[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 7, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H5146-H5149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DIGITAL GLOBAL ACCESS POLICY ACT OF 2016
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 5537) to promote internet access in developing countries and
update foreign policy toward the internet, and for other purposes, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5537
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 ``Digital Global Access Policy
Act of 2016'' or the ``Digital GAP Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to encourage the efforts of
developing countries to improve mobile and fixed access to
the internet in order to spur economic growth and job
creation, improve health, education, and financial services,
reduce poverty and gender inequality, mitigate disasters,
promote democracy and good governance, strengthen
cybersecurity, and update the Department of State's structure
to address cyberspace policy.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Since 2005, the number of internet users has more than
tripled from 1,000,000,000 to 3,200,000,000.
(2) 4.2 billion people, 60 percent of the world's
population, remain offline and the growth rate of internet
access is slowing. An estimated 75 percent of the offline
population lives in just 20 countries and is largely rural,
female, elderly, illiterate, and low-income.
(3) Studies suggest that across the developing world, women
are nearly 50 percent less likely to access the internet than
men living within the same communities, and that this digital
gender divide carries with it a great economic cost.
According to a study, ``Women and the Web'', bringing an
additional 600,000,000 women online would contribute
$13,000,000,000-$18,000,000,000 to annual GDP across 144
developing countries.
(4) Without increased internet access, the developing world
risks falling behind.
(5) Internet access in developing countries is hampered by
a lack of infrastructure and a poor regulatory environment
for investment.
(6) Build-once policies and approaches are policies or
practices that minimize the number and scale of excavation
and construction activities when installing
telecommunications infrastructure in rights-of-way, thereby
lowering the installation costs for high-speed internet
networks and serve as a development best practice.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
Congress declares that it is the policy of the United
States to partner, consult, and coordinate with the
governments of foreign countries, international
organizations, regional economic communities, businesses,
civil society, and other stakeholders in a concerted effort
to--
(1) promote first-time internet access to mobile or
broadband internet for at least 1.5 billion people in
developing countries by 2020 in both urban and rural areas;
(2) promote internet deployment and related coordination,
capacity building, and build-once policies and approaches in
developing countries, including actions to encourage--
(A) a build-once approach by standardizing the inclusion of
broadband conduit pipes which house fiber optic
communications cable that support broadband or wireless
facilities for broadband service as part of rights-of-way
projects, including sewers, power transmission facilities,
rail, pipelines, bridges, tunnels, and roads, that are
funded, co-funded, or partially financed by the United States
or any international organization that includes the United
States as a member, in consultation with telecommunications
providers, unless a cost-benefit analysis determines that the
cost of such approach outweighs the benefits;
(B) national and local government agencies of developing
countries and donor governments and organizations to
coordinate road building, pipe laying, and major
infrastructure with the private sector so that, for example,
fiber optic cable could be laid below roads at the time such
roads are built; and
(C) international organizations to increase their financial
support, including grants and loans, and technical assistance
to expand information and communications access and internet
connectivity;
(3) promote policy changes that encourage first-time
affordable access to the internet in developing countries,
including actions to encourage--
(A) integration of universal and gender-equitable internet
access goals, to be informed by the collection of related
gender disaggregated data, and internet tools into national
development plans and United States Government country-level
strategies;
(B) reforms of competition laws and spectrum allocation
processes that may impede the ability of companies to provide
internet services; and
(C) efforts to improve procurement processes to help
attract and incentivize investment in internet
infrastructure;
(4) promote the removal of tax and regulatory barriers to
internet access;
(5) promote the use of the internet to increase economic
growth and trade, including--
(A) policies and strategies to remove restrictions to e-
commerce, cross-border information flows, and competitive
marketplaces; and
(B) entrepreneurship and distance learning enabled by
access to technology;
(6) promote the use of the internet to bolster democracy,
government accountability, transparency, and human rights,
including--
(A) policies, initiatives, and investments, including the
development of national internet plans, that are consistent
with United States human rights goals, including freedom of
expression, religion, and association;
(B) policies and initiatives aimed at promoting the
multistakeholder model of internet governance; and
(C) policies and support programs, research, and
technologies that safeguard human rights and fundamental
freedoms online, and enable political organizing and
activism, free speech, and religious expression that are in
compliance with international human rights standards;
(7) promote internet access and inclusion into internet
policymaking for women, people with disabilities, minorities,
low-income and marginalized groups, and underserved
populations; and
(8) promote cybersecurity and data protection, including
international use of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving Critical
Infrastructure Cybersecurity that are industry-led, globally
recognized cybersecurity standards and best practices.
SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ORGANIZATION.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the Secretary of State should redesignate an existing
Assistant Secretary position to be the Assistant Secretary
for Cyberspace to lead the Department of State's diplomatic
cyberspace policy generally, including for cybersecurity,
internet access, internet freedom, and to promote an open,
secure, and reliable information and communications
technology infrastructure.
(b) Activities.--In recognition of the added value of
technical knowledge and expertise in the policymaking and
diplomatic channels, the Secretary of State should--
(1) update existing training programs relevant to policy
discussions; and
(2) promote the recruitment of candidates with technical
expertise into the Civil Service and the Foreign Service.
(c) Offset.--To offset any costs incurred by the Department
of State to carry out the designation of an Assistant
Secretary for Cyberspace in accordance with subsection
[[Page H5147]]
(a), the Secretary of State shall eliminate such positions
within the Department of State, unless otherwise authorized
or required by law, as the Secretary determines to be
necessary to fully offset such costs.
(d) Rule of Construction.--The redesignation of the
Assistant Secretary position described in subsection (a) may
not be construed as increasing the number of Assistant
Secretary positions at the Department of State above the
current level of 24 as authorized in section 1(c)(1) of the
State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C.
2651a(c)(1)).
SEC. 6. USAID.
It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development should--
(1) integrate efforts to expand internet access, develop
appropriate technologies, and enhance digital literacy into
the education, development, and economic growth programs of
the agency, where appropriate;
(2) expand the utilization of information and
communications technologies in humanitarian aid and disaster
relief responses and United States operations involving
stabilization and security to improve donor coordination,
reduce duplication and waste, capture and share lessons
learned, and augment disaster preparedness and risk
mitigation strategies; and
(3) establish and promote guidelines for the protection of
personal information of individuals served by humanitarian,
disaster, and development programs directly through the
United States Government, through contracts funded by the
United States Government and by international organizations.
SEC. 7. PEACE CORPS.
Section 3 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502) is
amended by--
(1) redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (e); and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
``(f) It is the sense of Congress that access to technology
can transform agriculture, community economic development,
education, environment, health, and youth development which
are the sectors in which Peace Corps currently develops
positions for Volunteers.
``(g) In giving attention to the programs, projects,
training, and other activities referred to in subsection (f),
the Peace Corps should develop positions for Volunteers that
are focused on leveraging technology for development,
education, and social and economic mobility.''.
SEC. 8. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT.
In pursuing the policy described in section 4, the
President should direct United States representatives to
appropriate international bodies to use the influence of the
United States, consistent with the broad development goals of
the United States, to advocate that each such body--
(1) commit to increase efforts to promote gender-equitable
internet access, in partnership with stakeholders and
consistent with host countries' absorptive capacity;
(2) enhance coordination with stakeholders in increasing
affordable and gender-equitable access to the internet;
(3) integrate gender-equitable affordable internet access
into existing economic and business assessments, evaluations,
and indexes such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation
constraints analysis, the Doing Business Report,
International Monetary Fund Article IV assessments and
country reports, the Open Data Barometer, and the
Affordability Drivers Index;
(4) standardize inclusion of broadband conduit--fiber optic
cables that support broadband or wireless facilities for
broadband service--as part of highway or highway-comparable
construction projects in developing countries, in
consultation with telecommunications providers, unless such
inclusion would create an undue burden, is not necessary
based on the availability of existing broadband
infrastructure, or a cost-benefit analysis determines that
the cost outweighs the benefits;
(5) provide technical assistance to the regulatory
authorities in developing countries to remove unnecessary
barriers to investment in otherwise commercially viable
projects and strengthen weak regulations or develop new ones
to support market growth and development;
(6) utilize clear, accountable, and metric-based targets,
including targets with gender-disaggregated metrics, to
measure the effectiveness of efforts to promote internet
access; and
(7) promote and protect human rights online, such as the
freedoms of speech, assembly, association, religion, and
belief, through resolutions, public statements, projects, and
initiatives, and advocating that other member states of such
bodies are held accountable when major violations are
uncovered.
SEC. 9. PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the President shall transmit to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate plans to promote
partnerships by United States development agencies, including
the United States Agency for International Development and
the Millennium Challenge Corporation, as well as
international agencies funded by the United States Government
for partnership with stakeholders, that contain the following
elements:
(1) Methods for stakeholders to partner with such agencies
in order to provide internet access or internet
infrastructure in developing countries.
(2) Methods of outreach to stakeholders to explore
partnership opportunities for expanding internet access or
internet infrastructure, including coordination with the
private sector, when financing roads and telecommunications
infrastructure.
(3) Methods for early consultation with stakeholders
concerning projects in telecommunications and road
construction to provide internet access or internet
infrastructure.
SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the President shall transmit to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on
efforts to implement the policy specified in section 4 and a
discussion of the plans and existing efforts by the United
States Government in developing countries to accomplish the
following:
(1) Develop a technical and regulatory road map for
promoting internet access in developing countries and a path
to implementing such road map.
(2) Identify the regulatory barriers that may unduly impede
internet access, including regulation of wireline broadband
deployment or the infrastructure to augment wireless
broadband deployment.
(3) Strengthen and support development of regulations that
incentivize market growth and sector development.
(4) Encourage further public and private investment in
internet infrastructure, including broadband networks and
services.
(5) Increase gender-equitable internet access and otherwise
encourage or support internet deployment, competition, and
adoption.
(6) Improve the affordability of internet access.
(7) Promote technology and cybersecurity capacity building
efforts and consult technical experts for advice regarding
options to accelerate the advancement of internet deployment,
adoption, and usage.
(8) Promote internet freedom globally and include civil
society and the private sector in the formulation of
policies, projects, and advocacy efforts to protect human
rights online.
(9) Promote and strengthen the multistakeholder model of
internet governance and actively participate in
multistakeholder international fora, such as the Internet
Governance Forum.
SEC. 11. CYBERSPACE STRATEGY.
The President should include in the next White House
Cyberspace Strategy information relating to the following:
(1) Methods to promote internet access in developing
countries.
(2) Methods to globally promote cybersecurity policy
consistent with the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving Critical
Infrastructure Cybersecurity.
(3) Methods to promote global internet freedom principles,
such as the freedoms of expression, assembly, association,
and religion, while combating efforts to impose restrictions
on such freedoms.
SEC. 12. DEFINITION.
In this Act--
(1) Build once policies and approaches.--The term ``build
once policies and approaches'' means policies or practices
that minimize the number and scale of excavation and
construction activities when installing telecommunications
infrastructure in rights-of-way.
(2) Cyberspace.--The term ``cyberspace'' means the
interdependent network of information technology
infrastructures, and includes the internet,
telecommunications networks, computer systems, and embedded
processors and controllers in critical industries, and
includes the virtual environment of information and
interactions between people.
(3) Stakeholders.--The term ``stakeholders'' means the
private sector, the public sector, cooperatives, civil
society, the technical community that develops internet
technologies, standards, implementation, operations, and
applications, and other groups that are working to increase
internet access or are impacted by the lack of internet
access in their communities.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
{time} 1730
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material in the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
[[Page H5148]]
Mr. Speaker, as the author of this measure, I want to particularly
recognize the invaluable contributions of the professional staff. I
mentioned Jessica Kelch, but there is another staff member here who has
played an outsized role to help shape the work of this committee, and
not just on the Digital GAP Act, which is before us, but Nilmini Rubin
has played a critical role in energy, in trade, in development
legislation that we have passed out of the committee, and so I wanted
to recognize her for that contribution.
I also want to focus the attention of the Members on the fact that
more than 60 percent of the world's population still lacks access to
the Internet. That is 3 billion people left out of one of the largest
technological transformations of our time, leaving them lagging on
economic growth, lagging on health, lagging in terms of potential for
education.
The dearth of global Internet access negatively impacts us here at
home, too. Sixty percent of the world's population can't buy American
goods online, if you think about it. They are shut out of e-commerce.
They are limited in their ability to connect with others through social
media.
So the Digital Global Access Policy Act calls on the administration
to integrate into U.S. development efforts a ``build-once'' policy when
expanding Internet access, and this is common sense.
If a U.S. development project supports the construction of a rural
road, let's invite the private sector to lay down cable before our
government helps pay to pour the concrete. We are maximizing U.S.
taxpayer dollar assistance; we are providing more support to the
disadvantaged community; we are making it easier for business to invest
if we change our policies to do this.
This bill complements existing efforts to promote partnerships with
the private sector to expand Internet access through the Global Connect
Initiative.
One of the many letters of support we received was from NetHope,
which outlined why the build-once approach in the Digital GAP Act is so
important. As NetHope's letter explained, years ago, a $100 million
road construction project in Liberia failed to include the laying of
fiber-optic lines as a part of the project. At the time, the cost of
laying this cable would have been negligible. It would have been maybe
1 percent of the total investment. It would have been--I don't know--
probably not even a million.
However, you know, if you look back, this is one example of many that
we pulled out of the file where the donors chose not to include the
Internet infrastructure in the project; and so, as a result, when you
go to Liberia, as I have, there is poor Internet access, a fact that
hampered Ebola response efforts as community health centers struggled
to coordinate their efforts.
If that Internet access were in place, it would have helped the U.S.
and public health officials safely track the spread of Ebola. It could
have reduced the disease's spread. It could have saved lives.
As NetHope explained, there is now a new project under consideration
to do that same connectivity work that would have cost--would have been
negligible if it had been laid at the time that the road was put in.
However, since it is being considered after the fact, it will now cost
tens of millions of dollars if it is done, and it will take years and
years to complete.
The build-once approach is smart economics. It is smart development.
We simply get more bang for our buck when we coordinate these types of
infrastructure investments with the private sector. So I think the case
is compelling for this.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, and I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
I, first of all, want to thank our chairman, Ed Royce, from
California. He has worked very, very hard on this bill for a long, long
time, so I am very pleased to support this bill that he has introduced
to help expand access to the Internet around the world. I know how
strongly he feels about it. We all share his goal, but he was the
impetus, obviously, for this bill, and this is really a good bill.
Mr. Speaker, a generation ago, few could have envisioned the way the
Internet would open up new gateways for information, connect people
around the world, and change the global economy.
Today, a classroom with broadband access gives students a window to
the rest of the world, allowing them to build relationships face-to-
face with people thousands and thousands of miles away. A relief worker
with a smartphone can relay information in an instant about where help
and resources are needed to deal with a crisis. A farmer with a laptop
can make sure his or her produce is fetching a fair price on the global
market. A journalist in a closed society who can get online can shine a
light on abuses and corruption.
And while we know this tool can be used for harm, such as the way
ISIS uses social media to recruit fighters and spread propaganda, we
also know that, in the right hands, the Internet expands opportunity,
drives growth, and makes people's lives fuller and more productive. The
ripple effects help strengthen communities and countries.
But like so many resources around the world, access to the Internet
often depends on where you live and what you have and if you can afford
it. Living in a poor community or a rural area, or even being a woman
in some places, may make it harder to take advantage of the Internet.
Roughly 60 percent of the world's population is not able to use this
tool, and the growth rate of Internet access is slowing down. Three-
quarters of those who are offline live in just 20 countries. Think of
what a difference it would make if these populations had access to a
resource so many of us take for granted. This bill aims to close that
gap.
Chairman Royce's legislation calls on the administration to ramp up
efforts around the world to expand access to the Internet. It
encourages the State Department, USAID, and the Peace Corps to focus on
Internet access as a diplomatic and developmental priority; and it
states clearly, expanding Internet access, especially in the developing
world, is an American foreign policy priority.
I applaud Chairman Royce for doing this, and I am glad to support
this measure.
I want to also thank two staff persons for their hard work: Nilmini
Rubin on the majority's staff, and Janice Kaguyutan on our side. They
both worked very, very hard, and I think they deserve special mention.
So I urge all my colleagues to support this very important bill. I,
again, commend Chairman Royce for working so hard on it.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
As I said before, the way the Internet has changed the world would
have been hard to believe just a few decades ago. It would also have
been hard to believe that we would be thinking of the Internet as a
foreign policy priority, but we can and we should.
Today, we know that the Internet has driven so much of the
interconnectedness that we now see across the global landscape, so it
is important that our foreign policy keep up with these changes. We
want to see this tool used in a positive way by as many people as
possible, while guarding against abuses or exploitation by those who
mean to harm us.
This bill helps us move in the right direction. Again, I am grateful
to the chairman for bringing it forward. I am glad to support it. I
urge my colleagues to do the same.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would like to thank the cosponsors of the Digital GAP Act who
helped me with this legislation, and the first among them is Ranking
Member Eliot Engel, and then also Cathy McMorris Rodgers,
Representative Grace Meng, and Chairman McCaul for their collaboration
on this bill.
The Digital GAP Act would increase Internet access with a relatively
minor communications change. It would require that the United States-
supported infrastructure projects are made transparent so that the
private sector can
[[Page H5149]]
coordinate their investments in Internet infrastructure. This is a
commonsense approach that we should implement now.
The Digital GAP Act also expresses the sense of Congress that the
State Department should elevate and reform its efforts to address
cyberspace policy internationally. As technological policy issues
multiply and as they become more complex, it is important to identify
clear lines of responsibility at the State Department so that problems
do not fall between the cracks of the many different offices that touch
on these issues now. Cybersecurity, Internet freedom, and Internet
access are now core parts of our national security agenda and need to
be treated as such by the State Department.
Lastly, I will simply close by again recognizing the work of Nilmini
Rubin on this legislation. She has been with the committee for over 3
years. She has done outstanding work on technology and trade and other
issues promoting development worldwide. Nilmini will be leaving us and
will be greatly missed, but she will be continuing to do impressive and
important things, improving lives overseas and improving the welfare of
Americans.
Thank you, Nilmini.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hill). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5537, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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