Strengthening safeguards for the Universal Service Fund and ensuring the program is serving hard-to-reach areas through the Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025;
Support strengthening safeguards for the Universal Service Fund so the program serves hard-to-reach areas.
Occurrences
Evidence
unverified · Source version 36945 · locator unknown
GovInfo identifies Public Law 104-104 as the Telecommunications Act of 1996, approved February 8, 1996, bill number S. 652. Its legislative history says the House passed S. 652 and later agreed to the conference report.
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Section 254 says universal service policies should provide access in all regions, including rural, insular, and high-cost areas, with services reasonably comparable to urban areas. It also requires equitable contributions and specific, predictable, sufficient support mechanisms.
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Section 254(e) limits federal universal service support to eligible telecommunications carriers and says a recipient must use that support only for the intended provision, maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services.
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The FCC said it comprehensively reformed and modernized universal service and intercarrier compensation, adopting accountable, incentive-based policies and a framework to distribute universal service funding efficiently through mechanisms such as competitive bidding.
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The order created Mobility Fund support for unserved areas, added Tribal support for remote and underserved areas, allocated Remote Areas Fund support for the most remote areas, and established national certification, reporting, oversight, and noncompliance consequences.
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GAO found FCC had implemented funding reforms for small rural carriers and had some policies to manage fraud risks, but its efforts did not fully align with GAO's fraud-risk framework. GAO made five recommendations.
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GAO's recommendation tracker shows three FCC fraud-risk recommendations closed as implemented in 2024, including a Fraud Risk Group, regular high-cost fraud-risk assessments, and an antifraud strategy. Two model-based support recommendations remained open.
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The FCC adopted Enhanced A-CAM to support 100/20 Mbps broadband in rural areas served by carriers receiving A-CAM or legacy rate-of-return support, while minimizing ratepayer burden and avoiding duplicative support with other programs.
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The FCC described Broadband DATA Act mapping and challenge processes, noted use of maps for new broadband deployment funding awards, and summarized prior USF high-cost reforms including reverse auctions for unserved and underserved areas.
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Congressman Rogers also voted in support of the following legislation this year, among others, to help strengthen Rural America: ... Strengthening safeguards for the Universal Service Fund and ensuring the program is serving hard-to-reach areas through the Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025;
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Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to establish a vetting process for applicants for, and other recipients of, a new covered funding award.
Assessments
The verified original commitment identifies the promised policy area: strengthening Universal Service Fund safeguards and service to hard-to-reach areas through the Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025. Verified evidence shows the Act was enacted and requires the FCC to initiate rulemaking to establish a vetting process for covered funding applicants and recipients, matching the safeguards outcome. However, the only verified passage provided does not establish Rogers's vote, sponsorship, authorship, or other material contribution to enactment, and unverified evidence cannot be used to prove candidate attribution. Under the instruction requiring material candidate contribution for delivery or partial credit, attribution remains unknown, so the outcome is unresolved despite evidence of policy enactment.
Federal USF safeguards and rural high-cost support were strengthened through the 1996 universal service framework and later FCC reforms, including the 2011 Connect America Fund order and subsequent fraud-risk and mapping improvements. Those actions align with the promise's substance, but the record does not show Harold Rogers personally sponsored, authored, voted for, or materially advanced the key reforms. Because the delivery shown is mostly statutory or administrative rather than Rogers-specific, this merits partial credit rather than full delivery.