Office of Rural Telecommunications Act

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2601 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2601

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Office 
          of Rural Telecommunications, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 8, 2019

  Mr. Peterson (for himself and Mr. Carter of Georgia) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Office 
          of Rural Telecommunications, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Office of Rural Telecommunications 
Act''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF RURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall establish an Office of 
Rural Telecommunications.
    (b) Duties.--The Office shall have the following duties:
            (1) Coordinate efforts with the Rural Utilities Service of 
        the Department of Agriculture and the National 
        Telecommunications and Information Administration to ensure the 
        mutual and complementary success of the Commission's 
        initiatives and the programs overseen by these other agencies.
            (2) Coordinate with the Universal Service Administrative 
        Company to maintain updated information regarding Connect 
        America Fund programs that deploy rural broadband.
            (3) Coordinate with other agencies to remove barriers to 
        broadband deployment.
            (4) Assess and publish the impact of the actions of the 
        Commission on rural consumers before the actions are voted upon 
        or taken.
            (5) Measure broadband adoption rates in rural areas.
            (6) Coordinate with other bureaus and offices of the 
        Commission and other agencies to ensure consistency and 
        updating of broadband mapping in rural areas.
            (7) Not less frequently than annually, report to Congress 
        on the efforts of the Office to promote and sustain quality and 
        affordable rural communications, including voice and broadband.
            (8) Dedicate a representative to address stakeholder 
        questions and concerns.
    (c) No Additional Reporting Requirements.--Nothing in this section 
shall create any additional reporting requirement for a broadband 
provider.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
            (2) Broadband.--The term ``broadband'' means--
                    (A) a mass-market retail service by wire or radio 
                that provides the capability to transmit data to and 
                receive data from all or substantially all internet 
                endpoints, including any capabilities that are 
                incidental to and enable the operation of the 
                communications service, but excluding dial-up internet 
                access service; and
                    (B) any service that the Commission finds to be 
                providing a functional equivalent of the service 
                described in subparagraph (A).
            (3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission.
            (4) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of Rural 
        Telecommunications established pursuant to subsection (a).
            (5) Rural area.--The term ``rural area'' means any area 
        other than--
                    (A) a city, town, or incorporated area that has a 
                population of more than 20,000 inhabitants; or
                    (B) an urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to a 
                city or town that has a population of more than 50,000 
                inhabitants.
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