[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5537 Engrossed in House (EH)]
<DOC>
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5537
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To promote internet access in developing countries and update foreign
policy toward the internet, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Digital Global Access Policy Act of
2016'' or the ``Digital GAP Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to encourage the efforts of developing
countries to improve mobile and fixed access to the Internet in order
to spur economic growth and job creation, improve health, education,
and financial services, reduce poverty and gender inequality, mitigate
disasters, promote democracy and good governance, strengthen
cybersecurity, and update the Department of State's structure to
address cyberspace policy.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Since 2005, the number of Internet users has more than
tripled from 1 billion to 3.2 billion.
(2) 4.2 billion people, 60 percent of the world's
population, remain offline and the growth rate of Internet
access is slowing. An estimated 75 percent of the offline
population lives in just 20 countries and is largely rural,
female, elderly, illiterate, and low-income.
(3) Studies suggest that across the developing world, women
are nearly 50 percent less likely to access the Internet than
men living within the same communities, and that this digital
gender divide carries with it a great economic cost. According
to a study, ``Women and the Web'', bringing an additional 600
million women online would contribute $13 billion-$18 billion
to annual GDP across 144 developing countries.
(4) Without increased Internet access, the developing world
risks falling behind.
(5) Internet access in developing countries is hampered by
a lack of infrastructure and a poor regulatory environment for
investment.
(6) Build-once policies and approaches are policies or
practices that minimize the number and scale of excavation and
construction activities when installing telecommunications
infrastructure in rights-of-way, thereby lowering the
installation costs for high-speed Internet networks and serve
as a development best practice.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States to
partner, consult, and coordinate with the governments of foreign
countries, international organizations, regional economic communities,
businesses, civil society, and other stakeholders in a concerted effort
to--
(1) promote first-time Internet access to mobile or
broadband Internet for at least 1.5 billion people in
developing countries by 2020 in both urban and rural areas;
(2) promote Internet deployment and related coordination,
capacity building, and build-once policies and approaches in
developing countries, including actions to encourage--
(A) a build-once approach by standardizing the
inclusion of broadband conduit pipes which house fiber
optic communications cable that support broadband or
wireless facilities for broadband service as part of
rights-of-way projects, including sewers, power
transmission facilities, rail, pipelines, bridges,
tunnels, and roads, that are funded, co-funded, or
partially financed by the United States or any
international organization that includes the United
States as a member, in consultation with
telecommunications providers, unless a cost-benefit
analysis determines that the cost of such approach
outweighs the benefits;
(B) national and local government agencies of
developing countries and donor governments and
organizations to coordinate road building, pipe laying,
and major infrastructure with the private sector so
that, for example, fiber optic cable could be laid
below roads at the time such roads are built; and
(C) international organizations to increase their
financial support, including grants and loans, and
technical assistance to expand information and
communications access and Internet connectivity;
(3) promote policy changes that encourage first-time
affordable access to the Internet in developing countries,
including actions to encourage--
(A) integration of universal and gender-equitable
Internet access goals, to be informed by the collection
of related gender disaggregated data, and Internet
tools into national development plans and United States
Government country-level strategies;
(B) reforms of competition laws and spectrum
allocation processes that may impede the ability of
companies to provide Internet services; and
(C) efforts to improve procurement processes to
help attract and incentivize investment in Internet
infrastructure;
(4) promote the removal of tax and regulatory barriers to
Internet access;
(5) promote the use of the Internet to increase economic
growth and trade, including--
(A) policies and strategies to remove restrictions
to e-commerce, cross-border information flows, and
competitive marketplaces; and
(B) entrepreneurship and distance learning enabled
by access to technology;
(6) promote the use of the Internet to bolster democracy,
government accountability, transparency, and human rights,
including--
(A) policies, initiatives, and investments,
including the development of national Internet plans,
that are consistent with United States human rights
goals, including freedom of expression, religion, and
association;
(B) policies and initiatives aimed at promoting the
multistakeholder model of Internet governance; and
(C) policies and support programs, research, and
technologies that safeguard human rights and
fundamental freedoms online, and enable political
organizing and activism, free speech, and religious
expression that are in compliance with international
human rights standards;
(7) promote Internet access and inclusion into Internet
policymaking for women, people with disabilities, minorities,
low-income and marginalized groups, and underserved
populations; and
(8) promote cybersecurity and data protection, including
international use of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving Critical
Infrastructure Cybersecurity that are industry-led, globally
recognized cybersecurity standards and best practices.
SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ORGANIZATION.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
Secretary of State should redesignate an existing Assistant Secretary
position to be the Assistant Secretary for Cyberspace to lead the
Department of State's diplomatic cyberspace policy generally, including
for cybersecurity, Internet access, Internet freedom, and to promote an
open, secure, and reliable information and communications technology
infrastructure.
(b) Activities.--In recognition of the added value of technical
knowledge and expertise in the policymaking and diplomatic channels,
the Secretary of State should--
(1) update existing training programs relevant to policy
discussions; and
(2) promote the recruitment of candidates with technical
expertise into the Civil Service and the Foreign Service.
(c) Offset.--To offset any costs incurred by the Department of
State to carry out the designation of an Assistant Secretary for
Cyberspace in accordance with subsection (a), the Secretary of State
shall eliminate such positions within the Department of State, unless
otherwise authorized or required by law, as the Secretary determines to
be necessary to fully offset such costs.
(d) Rule of Construction.--The redesignation of the Assistant
Secretary position described in subsection (a) may not be construed as
increasing the number of Assistant Secretary positions at the
Department of State above the current level of 24 as authorized in
section 1(c)(1) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956
(22 U.S.C. 2651a(c)(1)).
SEC. 6. USAID.
It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development should--
(1) integrate efforts to expand Internet access, develop
appropriate technologies, and enhance digital literacy into the
education, development, and economic growth programs of the
agency, where appropriate;
(2) expand the utilization of information and
communications technologies in humanitarian aid and disaster
relief responses and United States operations involving
stabilization and security to improve donor coordination,
reduce duplication and waste, capture and share lessons
learned, and augment disaster preparedness and risk mitigation
strategies; and
(3) establish and promote guidelines for the protection of
personal information of individuals served by humanitarian,
disaster, and development programs directly through the United
States Government, through contracts funded by the United
States Government and by international organizations.
SEC. 7. PEACE CORPS.
Section 3 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502) is amended by--
(1) redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (e); and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
``(f) It is the sense of Congress that access to technology can
transform agriculture, community economic development, education,
environment, health, and youth development which are the sectors in
which Peace Corps currently develops positions for Volunteers.
``(g) In giving attention to the programs, projects, training, and
other activities referred to in subsection (f), the Peace Corps should
develop positions for Volunteers that are focused on leveraging
technology for development, education, and social and economic
mobility.''.
SEC. 8. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT.
In pursuing the policy described in section 4, the President should
direct United States representatives to appropriate international
bodies to use the influence of the United States, consistent with the
broad development goals of the United States, to advocate that each
such body--
(1) commit to increase efforts to promote gender-equitable
Internet access, in partnership with stakeholders and
consistent with host countries' absorptive capacity;
(2) enhance coordination with stakeholders in increasing
affordable and gender-equitable access to the Internet;
(3) integrate gender-equitable affordable Internet access
into existing economic and business assessments, evaluations,
and indexes such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation
constraints analysis, the Doing Business Report, International
Monetary Fund Article IV assessments and country reports, the
Open Data Barometer, and the Affordability Drivers Index;
(4) standardize inclusion of broadband conduit--fiber optic
cables that support broadband or wireless facilities for
broadband service--as part of highway or highway-comparable
construction projects in developing countries, in consultation
with telecommunications providers, unless such inclusion would
create an undue burden, is not necessary based on the
availability of existing broadband infrastructure, or a cost-
benefit analysis determines that the cost outweighs the
benefits;
(5) provide technical assistance to the regulatory
authorities in developing countries to remove unnecessary
barriers to investment in otherwise commercially viable
projects and strengthen weak regulations or develop new ones to
support market growth and development;
(6) utilize clear, accountable, and metric-based targets,
including targets with gender-disaggregated metrics, to measure
the effectiveness of efforts to promote Internet access; and
(7) promote and protect human rights online, such as the
freedoms of speech, assembly, association, religion, and
belief, through resolutions, public statements, projects, and
initiatives, and advocating that other member states of such
bodies are held accountable when major violations are
uncovered.
