[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 138 (Tuesday, August 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5736-S5737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2319. Mr. HOEVEN (for himself and Ms. Smith) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2137 proposed by Mr. 
Schumer (for Ms. Sinema (for herself, Mr. Portman, Mr. Manchin, Mr. 
Cassidy, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Collins, Mr. Tester, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. 
Warner, and Mr. Romney)) to the bill H.R. 3684, to authorize funds for 
Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, 
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the end of division G, add the following:

           TITLE XII--FLEXIBLE FINANCING FOR RURAL UTILITIES

     SEC. 71201. LOAN ADJUSTMENTS FOR CRITICAL RURAL UTILITY 
                   SERVICE PROVIDERS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the borrower of a qualified loan 
     described in subsection (b) may submit to the Secretary of 
     Agriculture (referred to in this section as the 
     ``Secretary'') a request to adjust the interest rate or 
     modify any other term of the qualified loan, which shall 
     include a report summarizing how the adjustment or 
     modification will assist the borrower in providing critical 
     utility services to a rural community.
       (b) Qualified Loan Described.--A qualified loan referred to 
     in subsection (a) is a loan made or guaranteed on or before 
     the date of enactment of this Act under--
       (1) section 4, 201, 305, 306, or 601 of the Rural 
     Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 904, 922, 935, 936, 
     950bb); or
       (2) the program carried out under the matter under the 
     heading ``distance learning, telemedicine, and broadband 
     program'' in title I of division A of the American Recovery 
     and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5; 123 Stat. 
     118) (commonly known as the ``Broadband Initiatives 
     Program'').
       (c) Adjustment of Interest Rate; Modification of Loan 
     Terms.--
       (1) In general.--On receipt by the Secretary of a request 
     made under subsection (a) with respect to a loan, the 
     Secretary, or the Secretary of the Treasury in the case of a 
     loan owned by the Federal Financing Bank--
       (A) in the case of a request for an interest rate 
     adjustment, shall adjust the interest rate on the loan to the 
     cost of funds to the Department of the Treasury for 
     obligations of comparable maturity to the term remaining on 
     the outstanding balance of the loan or other such higher rate 
     as the borrower may request; and
       (B) in the case of a request for a modification to a loan 
     term other than the adjustment described in subparagraph (A), 
     may use the authorities provided in sections 2, 201, 306C and 
     703 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 902, 
     922, 936c, 950cc-2) and section 331(b)(4) of the Consolidated 
     Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1981(b)(4)) to make 
     such other modifications to the loan terms that the 
     Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury 
     in the case of a loan owned by the Federal Financing Bank, 
     determines are necessary--
       (i) to address changes in the financial position of the 
     borrower due to the public health emergency declared by the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of 
     the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 
     2020, with respect to COVID-19 (or any renewal of that 
     declaration); and
       (ii) to promote the financial sustainability of the 
     borrower.
       (2) Effective date.--An adjustment or modification under 
     subparagraph (A) or (B), respectively, of paragraph (1) shall 
     apply--
       (A) beginning on the first calendar day after the payment 
     date immediately following the request; but
       (B) not earlier than 30 days after the date of the request.
       (d) No Fees or Penalties.--In carrying out this section, 
     the Secretary, or the Secretary of the Treasury in the case 
     of a loan owned by the Federal Financing Bank, shall not 
     impose or collect any fee from, or impose any penalty on, a 
     borrower.
       (e) Notice.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with 
     the Secretary of the Treasury, shall publish in the Federal 
     Register a notice of the benefits available to borrowers 
     under this section.

[[Page S5737]]

       (f) Appropriations; Reimbursements.--
       (1) In general.--Out of any amounts in the Treasury not 
     otherwise appropriated--
       (A) there are appropriated to the Secretary such sums as 
     are necessary, to remain available until December 31, 2021, 
     for the cost of interest rate adjustments under subsection 
     (c)(1)(A);
       (B) there is appropriated to the Secretary $300,000,000, to 
     remain available until December 31, 2021, for the cost of 
     modifications under subsection (c)(1)(B); and
       (C) there are appropriated to the Federal Financing Bank 
     such sums as are necessary, to remain available until 
     December 31, 2023, for the liquidation of residual 
     intragovernmental amounts owed by the Federal Financing Bank 
     in connection with qualified loans described in subsection 
     (b) modified after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (2) Calculation.--For purposes of paragraph (1)(C), the 
     calculation of the sums necessary for the liquidation of 
     residual intragovernmental amounts owed shall take into 
     account all amounts otherwise transferred to the Federal 
     Financing Bank for the qualified loans described in that 
     paragraph.
       (3) Emergency designation.--
       (A) In general.--The amounts provided by this section are 
     designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 
     4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 
     933(g)).
       (B) Designation in senate.--In the Senate, this section is 
     designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 
     4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent 
     resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018.
                                 ______