Broadband Reserve Fund Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 592 To establish a reserve fund for the proceeds of the C-band auction conducted by the Federal Communications Commission. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 4, 2021 Mr. WICKER (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish a reserve fund for the proceeds of the C-band auction conducted by the Federal Communications Com- mission. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Reserve 4 Fund Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. BROADBAND AND CONNECTIVITY RESERVE FUND. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S592.IS S592 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 592 IS (1) the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means the 1 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communica- 2 tions and Information; and 3 (2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 4 Communications Commission. 5 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF RESERVE FUND.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 7 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known 8 as the ‘‘Broadband Reserve Fund’’ (referred to in 9 this section as the ‘‘Fund’’). 10 (2) AVAILABILITY.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts deposited in 12 the Fund shall remain available through fiscal 13 year 2030. 14 (B) USE FOR DEFICIT REDUCTION.—Any 15 amounts remaining in the Fund after the end 16 of fiscal year 2030 shall be deposited in the 17 general fund of the Treasury for the sole pur- 18 pose of deficit reduction. 19 (c) USE OF FUND.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2)— 21 (A) amounts in the Fund shall be available 22 for use by the Commission; and 23 (B) the Commission— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S592.IS S592 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 592 IS (i) shall reserve not less than 20 per- 1 cent of the amounts in the Fund for use 2 by the Assistant Secretary; and 3 (ii) shall transfer the amounts re- 4 served under clause (i) to the Assistant 5 Secretary upon request. 6 (2) LIMITATION.—The Commission and the As- 7 sistant Secretary may not access or use amounts in 8 the Fund for any purpose unless specifically author- 9 ized by an Act of Congress enacted after the date 10 of enactment of this Act. 11 (3) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PERMIS- 12 SIBLE USES OF FUND.—It is the sense of Congress 13 that Congress should enact further legislation speci- 14 fying the purposes for which amounts in the Fund 15 may be used, which may include— 16 (A) broadband deployment to unserved 17 areas; 18 (B) distance and remote learning; 19 (C) digital equity and expanding 20 broadband access in minority communities and 21 on Tribal land; 22 (D) securing the telecommunications sup- 23 ply chain; 24 (E) promoting spectrum efficiency; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S592.IS S592 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 592 IS (F) investment in public safety commu- 1 nications infrastructure; 2 (G) precision agriculture technologies; and 3 (H) telehealth technologies. 4 (d) INVESTMENT.—Amounts in the Fund shall be in- 5 vested in accordance with section 9702 of title 31, United 6 States Code, and any interest on, and proceeds from, any 7 such investment shall be credited to, and become a part 8 of, the Fund. 9 (e) DEPOSIT OF C-BAND SPECTRUM AUCTION PRO- 10 CEEDS IN FUND.—Section 309(j)(8) of the Communica- 11 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)) is amended— 12 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and (G)’’ 13 and inserting ‘‘(G), and (H)’’; 14 (2) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ‘‘and 15 (G)’’ and inserting ‘‘(G), and (H)’’; and 16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(H) C-BAND AUCTION PROCEEDS.—Not- 18 withstanding subparagraph (A), and except as 19 provided in subparagraph (B), of the proceeds 20 (including deposits and upfront payments from 21 successful bidders) from the use of a system of 22 competitive bidding under this subsection to 23 award licenses in the band of frequencies be- 24 tween 3700 megahertz and 3980 megahertz 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S592.IS S592 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 592 IS (designated by the Commission as ‘Auction 1 107’), $65,000,000,000 shall be deposited in 2 the Broadband Reserve Fund established under 3 section 3 of the Broadband Reserve Fund Act 4 of 2021.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S592.IS S592 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS