S.Amdt. 2151

SA 2151. Mr. WICKER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 2137 proposed by Mr. Schumer (for Ms. Sinema (for herself,
Mr. Portman, Mr. Manchin, Mr. Cassidy, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Collins, Mr.
Tester, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Romney)) to the bill H.R.
3684, to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety
programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. _____. GRANTS FOR BROADCAST INTERNET AND PUBLIC
TELEVISION.

(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Assistant secretary.--The term ``Assistant Secretary''
means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications
and Information.
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(3) Construction permit.--The term ``construction permit''
has meaning given the term in section 3 of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).
(4) Covered grant.--The term ``covered grant'' means a
grant awarded under subsection (b).
(5) Eligible broadcaster.--The term ``eligible
broadcaster'' means a commercial or noncommercial broadcast
television licensee or permittee that was, before the date of
enactment of this Act--
(A) licensed by the Commission; or
(B) granted a construction permit for a station.
(6) Licensee.--The term ``licensee'' has the meaning given
the term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 153).
(7) Permittee.--The term ``permitee'' means the holder of a
television construction permit granted by the Commission.
(8) Public telecommunications entity; public
telecommunications facilities; public telecommunications
services.--The terms ``public telecommunications entity'',
``public telecommunications facilities'', and ``public
telecommunications services'' have the meanings given those
terms in section 397 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 397).
(b) Broadcast Internet and Public Broadcasting Grants.--
(1) In general.--The Assistant Secretary shall establish a
program, to be known as the ``Broadcast Internet and Public
Broadcasting Grant Program'', under which the Assistant
Secretary makes grants--
(A) to eligible broadcasters to facilitate the construction
of or reasonable upgrades to facilities of those eligible
broadcasters to enable the offering of broadcast services
utilizing the ATSC 3.0 broadcast television standard,
including datacasting enabled by ATSC 3.0, as permitted under
section 336 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 336)
and parts 73 and 74 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations;
(B) to eligible broadcasters to facilitate the construction
of or reasonable upgrades to facilities of those eligible
broadcasters to

[[Page S5576]]

enable the deployment of distributed transmission systems
(also known as ``single frequency networks''), as permitted
under section 73.626 of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations; and
(C) in consultation with the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting, to public telecommunications entities to
facilitate the construction, updates, replacement, and repair
of public telecommunications facilities to maintain or
improve public telecommunications services provided by those
public telecommunications entities to the American public
through broadcast and digital distribution technologies.
(2) Application for grant.--
(A) In general.--The Assistant Secretary shall establish an
application process for covered grants.
(B) Selection priority.--In selecting projects to be funded
by a covered grant, the Assistant Secretary shall apply the
criteria established by the rules promulgated under
subsection (c).
(c) Rulemaking.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall
promulgate rules that--
(1) establish the requirements for applications for covered
grants;
(2) identify the criteria to be used by the Assistant
Secretary in prioritizing projects;
(3) identify reasonable eligible costs to be presumptively
approved by the Assistant Secretary in awarding covered
grants; and
(4) establish procedures for the submission and review of
cost estimates and other materials related to those costs
consistent with the rules promulgated under this subsection.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this section $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2022,
to remain available until expended, of which--
(A) not more than $3,700,000,000 may be used for grants
under subsection (b)(1)(A);
(B) not more than $1,000,000,000 maybe used for grants
under subsection (b)(1)(B); and
(C) not more than $300,000,000 may be used for grants under
subsection (b)(1)(C).
(2) Administration.--The Assistant Secretary may reserve
not more than 4 percent of the funds made available under
paragraph (1) for reasonable administrative costs associated
with the grant program established under subsection (b).
______