,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #afci  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #ah1 #bjac    
,mr4 ,gibson 7for himself and ,mr4      
,schrader7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,agriculture1 and in      
addition to the ,committee on ,energy   
and ,commerce1 for a period to be       
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to amend the ,rural         
,electrification ,act of #aicf1 and for 
other purposes4  #a4 ,amendments to the 
,rural ,electrification ,act of #aicf   
,section #fja of the ,rural             
,electrification ,act of #aicf 7#g      
,u4,s4,c4 #iej;bb7 is amended--  7#a7 in
 subsection 7a71 by striking loans and  
loan guarantees and inserting loans1    
loan guarantees1 and grants2  7#b7 in   
subsection 7c7--  7,a7 in paragraph     
7#a71 by inserting 1 and may make       

grants1 after loans2 and  7,b7 in       
paragraph 7#b71 by inserting 1 and in   
making grants1 before under paragraph   
7#a72  7#c7 in subsection 7d71 by adding
 at the end the following3  7#h7        
,additional process ,the ,secretary     
shall establish a process under which an
 incumbent service provider which1 as of
 the date of the publication of notice  
under paragraph 7#e7 with respect to an 
application submitted by the provider1  
is providing broadband service to a     
remote rural area1 may 7but shall not be
 required to7 submit to the ,secretary1 
not less than #ae and not more than #cj 
days after that date1 information       
regarding the broadband services that   
the provider offers in the proposed     
service territory1 so that the          
,secretary may assess whether the       
application meets the requirements of   
this section with respect to eligible   
projects4  2  7#d7 in subsection 7e71 by
 adding at the end the following3  7#c7 
,requirement ,in considering the        

technology needs of customers in a      
proposed service territory1 the         
,secretary shall take into consideration
 the upgrade or replacement cost for the
 construction or acquisition of         
facilities and equipment in the         
territory4  2  7#e7 by redesignating    
subsections 7k7 and 7l7 as subsections  
7l7 and 7m71 respectively1 and inserting
 after subsection 7j7 the following3    
7k7 ,matching grants  7#a7 ,in general  
,the ,secretary may make a grant to an  
entity for a project with respect to    
which a loan or loan guarantee is made  
under this section4  7#b7 ,amount  7,a7 
,in general ,the amount of the grant    
shall not exceed #aj percent of the cost
 of the project4  7,b7 ,match           
requirement ,the ,secretary may not make
 a grant to an entity for a project     
unless the entity has made a binding    
commitment to the ,secretary that the   
entity will provide for the project1    
from non-,federal sources1 an amount    
equal to the amount of the grant4  2    

7#f7 in subsection 7l7 7as so           
redesignated7--  7,a7 by striking       
paragraph 7#a7 and inserting the        
following3  7#a7 ,limitations on        
authorization of appropriations ,there  
is authorized to be appropriated to the 
,secretary to carry out this section    
such sums as may be necessary for each  
of fiscal years #bjac through #bjag1 to 
remain available until expended4 ,of the
 sums made available to carry out this  
section for a fiscal year--  7,a7 #gj   
percent shall be available for the cost 
of loans and loan guarantees under this 
section2 and  7,b7 #cj percent shall be 
available for grants under this section4
  2 and  7,b7 in paragraph 7#b7--  7i7  
in the paragraph heading1 insert loan   
and loan guarantee before funds2 and    
7ii7 in subparagraph 7,a71 by inserting 
for loans and loan guarantees before    
under this subsection2 and  7#g7 in     
subsection 7m7 7as so redesignated71 by 
striking #bjac and inserting #bjag4