,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ee  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of    
,,representatives  ,january #c1         
#bjai,mr4 ,rush introduced the following
 bill2 which was referred to the        
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce  ,a 
,,bill  ,to amend the ,communications   
,act of #aicd to direct the ,federal    
,communications ,commission to conduct  
an annual inquiry on the availability of
 advanced telecommunications capability 
in broadband deserts1 and for other     
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,connecting         
,broadband ,deserts ,act of #bjai4  #b4 
,annual inquiry on deployment of        
advanced telecommunications capability  
in broadband deserts ,title ,i of the   
,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg      
,u4,s4,c4 #aea et seq47 is amended by   
adding at the end the following3  #ad4  
,annual inquiry on deployment of        
advanced telecommunications capability  
in broadband deserts  7a7 ,in general   
,the ,commission shall1 not later than  

#a year after the date of the enactment 
of this section1 and annually           
thereafter1 initiate a notice of inquiry
 concerning the availability of advanced
 telecommunications capability in       
broadband deserts and shall complete the
 inquiry not later than #ahj days after 
its initiation4 ,in the inquiry1 the    
,commission shall determine whether     
advanced telecommunications capability  
is being deployed in broadband deserts  
in a reasonable and timely fashion1     
including the extent to which digital   
redlining is occurring4 ,if the         
,commission determines that advanced    
telecommunications capability is not    
being deployed in broadband deserts in a
 reasonable and timely fashion1 it shall
 take immediate action to accelerate    
deployment of such capability in        
broadband deserts by removing barriers  
to infrastructure investment and by     
promoting competition in the            
telecommunications market4  7b7         
,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7     

,advanced telecommunications capability 
,the term advanced telecommunications   
capability has the meaning given such   
term in section #gjf of the             
,telecommunications ,act of #aiif 7#dg  
,u4,s4,c4 #acjb74  7#b7 ,broadband      
desert ,the term broadband desert means 
a census block-- 7,a7 that is located in
 an urban area2 and  7,b7 in which fewer
 than #cc percent of end-user premises  
7as defined by the ,commission for      
purposes of ,form #dgg7 do not have     
access to advanced telecommunications   
capability4  7#c7 ,digital redlining    
,the term digital redlining means a     
practice whereby a provider of advanced 
telecommunications capability excludes  
certain areas when expanding or         
upgrading service due to income or other
 reasons4  7#d7 ,urban area ,the term   
urban area means an urbanized area or   
urban cluster area with a population    
equal to or greater than #be1jjj1 as    
determined by the most recent           
rural-urban classification by the       

,bureau of the ,census4  4