HR 1582 · 108th Congress 2003–2005, ended

Universal Service Fairness Act of 2003

Introduced Apr 3, 2003 Originated House Sponsor Lee Terry R-NE

Latest action · Apr 10, 2003 Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedApr 3, 2003
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Universal Service Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in calculating Federal universal service support for eligible telecommunications carriers that serve rural, insular, and high cost areas, to revise its support mechanism for high cost areas to provide support to each wire center in which the incumbent local exchange carrier's average cost per line for such center exceeds 3.75 times the national average cost per line. Requires the FCC to provide support for each State equal to the greater of the amount calculated under the FCC's current support mechanism for high cost areas or the amount calculated above. Limits per State support and total support for all States.

Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the need to reform the high cost support mechanism for rural, insular, and high cost areas.

States that nothing in this Act shall affect the support provided to rural telephone companies.

Cosponsors 82

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 3, 2003 to Sep 30, 2004; 28 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
R-WY	Barbara Cubin	Original	Apr 3, 2003
D-MI	Bart Stupak	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-CO	Bob Beauprez	Original	Apr 3, 2003
D-IL	Bobby L. Rush	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-ID	C. L. (Butch) Otter	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-NH	Charles F. Bass	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-UT	Chris Cannon	Original	Apr 3, 2003
D-CO	Diana DeGette	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-WA	Doc Hastings	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-NE	Doug Bereuter	Original	Apr 3, 2003
D-ND	Earl Pomeroy	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-CA	George Radanovich	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-NM	Heather Wilson	Original	Apr 3, 2003
D-WA	Jay Inslee	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-TX	Joe Barton	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-MN	John Kline	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-IL	John Shimkus	Original	Apr 3, 2003
D-MO	Karen McCarthy	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-ID	Michael K. Simpson	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-MI	Mike Rogers	Original	Apr 3, 2003
D-WA	Norman D. Dicks	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-AZ	Rick Renzi	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-UT	Rob Bishop	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-CO	Scott McInnis	Original	Apr 3, 2003
D-OH	Sherrod Brown	Original	Apr 3, 2003
D-OH	Ted Strickland	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-CO	Thomas G. Tancredo	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-NE	Tom Osborne	Original	Apr 3, 2003
R-TX	Ralph M. Hall		Apr 9, 2003
R-OH	Paul E. Gillmor		Apr 10, 2003
R-IA	James A. Leach		Apr 30, 2003
R-CO	Marilyn N. Musgrave		Apr 30, 2003
D-CO	Mark Udall		Apr 30, 2003
R-IA	Tom Latham		Apr 30, 2003
R-AZ	Trent Franks		Apr 30, 2003
D-WA	Brian Baird		May 1, 2003
R-AZ	Jeff Flake		May 1, 2003
D-OR	Darlene Hooley		May 6, 2003
R-CO	Joel Hefley		May 6, 2003
R-OH	Steven C. LaTourette		May 6, 2003
D-MI	Dale E. Kildee		May 7, 2003
R-MN	Gil Gutknecht		May 7, 2003
R-OH	Patrick J. Tiberi		May 7, 2003
R-NM	Stevan Pearce		May 7, 2003
R-MT	Denny Rehberg		May 14, 2003
R-MI	Vernon J. Ehlers		May 14, 2003
D-MN	James L. Oberstar		Jun 5, 2003
R-TX	Ron Paul		Jun 5, 2003
R-AZ	J. D. Hayworth		Jun 16, 2003
R-OH	Michael G. Oxley		Jun 16, 2003
D-TX	Charles A. Gonzalez		Jun 26, 2003
D-OR	David Wu		Jun 26, 2003
R-TX	Jeb Hensarling		Jun 26, 2003
R-IA	Steve King		Jun 26, 2003
R-SD	William J. Janklow		Jun 26, 2003
R-TX	Mac Thornberry		Sep 4, 2003
R-WI	Paul D. Ryan		Sep 4, 2003
D-NM	Tom Udall		Sep 4, 2003
R-NV	Jim Gibbons		Sep 25, 2003
D-OR	Earl Blumenauer		Sep 29, 2003
R-MI	Nick Smith		Oct 8, 2003
D-WA	Jim McDermott		Oct 21, 2003
D-TX	Eddie Bernice Johnson		Oct 28, 2003
R-WA	Jennifer Dunn		Oct 29, 2003
D-WA	Rick Larsen		Oct 29, 2003
R-WA	George R. Nethercutt Jr.		Nov 20, 2003
D-MI	Sander M. Levin		Nov 21, 2003
D-MA	Barney Frank		Dec 8, 2003
R-CA	Darrell Issa		Dec 8, 2003
R-PA	Joseph R. Pitts		Dec 8, 2003
R-MO	W. Todd Akin		Dec 8, 2003
D-OH	Tim Ryan		Jan 21, 2004
R-AZ	John B. Shadegg		Jan 23, 2004
R-AZ	Jim Kolbe		Feb 25, 2004
I-VT	Bernard Sanders		Mar 2, 2004
R-TX	Henry Bonilla		Mar 2, 2004
R-NV	Jon C. Porter		Mar 2, 2004
D-TX	Sheila Jackson Lee		Mar 2, 2004
D-TX	Jim Turner		Mar 3, 2004
R-MN	Mark R. Kennedy		Jul 6, 2004
D-UT	Jim Matheson		Jul 22, 2004
D-VI	Donna M. Christensen		Sep 30, 2004

Withdrew 1 Nick Lampson D-TX Jul 23, 2003

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Energy and Commerce Committee	Referred Apr 3, 2003
	Communications and Technology Subcommittee	Referred Apr 10, 2003

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

Apr 10, 2003Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.
Apr 3, 2003Introduced in House
Apr 3, 2003Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Printed hearings 1

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

Number	Hearing	Committee	Held
Serial No. 108-49	THE FUTURE OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE123 pages	Energy and Commerce Committee	Sep 24, 2003

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To equitably distribute universal service support throughout rural America, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: Universal Service Fairness Act of 2003

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Apr 3, 2003Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.