Tribal Connect Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7973 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to improve access by Indian Tribes to support from the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support program (E-rate) of the Federal Communications Commission, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 7, 2020 Mr. LUJA´N (for himself and Mr. MULLIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to improve ac- cess by Indian Tribes to support from the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support program (E-rate) of the Federal Communications Commission, 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 ‘‘Tribal Connect Act 4 of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7973.IH H7973 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7973 IH SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES AND QUALI- 1 FYING ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY-SERVING IN- 2 STITUTIONS FOR E-RATE SUPPORT. 3 Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 4 U.S.C. 254) is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (h)(4), by inserting ‘‘, except 6 as provided in subsection (m),’’ before ‘‘is a library 7 or library consortium’’; and 8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(m) ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES AND 10 QUALIFYING ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY-SERVING INSTITU- 11 TIONS FOR E-RATE SUPPORT.— 12 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 13 ‘‘(A) the term ‘broadband internet access 14 service’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 15 tion 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regula- 16 tions, or any successor regulation; 17 ‘‘(B) the term ‘E-rate program’ means the 18 Federal universal service support program for 19 schools and libraries authorized under sub- 20 section (h)(1)(B), the rules of which are set 21 forth under subpart F of part 54 of title 47, 22 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 23 regulation); 24 ‘‘(C) the term ‘E-rate support’ means uni- 25 versal service discounts on eligible services in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7973.IH H7973 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7973 IH accordance with subpart F of part 54 of title 1 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc- 2 cessor regulation); 3 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the 4 meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in section 5 20.100 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, 6 or any successor regulation; 7 ‘‘(E) the term ‘qualifying essential commu- 8 nity-serving institution’ means a facility exclu- 9 sively owned by an Indian Tribe and designated 10 by such Indian Tribe for purposes of paragraph 11 (2)(B), including a Tribal Government building, 12 chapter house, longhouse, community center, 13 senior center, or other similar public building; 14 and 15 ‘‘(F) the term ‘Tribal College or Univer- 16 sity’ has the meaning given the term in section 17 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 18 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)). 19 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES FOR E- 20 RATE SUPPORT.— 21 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES 22 AS LIBRARIES ELIGIBLE FOR E-RATE SUP- 23 PORT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7973.IH H7973 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7973 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An Indian Tribe 1 that is eligible for support under section 2 261 of the Library Services and Tech- 3 nology Act (20 U.S.C. 9161) may des- 4 ignate a Tribal library or Tribal library 5 consortium, including a public-serving li- 6 brary of a Tribal College or University 7 (notwithstanding section 54.501(b)(2) of 8 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or 9 any successor regulation), as a library or 10 library consortium that is eligible for E- 11 rate support, without regard to whether 12 the library or library consortium is eligible 13 for assistance from a State library admin- 14 istrative agency under the Library Services 15 and Technology Act (20 U.S.C. 9121 et 16 seq.) (notwithstanding the requirement re- 17 lating to such eligibility in subsection 18 (h)(4) of this section and section 19 54.501(b)(1) of title 47, Code of Federal 20 Regulations, or any successor regulation), 21 if the library or library consortium is eligi- 22 ble for support from such Indian Tribe 23 under such section 261. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7973.IH H7973 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7973 IH ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 1 Nothing in clause (i) shall be construed to 2 exempt a Tribal library or Tribal library 3 consortium from any requirement under 4 the E-rate program not described in that 5 clause, including the other requirements 6 relating to eligible recipients under section 7 54.501 of title 47, Code of Federal Regula- 8 tions (or any successor regulation). 