Trusting Commercial Communications Networks Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4973 To prohibit certain Federal loans, grants, and subsidies from being used to purchase communications equipment or services posing national secu- rity risks, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 1, 2019 Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself and Mr. LONG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To prohibit certain Federal loans, grants, and subsidies from being used to purchase communications equipment or services posing national security risks, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Trusting Commercial 4 Communications Networks Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4973 IH SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF COMMUNICATIONS EQUIP- 1 MENT OR SERVICES POSING NATIONAL SECU- 2 RITY RISKS. 3 (a) PUBLICATION OF COVERED COMMUNICATIONS 4 EQUIPMENT OR SERVICES LIST.—Not later than 1 year 5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis- 6 sion shall publish on its website a list of covered commu- 7 nications equipment or services. 8 (b) DETERMINATION BY COMMISSION.—The Com- 9 mission shall place on the list published under subsection 10 (a) any communications equipment or service, if and only 11 if the Commission determines that such equipment or 12 service— 13 (1) is produced or provided by— 14 (A) Huawei Technologies Co. Limited, 15 Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment 16 Corporation, or any subsidiary or affiliate of ei- 17 ther such entity; 18 (B) any successor to any entity described 19 in subparagraph (A); or 20 (C) any other entity, if the Commission de- 21 termines, based exclusively on the determina- 22 tions described in paragraphs (1) through (3) 23 of subsection (c), that such equipment or serv- 24 ice produced or provided by such entity poses 25 an unacceptable risk to the national security of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4973 IH the United States or the security and safety of 1 United States persons; and 2 (2) is capable of— 3 (A) routing or redirecting user data traffic 4 or permitting visibility into any user data or 5 packets that such equipment or service trans- 6 mits or otherwise handles; or 7 (B) causing the network of a provider of 8 advanced communications service to be dis- 9 rupted remotely. 10 (c) RELIANCE ON CERTAIN OTHER DETERMINA- 11 TIONS.—In making a determination under subsection 12 (b)(1)(C), the Commission shall rely solely on one or more 13 of the following determinations: 14 (1) A specific determination made by any exec- 15 utive branch interagency body with appropriate na- 16 tional security expertise, including the Federal Ac- 17 quisition Security Council established under section 18 1322(a) of title 41, United States Code. 19 (2) A specific determination made by the De- 20 partment of Commerce pursuant to Executive Order 21 13873 (84 Fed. Reg. 22689; relating to securing the 22 information and communications technology and 23 services supply chain). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4973 IH (3) The communications equipment or service 1 being covered telecommunications equipment or serv- 2 ices, as defined in section 889(f)(3) of the John S. 3 McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fis- 4 cal Year 2019 (Public Law 115–232; 132 Stat. 5 1918). 6 (d) UPDATING OF LIST.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall peri- 8 odically update the list published under subsection 9 (a), as necessary to protect national security and to 10 address changes in the determinations described in 11 paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (c). 12 (2) MONITORING OF DETERMINATIONS.—The 13 Commission shall monitor the making or reversing 14 of the determinations described in paragraphs (1) 15 through (3) of subsection (c) in order to determine 16 whether to place communications equipment or serv- 17 ices on the list published under subsection (a) or to 18 remove communications equipment or services from 19 such list. If a determination described in any such 20 paragraph that provided the basis for a determina- 21 tion by the Commission under subsection (b)(1)(C) 22 with respect to any communications equipment or 23 service is reversed, the Commission shall remove 24 such equipment or service from such list, except that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4973 IH the Commission may not remove such equipment or 1 service from such list if any other determination de- 2 scribed in any such paragraph provides a basis for 3 a determination by the Commission under subsection 4 (b)(1)(C) with respect to such equipment or service. 5 (3) PUBLIC NOTIFICATION.—For each 12- 6 month period during which the list published under 7 subsection (a) is not updated, the Commission shall 8 notify the public that no updates were necessary 9 during such period to protect national security or to 10 address changes in the determinations described in 11 paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (c). 12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF CERTAIN FEDERAL 13 LOANS, GRANTS, AND SUBSIDIES. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.— 15 (1) PROHIBITION.