SEC. 9. PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the President shall transmit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate plans to promote partnerships by United States
development agencies, including the United States Agency for
International Development and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, as
well as international agencies funded by the United States Government
for partnership with stakeholders, that contain the following elements:
(1) Methods for stakeholders to partner with such agencies
in order to provide Internet access or Internet infrastructure
in developing countries.
(2) Methods of outreach to stakeholders to explore
partnership opportunities for expanding Internet access or
Internet infrastructure, including coordination with the
private sector, when financing roads and telecommunications
infrastructure.
(3) Methods for early consultation with stakeholders
concerning projects in telecommunications and road construction
to provide Internet access or Internet infrastructure.
SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the President shall transmit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate a report on efforts to implement the policy specified in
section 4 and a discussion of the plans and existing efforts by the
United States Government in developing countries to accomplish the
following:
(1) Develop a technical and regulatory road map for
promoting Internet access in developing countries and a path to
implementing such road map.
(2) Identify the regulatory barriers that may unduly impede
Internet access, including regulation of wireline broadband
deployment or the infrastructure to augment wireless broadband
deployment.
(3) Strengthen and support development of regulations that
incentivize market growth and sector development.
(4) Encourage further public and private investment in
Internet infrastructure, including broadband networks and
services.
(5) Increase gender-equitable Internet access and otherwise
encourage or support Internet deployment, competition, and
adoption.
(6) Improve the affordability of Internet access.
(7) Promote technology and cybersecurity capacity building
efforts and consult technical experts for advice regarding
options to accelerate the advancement of Internet deployment,
adoption, and usage.
(8) Promote Internet freedom globally and include civil
society and the private sector in the formulation of policies,
projects, and advocacy efforts to protect human rights online.
(9) Promote and strengthen the multistakeholder model of
Internet governance and actively participate in
multistakeholder international fora, such as the Internet
Governance Forum.
SEC. 11. CYBERSPACE STRATEGY.
The President should include in the next White House Cyberspace
Strategy information relating to the following:
(1) Methods to promote Internet access in developing
countries.
(2) Methods to globally promote cybersecurity policy
consistent with the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving Critical
Infrastructure Cybersecurity.
(3) Methods to promote global Internet freedom principles,
such as the freedoms of expression, assembly, association, and
religion, while combating efforts to impose restrictions on
such freedoms.
SEC. 12. DEFINITION.
In this Act--
(1) Build once policies and approaches.--The term ``build
once policies and approaches'' means policies or practices that
minimize the number and scale of excavation and construction
activities when installing telecommunications infrastructure in
rights-of-way.
(2) Cyberspace.--The term ``cyberspace'' means the
interdependent network of information technology
infrastructures, and includes the Internet, telecommunications
networks, computer systems, and embedded processors and
controllers in critical industries, and includes the virtual
environment of information and interactions between people.
(3) Stakeholders.--The term ``stakeholders'' means the
private sector, the public sector, cooperatives, civil society,
the technical community that develops Internet technologies,
standards, implementation, operations, and applications, and
other groups that are working to increase Internet access or
are impacted by the lack of Internet access in their
communities.
Passed the House of Representatives September 7, 2016.
Attest:
Clerk.
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5537
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To promote internet access in developing countries and update foreign
policy toward the internet, and for other purposes.