[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 24, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DAINES (for himself and Mr. Manchin):
  S. 228. 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, and for 
other purposes; 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, small businesses are 
innovating, offering new products and services, and creating jobs.
  The business community relies on the Internet to access the global 
marketplace. In rural states like Montana where it is costly to provide 
internet access, consumers and businesses depend on small businesses to 
provide connectivity. Without small broadband providers, many Montanans 
would not have the internet access that most of us take for granted.
  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 operate with a small team of 
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 2017 with my colleague Senator Manchin. The bill 
provides a temporary small business exception to the net neutrality 
enhanced transparency requirements. There is broad support in the 
record for this 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.
  Providing relief from burdensome disclosure 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. 228

       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 ``Small Business Broadband 
     Deployment Act of 2017''.

     SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS EXEMPTION.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section--
       (1) the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
     means--
       (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
     of the Senate; and
       (B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
     Representatives;
       (2) the term ``broadband Internet access service'' has the 
     meaning given the term in section 8.2 of title 47, Code of 
     Federal Regulations;
       (3) the term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
     Communications Commission; and
       (4) the term ``small business'' means any provider of 
     broadband Internet access service that has not more than 
     250,000 subscribers.
       (b) Exception for Small Businesses.--The enhancements to 
     the transparency rule of the 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 Commission with regard 
     to protecting and promoting the open Internet (adopted by the 
     Commission on February 26, 2015) (FCC 15-24), shall not apply 
     to any small business.
       (c) Sunset.--Subsection (b) shall not have any force or 
     effect after the date that is 5 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act.
       (d) Report by FCC.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a report that contains 
     the recommendations of the Commission, and data supporting 
     those recommendations, regarding whether--
       (1) the exception provided under subsection (b) should be 
     made permanent; and
       (2) the definition of the term ``small business'' for the 
     purposes of the exception provided under subsection (b) 
     should be modified from the definition in subsection (a)(4).

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