[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 427 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 427

   To amend section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 to provide 
 reporting requirements for recipients of funds that provide access in 
           rural and high cost areas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 10, 2019

 Mr. Collins of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, and 
 Mr. Loudermilk) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 to provide 
 reporting requirements for recipients of funds that provide access in 
           rural and high cost areas, 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 Fund Accountability 
Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CONNECT AMERICA FUND.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 254) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(l) Connect America Fund Requirements.--
            ``(1) Report requirements.--Any covered telecommunications 
        carrier shall submit to the Commission a report in accordance 
        with the requirements of any rule or regulation promulgated by 
        the Commission with regard to performance testing required for 
        Connect America Fund recipients that includes the following:
                    ``(A) The method of performance testing chosen by 
                the covered telecommunications carrier to demonstrate 
                compliance with Connect America Fund model-based 
                support.
                    ``(B) If a covered telecommunications carrier 
                chooses to use self-testing software for the 
                performance testing described in subparagraph (A), once 
                every three years, information on the software and 
                methodology used to conduct the test, including any 
                algorithm or process relied on within the self-testing 
                software.
                    ``(C) A speed and latency report in the final 
                quarter of the calendar year that includes a list of 
                customer locations tested more than twice during the 
                year.
            ``(2) Representative sample of consumers.--Any covered 
        telecommunications carrier when randomly choosing a testing 
        pool for the performance testing described in paragraph (1)(A) 
        shall ensure the sample of consumers tested is representative 
        of the number of residences and businesses in the Connect 
        America Fund service area being reported on.
            ``(3) Universal service administrative company.--
                    ``(A) Determination of audits.--In determining 
                whether or not to conduct an audit of a covered 
                telecommunications carrier, the Administrator shall 
                consider the number and frequency of complaints 
                submitted to the Commission for the broadband service 
                of that carrier.
                    ``(B) Public availability of audits.--Any audit 
                conducted by the Administrator shall be made available 
                to the public.
            ``(4) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' 
                means the administrator of the Federal universal 
                service support mechanisms established under this 
                section.
                    ``(B) Covered telecommunications carrier.--The term 
                `covered telecommunications carrier' means an eligible 
                telecommunications carrier that provides fixed 
                broadband internet access service and is subject to the 
                speed and latency testing requirements set forth in any 
                rule or regulation promulgated by the Commission with 
                regard to Connect America Fund recipients.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall only 
apply with respect to support received from the Connect America Fund 
established by the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to its 
authorities under section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 254) on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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