[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 138 (Tuesday, August 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S5785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2460. Mr. LUJAN (for himself, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Booker, Mrs.
Feinstein, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr. Heinrich) 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:
Strike section 60506 and insert the following:
SEC. 60506. DIGITAL REDLINING.
(a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States that, insofar as technically feasible--
(1) subscribers should benefit from equal access to
broadband internet access service within the service area of
a provider of such service;
(2) the term ``equal access'', for purposes of this
section, means the equal opportunity to subscribe to an
offered service that provides comparable speeds, capacities,
latency, and other quality of service metrics in a given
area, for comparable terms and conditions; and
(3) the Commission should take steps to ensure that all
people of the United States benefit from equal access to
broadband internet access service.
(b) Adoption of Rules.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall adopt
final rules to promote equal access to broadband internet
access service, including-- taking into account the issue of
technical feasibility presented by that objective,
including--
(1) identifying what constitutes digital redlining;
(2) identifying necessary steps for the Commissions to take
to eliminate digital redlining; and
(3) preventing discrimination of access based on income
level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin.
(c) Federal Policies.--The Commission and the Attorney
General shall ensure that Federal policies promote equal
access to robust broadband internet access service by
prohibiting deployment discrimination based on--
(1) the income level of an area;
(2) the predominant race or ethnicity composition of an
area; or
(3) other factors the Commission determines to be relevant
based on the findings in the record developed from the
rulemaking under subsection (b).
(d) Model State and Local Policies.--The Commission shall
develop model policies and best practices that can be adopted
by States and localities to ensure that broadband internet
access service providers do not engage in digital redlining.
(e) Complaints.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall revise its public
complaint process to accept complaints from consumers or
other members of the public that relate to digital redlining.
(2) Reports.--The Commission shall publish an annual report
regarding complaints that the Commission has received under
paragraph (1) that identifies--
(A) each provider of broadband internet access service that
have been the subject of a complaint;
(B) the status of each complaint; and
(C) any action taken by the Commission in response to a
complaint.
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