[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 42 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 42

   To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to continue in effect and 
expand the Lifeline Assistance Program and the Link Up Program, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 2007

Ms. Velazquez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to continue in effect and 
expand the Lifeline Assistance Program and the Link Up Program, 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 ``Serving Everyone with Reliable, 
Vital Internet, Communications, and Education Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Today's telecommunications market offers consumers an 
        array of social, economic, and educational communications.
            (2) Communications today also offer Americans better access 
        to emergency assistance.
            (3) It is essential to the Nation's continued progress for 
        all sectors of the population to have adequate access to 
        telecommunications. America must work to reduce and ultimately 
        eliminate the harmful technological divide.
            (4) The Congress reaffirms the Nation's public policy 
        commitment to providing universal service. All consumers should 
        have access to high-quality telecommunications services at 
        affordable rates.

SEC. 3. UNIVERSAL SERVICE.

    Subsection (j) of section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 254) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(j) Lifeline Assistance; Link Up America.--
            ``(1) Purposes.--The purposes of this subsection are--
                    ``(A) to advance universal service; and
                    ``(B) to ensure that high-quality 
                telecommunications services and other evolving 
                telecommunication technologies, such as Internet access 
                and broadband services, are available to low-income 
                consumers at just, reasonable, and affordable rates.
            ``(2) Continuation and expansion of programs.--For the 
        purposes described in paragraph (1), the Commission--
                    ``(A) shall continue in effect the Lifeline 
                Assistance Program and the Link Up Program; and
                    ``(B) expand such programs under paragraph (3).
            ``(3) Expansion.--The Commission shall expand the 
        assistance provided through the Lifeline Assistance Program and 
        the Link Up Program by allowing low-income consumers 
        participating in such programs to choose to use such assistance 
        for any one of the following:
                    ``(A) Wire or wireless telephone service.
                    ``(B) Internet access service.
                    ``(C) Wire or wireless broadband service.
                    ``(D) Any evolving technology the Commission deems 
                consistent with the purposes described in paragraph 
                (1).
            ``(4) Rule of construction.--This subsection shall not be 
        construed--
                    ``(A) to affect any program under this section 
                other than the Lifeline Assistance Program or the Link 
                Up Program; or
                    ``(B) except as inconsistent with the provisions of 
                this subsection, to affect the authority of the 
                Commission to make modifications to the Lifeline 
                Assistance Program or the Link Up Program.
            ``(5) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) The term `broadband service' means high-speed 
                Internet access service--
                            ``(i) offering integrated access to voice 
                        communications, high-speed data service, video-
                        demand services, and interactive delivery 
                        services; and
                            ``(ii) transmitting data at speeds 
                        exceeding 200 kilobits per second, in at least 
                        one direction, from the user's computer to the 
                        Internet or from the Internet to the user's 
                        computer.
                    ``(B) The term `Lifeline Assistance Program' means 
                the Lifeline Assistance Program provided for by the 
                Commission under subpart E of title 47, Code of Federal 
                Regulations (and any related or successor regulations).
                    ``(C) The term `Link Up Program' means the Link Up 
                Program provided for by the Commission under subpart E 
                of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (and any 
                related or successor regulations).''.

SEC. 4. STUDY.

    (a) Study.--Not later than May 1, 2008, the Federal Communications 
Commission shall conduct a study and submit a report to the Congress on 
the following:
            (1) The necessary benefit level for a household 
        participating in the Lifeline Assistance Program or the Link Up 
        Program which will encourage low-income consumers to seek 
        broadband service.
            (2) Projections on the potential of new broadband service 
        consumers who would seek this service if economically 
        accessible.
            (3) Industry requirements to provide broadband service 
        access in underserved areas.
            (4) Data that accurately illustrates the extent of current 
        deployment of broadband service to residential users.
            (5) Policy proposals conducive to addressing gaps in 
        broadband service availability.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``broadband service'', 
``Lifeline Assistance Program'', and ``Link Up Program'' have the 
meanings given to those terms in section 254(j) of the Communications 
Act of 1934, as amended by section 3 of this Act.
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