National Telecommunications and Information Administration Authorization Act of 1994
Key claim: This 1994 Senate bill would have authorized Commerce Department matching grants to expand telecommunications networks for hospitals, schools, libraries, governments, and other public institutions, and would have reauthorized NTIA, public broadcasting facility aid, children’s educational television, and the PEACESAT program, but it was only referred to committee.
Abstract
(S1883 · 103th Congress) TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Provisions Title II: Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Title III: Assistance for Public Broadcasting Facilities Title IV: National Telecommunications and Information Administration Title V: National Endowment for Children’s Educational Television Title VI: Peacesat Program National Telecommunications and Information Administration Authorization Act of 1994 - Title I: General Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce, in order to facilitate the development of the national telecommunications and information infrastructure (NTII), to establish and maintain as separate Federal assistance programs: (1) a program for NTII projects which enhance the delivery of diverse social services to the public and support the formulation of a nationwide infrastructure of various information technologies; and (2) a program for public broadcasting projects which extend the delivery of public broadcasting services to as many U.S. citizens as possible, increase the provision of such services for minorities, native Americans, and women, and strengthen the capability of existing public broadcasting entities to provide public broadcasting services to the public. Title II: Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure - Amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to add provisions concerning Federal assistance for telecommunications and information infrastructure development through matching grants. Directs such grants to be used to: (1) expand telecommunications networks or systems for health care providers, educational institutions, research facilities, libraries, museums, State and local governments, public safety services, and other social service and public information providers; (2) enhance the ability of such entities to access existing and new sources of information; (3) improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of social services to urban and rural citizens; (4) s Latest action (1994-03-01): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce.
Why this matters
NTIA authorization bills bundle a set of recurring telecom-policy levers — grants to wire public institutions, public broadcasting facility construction aid, and educational programming support — that shape which non-carrier institutions get federal help building out communications infrastructure. Tracking even unenacted vehicles like the 1994 bill shows the lineage of programs (TIIAP, PTFP, ready-to-learn TV) that later shifted between authorization and appropriations. It also documents how often NTIA has operated without a fresh authorization, relying on appropriations riders instead.