) no part of the net earnings of which inures to 
                the benefit of any member, founder, contributor, or 
                individual;
                    (C) that has an established competency and proven 
                record of working with public and private sectors to 
                accomplish widescale deployment and adoption of 
                broadband services and information technology; and
                    (D) the board of directors of which is not composed 
                of a majority of individuals who are also employed by, 
                or otherwise associated with, any Federal, State, or 
                local government or any Federal, State, or local 
                agency.
            (3) Broadband service.--The term ``broadband service'' 
        means any service that connects to the public Internet and that 
        provides a data transmission-rate equivalent to at least 200 
        kilobits per second, or any successor transmission-rate 
        established by the Federal Communications Commission, in at 
        least 1 direction.
    (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $40,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2008 through 2012.
    (j) No Regulatory Authority.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed as giving any public or private entity established or 
affected by this Act any additional regulatory jurisdiction or 
oversight authority over providers of broadband services or information 
technology.
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