[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 168 (Monday, November 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7969-S7970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DAINES (for himself and Mr. Risch):
  S. 2283. A bill to ensure that small business providers of broadband 
Internet access service can devote resources to broadband deployment 
rather than compliance with cumbersome regulatory requirements; to the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, small businesses are the backbone of 
America. They generate more than half of the country's private GDP and 
support millions of families. In Montana, thanks to technology, 
geography is no longer a constraint and entrepreneurs have been able to 
build world-class companies without leaving the state.
  Access to the global marketplace is largely dependent on access to 
the Internet. Large incumbent carriers often do not have enough of an 
incentive to serve rural America so States like Montana really depend 
on small businesses to fill in the gaps and connect our communities. 
Without small broadband providers, many Montanans would remain 
unserved. This is why it is so important to support our small 
businesses and allow them to continue to provide jobs and economic 
growth in their communities.
  Burdensome regulations like the FCC's net neutrality rules are 
strangling our small businesses and preventing growth and investment. 
The enhanced transparency requirements in particular require small 
businesses to disclose an excess amount of information including 
network packet loss, network performance by geographic area, network 
performance during peak usage, network practices concerning a 
particular group of users, triggers that activate network practices, 
and the list goes on. Small companies like Grizzly Internet in West 
Yellowstone, MO, operate with only three employees and do not have a 
team of attorneys dedicated to regulatory compliance. Small businesses 
simply do not have the bandwidth to take on additional regulatory 
burdens.
  That is why I am proud to introduce the Small Business Broadband 
Deployment Act of 2015 with my colleague Senator Risch. The bill makes 
permanent the FCC's temporary small business exception to the net 
neutrality enhanced transparency requirements. There is broad support 
in the record for a small business exception, including support from 
the American Cable Association, Rural Wireless Association, Competitive 
Carriers Association, Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, 
CTIA--The Wireless Association, Rural Broadband Provider Coalition, 
WTA--Advocates for Rural Broadband. Additionally, the Small Business 
Administration's Office of Advocacy filed comments with the FCC 
stating, ``Advocacy has concerns that compliance with the enhanced 
transparency requirements under the 2015 Open Internet Order is not 
feasible for small broadband providers, particularly small rural 
providers, and may ultimately degrade the quality of service that 
consumers receive from small providers.'' Providing relief from over 
300 pages of net neutrality rules will allow small businesses to focus 
on deploying infrastructure and serving their customers rather than 
spending time on regulatory compliance. I ask my colleagues to join me 
in cosponsoring this much needed legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2283

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

[[Page S7970]]

  


     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Broadband 
     Deployment Act of 2015''.

     SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO ENHANCEMENT TO TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS 
                   FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.

       (a) Definitions.--In this Act--
       (1) the term ``broadband Internet access service''--
       (A) means a mass-market retail service by wire or radio 
     that provides the capability to transmit data to and receive 
     data from all or substantially all Internet endpoints, 
     including any capability that is incidental to and enables 
     the operation of the communications service; and
       (B) does not include dial-up Internet access service; and
       (2) the term ``small business'' means any provider of 
     broadband Internet access service that has not more than--
       (A) 1,500 employees; or
       (B) 500,000 subscribers.
       (b) Exception for Small Businesses.--The enhancements to 
     the transparency rule of the Federal Communications 
     Commission under section 8.3 of title 47, Code of Federal 
     Regulations, as described in paragraphs 162 through 184 of 
     the Report and Order on Remand, Declaratory Ruling, and Order 
     of the Federal Communications Commission with regard to 
     protecting and promoting the open Internet (adopted February 
     26, 2015) (FCC 15-24), shall not apply to any small business.

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