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HR 1582 108th Congress House

Universal Service Fairness Act of 2003

Official title: To equitably distribute universal service support throughout rural America, and for other purposes.

Introduced: April 3, 2003 See on congress.gov
Science, Technology, Communications Administrative procedureCommerceCongressCongressional investigations
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Congressional reporting requirementsFederal Communications CommissionGovernment Operations and PoliticsHousing and Community DevelopmentIndependent regulatory commissionsLawTelecommunication industryTelecommunication ratesTelephoneTelephone rates
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This bill died when the 108th Congress ended
It never became law before the 108th Congress (2003–2004) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Apr 10, 2003
Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.
Apr 3, 2003
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Apr 3, 2003
Introduced in House
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 Latest action April 10, 2003

Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service
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.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
 Cosponsors 17
All 17 Democratic 2 Republican 2 Independent 1
CHRISTENSEN, DONNA
· Sep 30, 2004
TURNER, JIM
· Mar 3, 2004
 I
Sanders, Bernard
Vermont · Mar 2, 2004
SHADEGG, JOHN
· Jan 23, 2004
 R
Issa, Darrell
California · Dec 8, 2003
NETHERCUTT, GEORGE
· Nov 20, 2003
DUNN, JENNIFER
· Oct 29, 2003
 D
Larsen, Rick
Washington · Oct 29, 2003
SMITH, NICK
· Oct 8, 2003
THORNBERRY, WILLIAM
· Sep 4, 2003
Janklow, William
· Jun 26, 2003
BEREUTER, DOUGLAS
· Apr 3, 2003
 D
DeGette, Diana
Colorado · Apr 3, 2003
MCCARTHY, KAREN
· Apr 3, 2003
MCINNIS, SCOTT
· Apr 3, 2003
RADANOVICH, GEORGE
· Apr 3, 2003
 R
Simpson, Michael K.
Idaho · Apr 3, 2003
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 1582: Universal Service Fairness Act of 2003. 108th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1582/
MLA
"H.R. 1582: Universal Service Fairness Act of 2003." 108th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1582/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 1582, 108th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1582/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 1582: Universal Service Fairness Act of 2003](https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1582/)
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