9 ‘‘(B) TRIBAL ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY- 10 SERVING INSTITUTION PROGRAM.— 11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, 12 in consultation with the Director of the In- 13 stitute of Museum and Library Services 14 and the head of any other agency with rel- 15 evant responsibilities, shall establish a pro- 16 gram to be known as the ‘Tribal Essential 17 Community-Serving Institution Program’, 18 under which the Commission shall provide 19 E-rate support to Indian Tribes for quali- 20 fying essential community-serving institu- 21 tions designated by such Indian Tribes. 22 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBILITY.—E-rate support 23 obtained under this subparagraph shall 24 only be available to an Indian Tribe if the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7973.IH H7973 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7973 IH proposed qualifying essential community- 1 serving institution intends to deliver pub- 2 licly available internet access and tele- 3 communications services to students, 4 teachers, librarians, and members of the 5 community. 6 ‘‘(C) USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—Of the 7 amount collected for Federal universal service 8 support programs under subsection (d), 9 $100,000,000 shall be made available for the 3- 10 fiscal-year period beginning after the date of 11 the enactment of this subsection to the Com- 12 mission to carry out this paragraph. 13 ‘‘(3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 14 FOR TRIBAL SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES.— 15 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Commission 16 shall— 17 ‘‘(i) direct the Administrator des- 18 ignated by the Commission to administer 19 the Federal universal service support pro- 20 grams under this section to submit an an- 21 nual report to the Commission regarding 22 the actions of the E-rate program to en- 23 sure that Tribal schools and libraries can 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7973.IH H7973 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7973 IH participate fully and effectively in the E- 1 rate program, including— 2 ‘‘(I) outreach efforts targeted to 3 Tribal schools and libraries to pro- 4 mote awareness of the E-rate pro- 5 gram; 6 ‘‘(II) specific E-rate training pro- 7 grams for Tribal schools and libraries; 8 and 9 ‘‘(III) other technical assistance 10 initiatives regarding the application 11 process for the E-rate program that 12 are available to Tribal schools and li- 13 braries; and 14 ‘‘(ii) submit each annual report de- 15 scribed in clause (i) to— 16 ‘‘(I) the Committee on Com- 17 merce, Science, and Transportation of 18 the Senate; 19 ‘‘(II) the Committee on Indian 20 Affairs of the Senate; 21 ‘‘(III) the Committee on Energy 22 and Commerce of the House of Rep- 23 resentatives; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7973.IH H7973 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7973 IH ‘‘(IV) the Committee on Natural 1 Resources of the House of Represent- 2 atives. 3 ‘‘(B) REVIEW OF ANNUAL REPORTS.—The 4 Commission shall review each annual report re- 5 quired under subparagraph (A) to determine 6 whether additional steps are necessary to en- 7 sure that Tribal schools and libraries can par- 8 ticipate fully and effectively in the E-rate pro- 9 gram. 10 ‘‘(C) UNIVERSAL SERVICE TECHNICAL AS- 11 SISTANCE AND TRAINING.—The Commission, in 12 consultation with the Director of the Institute 13 of Museum and Library Services, shall provide 14 technical assistance and training to Indian 15 Tribes with respect to Federal universal service 16 support programs. 17 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION AND PERFORMANCE MEAS- 18 UREMENT.—The Commission shall— 19 ‘‘(A) improve the reliability of the data of 20 the Commission relating to institutions that re- 21 ceive E-rate support by defining the term ‘trib- 22 al’ on the application for E-rate support; and 23 ‘‘(B)(i) develop performance goals and 24 measures to track progress on achieving the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7973.IH H7973 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7973 IH strategic objective of the Commission of ensur- 1 ing that all Indian Tribes have affordable ac- 2 cess to broadband internet access service for 3 educational purposes for students, teachers, li- 4 brarians, and members of the community; 5 ‘‘(ii) in coordination with the Director of 6 the Institute of Museum and Library Services, 7 identify Tribal libraries and developing Tribal 8 libraries in the United States; and 9 ‘‘(iii) not later than 1 year after the date 10 of the enactment of this subsection, submit to 11 Congress and make public a report on the goals 12 and measures developed under clause (i) and 13 the list of libraries identified under clause (ii).’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7973.IH H7973 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS