[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 203 (Monday, December 16, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H10291-H10292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MAPPING ACCURACY PROMOTES SERVICES ACT

  Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend 
the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4227) to prohibit the submission to 
the Federal Communications Commission of broadband internet access 
service coverage information or data for the purposes of compiling an 
inaccurate broadband coverage map.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4227

       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 ``Mapping Accuracy Promotes 
     Services Act'' or the ``MAPS Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Broadband internet access service.--The term 
     ``broadband internet access service'' has the meaning given 
     the term in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal 
     Regulations, or any successor regulation.
       (2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
     Communications Commission.
       (3) Provider.--The term ``provider'' means a provider of 
     fixed or mobile broadband internet access service.
       (4) Quality of service.--The term ``quality of service'' 
     means information regarding offered download and upload 
     speeds and latency of a provider's broadband internet access 
     service as determined by and to the extent otherwise 
     collected by the Commission.

     SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT.

       (a) In General.--It shall be unlawful for a person to 
     willfully, knowingly, or recklessly submit broadband internet 
     access service coverage information or data to the Commission 
     for the purposes of compiling a broadband coverage map that 
     is inaccurate with respect to the availability or quality of 
     service of broadband internet access service.
       (b) Penalty.--Any person who violates subsection (a) shall 
     be subject to an appropriate penalty, as determined by the 
     Commission, under--
       (1) the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), 
     including section 501 of that Act (47 U.S.C. 501); and
       (2) the rules of the Commission.
       (c) Effective Date.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
     subsection (a) shall apply with respect to broadband internet 
     access service coverage information or data that is submitted 
     to the Commission on or after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act.
       (2) Quality of service information or data.--To the extent 
     broadband internet access service coverage information or 
     data relates to quality of service, subsection (a) shall 
     apply with respect to information or data that is submitted 
     on or after the date that is 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Michael F. Doyle) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Latta) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise 
and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4227.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 
such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today, the House will consider H.R. 4227, the Mapping 
Accuracy Promotes Services Act, or MAPS Act, introduced by Mr. McEachin 
and Mr. Long.
  This legislation would specify that it is unlawful to willingly, 
knowingly, and recklessly submit mapping data that is incorrect. This 
is an issue that the FCC has been wrestling with for years.
  Earlier this year, the FCC claimed that, based on data they had 
collected, the number of Americans who lacked access to broadband had 
dropped 25 percent since 2017. However, this statistic was based on a 
colossal error by one provider that skewed results for the whole 
Nation. The provider claimed that they served 62 million people, or 20 
percent, of the Nation with fiber. This would have made this single 
provider the fourth largest provider in the country when, in fact, they 
were the 81st largest.
  Our mapping problems don't end there. The FCC delayed their Mobility 
Fund 2 proceeding last year because the data submitted by wireless 
carriers was so inaccurate that it was unclear what basis the FCC would 
use to award over $4 billion in broadband deployment funds.
  This fund was intended to pay for the deployment of 4G wireless 
broadband services to rural and unserved communities. The FCC halted 
that proceeding for over a year and just last week announced that they 
would be moving forward on a revamped proceeding sometime next year.
  The major sticking point is that they will need to go out and redo 
all the inaccurate maps, which are based on fraudulent and overstated 
data, that they currently have. To add insult to injury, the FCC isn't 
even taking action against the carriers that submitted the faulty or 
fraudulent data in the first place.
  This legislation addresses many of these issues by making it unlawful 
to willingly, knowingly, or recklessly submit inaccurate data about the 
availability or quality of service of broadband.
  Our government can't make good broadband policy if we don't know 
where we do and where we don't have broadband, and we will never know 
where we have it if there are no penalties for submitting false or 
inaccurate data.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the MAPS Act. Combined 
with H.R. 4229, the Broadband DATA Act, this bill will bring further 
accountability to our broadband availability maps.
  With millions of dollars directed toward broadband subsidies, it is 
critical that those submitting coverage information to the Federal 
Communications Commission do not intentionally mislead policymakers 
with grossly inaccurate data.
  This bill is intended to deter truly bad actors from overstating 
their coverage, and it is an important piece to our overall goal to fix 
our Nation's broadband maps.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the MAPS Act, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank 
the good work done by my colleague, Mr. McEachin. This issue has been 
one that he has been passionate about, and I am glad we are acting to 
address it today.

[[Page H10292]]

  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Michael F. Doyle) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4227.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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