Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jul 30, 2024
Secure and Affordable Broadband Extension Act
This bill reauthorizes the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and provides funding for the removal and replacement of certain foreign communications equipment in telecommunications networks. (ACP provided discounted internet service to eligible low-income households until it was terminated in May 2024 due to a lapse in funding.)
Specifically, the bill reauthorizes and provides funding for ACP for FY2024. The bill makes various changes to ACP eligibility thresholds and verification, including by reducing the income threshold for eligibility under the poverty guidelines. Further, the bill requires communications providers offering the ACP benefit to use specified federal databases to verify an applicant’s eligibility, removing the existing option to use alternative verification processes. The bill specifies that families made ineligible by these changes must remain eligible for benefits for 180 days following the bill’s enactment. The bill also eliminates ACP’s one-time consumer subsidy of up to $100 toward the purchase of a connected device.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Read full official summaryShow less
The bill also provides additional funding for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (commonly known as rip and replace). (Under the program, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reimburses providers of advanced communications services for expenses incurred in the removal, replacement, and disposal of communications equipment produced or provided by Huawei Technologies Company or ZTE Corporation.)
Finally, the bill directs the FCC to reauction licenses for the use of specified electromagnetic spectrum bands primarily used by wireless communications providers.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
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.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze H.R.9193 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.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine H.R.9193 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.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine H.R.9193 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.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine H.R.9193 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.