PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · May 17, 2000
Digital Bridge Trust Fund Act - Amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to establish in the Treasury the Digital Bridge Trust Fund. Appropriates to the Fund 100 percent of the amounts received by the Treasury after FY 2000 as taxes on communications required under the Internal Revenue Code.Establishes in the Department of Commerce the Board of Trustees of the Digital Bridge Trust Fund to make decisions with respect to allocations authorized under this Act. Requires the Board to submit annual reports to the President and Congress regarding its activities.Requires the Board to ensure that assistance provided herein is: (1) made available for the benefit of rural and urban areas and Native Americans in a manner that targets such assistance for areas, communities, and populations that are underserved with respect to information technology needs, employment, and education; and (2) appropriately allocated. Directs the Board to make such assistance available for FY 2001 through 2010 for: (1) teacher training; (2) community technology centers; (3) neighborhood network learning centers; (4) the Technology Development Fund; (5) the Technology Opportunity Program; (6) rural, urban, and Native American technology training; (7) broadband network deployment; (8) the Home Internet Access Program; and (9) the Falling Through the Net survey (to determine the extent to which Americans have access to telephones, computers, and the Internet). Allows excess amounts to be allocated at the Board's discretion. Authorizes the Board, in any of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to reduce the amounts of assistance provided during the first five years.Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 through 2010. Repeals this Act on October 1, 2010.Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce from 3 to 1.5 percent, as of October 1, 2000, the excise tax on telephone and other communications services. Expresses the sense of Congress that providers of communications services should not increase service rates based upon such reduction.
People & committees
Rep. Towns, Edolphus [D-NY-10] · D–NY
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Ground Transportation.
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 20, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.4477 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.4477 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.4477 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.4477 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.