[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2959 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2959

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Office 
              of Rural Broadband, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 24, 2018

  Mr. Hoeven (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Office 
              of Rural Broadband, 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 ``Office of Rural Broadband Act''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF RURAL BROADBAND.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
            (2) Broadband.--The term ``broadband'' has the meaning 
        given the term ``advanced telecommunications capability'' in 
        section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 
        1302).
            (3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission.
            (4) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of Rural 
        Broadband established under subsection (b).
            (5) Rural.--The term ``rural'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 54.505(b)(3) of title 47, Code of Federal 
        Regulations, or any successor regulation.
    (b) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall establish an Office of 
Rural Broadband.
    (c) Duties.--The Office shall have the following duties:
            (1) Coordinate efforts with the Rural Utilities Service of 
        the Department of Agriculture and the National 
        Telecommunications and Information Administration to ensure the 
        mutual and complementary success of--
                    (A) the initiatives of the Commission; and
                    (B) the programs overseen by the other agencies 
                described in this paragraph.
            (2) Coordinate with the Universal Service Administrative 
        Company to maintain updated information regarding programs that 
        deploy rural broadband.
            (3) Coordinate with other agencies to remove barriers to 
        broadband deployment.
            (4) Assess, and publish the assessment of, the impact of 
        proposed actions of the Commission on rural consumers before 
        the actions are voted upon or taken.
            (5) Track broadband internet subscription rates in rural 
        areas, using data collected by the Bureau of the Census under 
        section 103(d) of the Broadband Data Improvement Act (47 U.S.C. 
        1303(d)).
            (6) Coordinate with other bureaus and offices of the 
        Commission and other agencies to ensure consistency and 
        updating of broadband mapping in rural areas.
            (7) Include in the Communications Marketplace Report 
        required under section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 163) a report on the efforts of the Office to promote 
        and sustain quality and affordable rural communications 
        services, including voice service and broadband service.
            (8) Dedicate a representative to address stakeholder 
        questions and concerns.
    (d) No Additional Reporting Requirements.--Nothing in this section 
shall create any additional reporting requirement for a broadband 
provider.
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