[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.
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