—A Federal loan, grant, or 16 subsidy that provides funds to be used for the cap- 17 ital expenditures necessary for the provision of ad- 18 vanced communications service may not be used 19 to— 20 (A) purchase, rent, lease, or otherwise ob- 21 tain any covered communications equipment or 22 service; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4973 IH (B) maintain any covered communications 1 equipment or service previously purchased, 2 rented, leased, or otherwise obtained. 3 (2) TIMING.—Paragraph (1) shall apply with 4 respect to any covered communications equipment or 5 service beginning on the date that is 60 days after 6 the date on which the Commission places such 7 equipment or service on the list required by section 8 2(a). In the case of any covered communications 9 equipment or service that is on the initial list pub- 10 lished under such section, such equipment or service 11 shall be treated as being placed on the list on the 12 date on which such list is published. 13 (b) COMPLETION OF PROCEEDING.—Not later than 14 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 15 Commission shall adopt a Report and Order in the matter 16 of Protecting Against National Security Threats to the 17 Communications Supply Chain Through FCC Programs 18 (WC Docket No. 18–89) that implements subsection (a), 19 to the extent such subsection applies to a program admin- 20 istered by the Commission. 21 (c) APPLICATION TO OTHER AGENCIES.—Not later 22 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 23 the head of each Federal agency (other than the Commis- 24 sion) that administers a program through which any Fed- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4973 IH eral loan, grant, or subsidy described in subsection (a)(1) 1 is made available shall update the regulations for the pro- 2 gram to comply with subsection (a). 3 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 4 tion may be construed to limit a Federal agency from pro- 5 curing goods or services. 6 SEC. 4. HOLD HARMLESS. 7 In the case of a person who is a winner of the Con- 8 nect America Fund Phase II auction, has not yet been 9 authorized to receive Connect America Fund Phase II sup- 10 port, and demonstrates an inability to reasonably meet the 11 build-out and service obligations of such person under 12 Connect America Fund Phase II without using equipment 13 or services prohibited under this Act, such person may 14 withdraw the application of such person for Connect 15 America Fund Phase II support without being found in 16 default or subject to forfeiture. 17 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 19 (b)— 20 (1) a violation of this Act or a regulation pro- 21 mulgated under this Act shall be treated as a viola- 22 tion of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 23 151 et seq.) or a regulation promulgated under such 24 Act, respectively; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4973 IH (2) the Commission shall enforce this Act and 1 the regulations promulgated under this Act in the 2 same manner, by the same means, and with the 3 same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 4 applicable terms and provisions of the Communica- 5 tions Act of 1934 were incorporated into and made 6 a part of this Act. 7 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply with 8 respect to— 9 (1) a Federal loan, grant, or subsidy that is 10 made available through a program that is adminis- 11 tered by a Federal agency other than the Commis- 12 sion; or 13 (2) a regulation promulgated by such agency 14 under section 3(c). 15 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.— 18 The term ‘‘advanced communications service’’ has 19 the meaning given the term ‘‘advanced telecommuni- 20 cations capability’’ in section 706 of the Tele- 21 communications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302). 22 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 23 means the Federal Communications Commission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4973 IH (3) COVERED COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT OR 1 SERVICE.—The term ‘‘covered communications 2 equipment or service’’ means any communications 3 equipment or service that is on the list published by 4 the Commission under section 2(a). 5 (4) CUSTOMERS.—The term ‘‘customers’’ 6 means, with respect to a provider of advanced com- 7 munications service— 8 (A) the customers of such provider; and 9 (B) the customers of any affiliate (as de- 10 fined in section 3 of the Communications Act of 11 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153)) of such provider. 12 (5) EXECUTIVE BRANCH INTERAGENCY 13 BODY.—The term ‘‘executive branch interagency 14 body’’ means an interagency body established in the 15 executive branch. 16 (6) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 17 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 18 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 19 (7) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in- 20 dividual or entity. 21 (8) PROVIDER OF ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS 22 SERVICE.—The term ‘‘provider of advanced commu- 23 nications service’’ means a person who provides ad- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4973 IH vanced communications service to United States cus- 1 tomers. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS