mission, the Farm Credit Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 1, the Federal Election Commission, the Election Assistance Commission, the Federal Housing Finance Board, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the Federal Maritime Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Legal Services Corporation, the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Credit Union Administration, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Labor Relations Board, the National Science Foundation, the Panama Canal Commission, the Peace Corps, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Smithsonian Institution, the United States International Trade Commission, and the United States Postal Service;

(3) the term "head of the Federal entity" means any person or persons designated by statute as the head of a Federal entity, and if no such designation exists, the chief policymaking officer or board of a Federal entity as identified in the list published pursuant to subsection (h)(1) of this section;

(4) the term "head of the designated Federal entity" means any person or persons designated by statute as the head of a designated Federal entity and if no such designation exists, the chief policymaking officer or board of a designated Federal entity as identified in the list published pursuant to subsection (h)(1) of this section, except that

(A) with respect to the National Science Foundation, such term means the National Science Board; and

(B) with respect to the United States Postal Service, such term means the Governors (within the meaning of section 102(3) of title 39, United States Code);

(5) the term "Office of Inspector General" means an Office of Inspector General of a designated Federal entity; and

(6) the term "Inspector General” means an Inspector General of a designated Federal entity.

(b) No later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, there shall be established and maintained in each designated Federal entity an Office of Inspector General. The head of the designated Federal entity shall transfer to such office the offices, units, or other components, and the functions, powers, or duties thereof, that such head determines are properly related to the functions of the Office of Inspector General and would, if so transferred, further the purposes of this section. There shall not be transferred to such office any program operating responsibilities.

(c) Except as provided under subsection (f) of this section, the Inspector General shall be appointed by the head of the designated Federal entity in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations governing appointments within the designated Federal entity.

(d) Each Inspector General shall report to and be under the general supervision of the head of the designated Federal entity, but shall not report to, or be subject to supervision by, any other

1 The words "the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation" probably should be omitted in section 8G(2) to reflect the probable intent of the amendment made by section 23(a)(4) of the Resolution Trust Corporation Completion Act (P.L. 103-204; 107 Stat. 2408), which amended section 8F, rather than 8G, by striking out those words.

officer or employee of such designated Federal entity. The head of the designated Federal entity shall not prevent or prohibit the Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation, or from issuing any subpena during the course of any audit or investigation.

(e) If an Inspector General is removed from office or is transferred to another position or location within a designated Federal entity, the head of the designated Federal entity shall promptly communicate in writing the reasons for any such removal or transfer to both Houses of the Congress.

(f)(1) For purposes of carrying out subsection (c) with respect to the United States Postal Service, the appointment provisions of section 202(e) of title 39, United States Code, shall be applied.

(2) In carrying out the duties and responsibilities specified in this Act, the Inspector General of the United States Postal Service (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the "Inspector General") shall have oversight responsibility for all activities of the Postal Inspection Service, including any internal investigation performed by the Postal Inspection Service. The Chief Postal Inspector shall promptly report the significant activities being carried out by the Postal Inspection Service to such Inspector General.

(3)(A)(i) Notwithstanding subsection (d), the Inspector General shall be under the authority, direction, and control of the Governors with respect to audits or investigations, or the issuance of subpoenas, which require access to sensitive information

concerning

(I) ongoing civil or criminal investigations or proceedings; (II) undercover operations;

(III) the identity of confidential sources, including protected witnesses;

(IV) intelligence or counterintelligence matters; or

(V) other matters the disclosure of which would constitute

a serious threat to national security.

(ii) With respect to the information described under clause (i), the Governors may prohibit the Inspector General from carrying out or completing any audit or investigation, or from issuing any subpoena, after such Inspector General has decided to initiate, carry out, or complete such audit or investigation or to issue such subpoena, if the Governors determine that such prohibition is necessary to prevent the disclosure of any information described under clause (i) or to prevent the significant impairment to the national interests of the United States.

(iii) If the Governors exercise any power under clause (i) or (ii), the Governors shall notify the Inspector General in writing stating the reasons for such exercise. Within 30 days after receipt of any such notice, the Inspector General shall transmit a copy of such notice to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives, and to other appropriate committees or subcommittees of the Congress.

(B) In carrying out the duties and responsibilities specified in this Act, the Inspector General

(i) may initiate, conduct and supervise such audits and investigations in the United States Postal Service as the Inspector General considers appropriate; and

(ii) shall give particular regard to the activities of the Postal Inspection Service with a view toward avoiding duplication and insuring effective coordination and cooperation.

(C) Any report required to be transmitted by the Governors to the appropriate committees or subcommittees of the Congress under section 5(d) shall also be transmitted, within the seven-day period specified under such section, to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives.

(3) Nothing in this Act shall restrict, eliminate, or otherwise adversely affect any of the rights, privileges, or benefits of either employees of the United States Postal Service, or labor organizations representing employees of the United States Postal Service, under chapter 12 of title 39, United States Code, the National Labor Relations Act, any handbook or manual affecting employee labor relations with the United States Postal Service, or any collective bargaining agreement.

(4) As used in this subsection, the term "Governors" has the meaning given such term by section 102(3) of title 39, United States Code.

(g)(1) Sections 4, 5, 6 (other than subsections (a)(7) and (a)(8) thereof), and 7 of this Act shall apply to each Inspector General and Office of Inspector General of a designated Federal entity and such sections shall be applied to each designated Federal entity and head of the designated Federal entity (as defined under subsection (a)) by substituting—

(A) "designated Federal entity" for "establishment"; and (B) "head of the designated Federal entity" for "head of the establishment".

(2) In addition to the other authorities specified in this Act, an Inspector General is authorized to select, appoint, and employ such officers and employees as may be necessary for carrying out the functions, powers, and duties of the Office of Inspector General and to obtain the temporary or intermittent services of experts or consultants or an organization thereof, subject to the applicable laws and regulations that govern such selections, appointments, and employment, and the obtaining of such services, within the designated Federal entity.

(3) Notwithstanding the last sentence of subsection (d) of this section, the provisions of subsection (a) of section 8C (other than the provisions of subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (E) of subsection (a)(1)) shall apply to the Inspector General of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in the same manner as such provisions apply to the Inspector General of the Department of the Treasury and the Secretary of the Treasury, respectively.

(h)(1) No later than April 30, 1989, and annually thereafter, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, after consultation with the Comptroller General of the United States, shall publish in the Federal Register a list of the Federal entities and designated Federal entities and the head of each such entity (as defined under subsection (a) of this section).

(2) Beginning on October 31, 1989, and on October 31 of each succeeding calendar year, the head of each Federal entity (as de

fined under subsection (a) of this section) shall prepare and transmit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and to each House of the Congress a report which

(A) states whether there has been established in the Federal entity an office that meets the requirements of this section;

(B) specifies the actions taken by the Federal entity otherwise to ensure that audits are conducted of its programs and operations in accordance with the standards for audit of governmental organizations, programs, activities, and functions issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and includes a list of each audit report completed by a Federal or non-Federal auditor during the reporting period and a summary of any particularly significant findings; and

(C) summarizes any matters relating to the personnel, programs, and operations of the Federal entity referred to prosecutive authorities, including a summary description of any preliminary investigation conducted by or at the request of the Federal entity concerning these matters, and the prosecutions and convictions which have resulted.

TITLE VI OF THE RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ACT OF 1936

TITLE VI-RURAL BROADBAND ACCESS

SEC. 601. [7 U.S.C. 950bb] ACCESS TO BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS.

(a) PURPOSE.-The purpose of this section is to provide loans and loan guarantees to provide funds for the costs of the construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities and equipment for broadband service in eligible rural communities.

(b) DEFINITIONS.-In this section:

(1) BROADBAND SERVICE. The term "broadband service" means any technology identified by the Secretary as having the capacity to transmit data to enable a subscriber to the service to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video.

(2) ELIGIBLE RURAL COMMUNITY.-The term "eligible rural community" means any incorporated or unincorporated place that

(A) has not more than 20,000 inhabitants, based on the most recent available population statistics of the Bureau of the Census; and

(B) is not located in an area designated as a standard metropolitan statistical area.

(c) LOANS AND LOAN GUARANTEES.

(1) IN GENERAL.-The Secretary shall make or guarantee loans to eligible entities described in subsection (d) to provide funds for the construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment for the provision of broadband service in eligible rural communities.

(2) PRIORITY. In making or guaranteeing loans under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to eligible rural communities in which broadband service is not available to residential customers.

(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.

(1) IN GENERAL.-To be eligible to obtain a loan or loan guarantee under this section, an entity shall

(A) have the ability to furnish, improve, or extend a broadband service to an eligible rural community; and

(B) submit to the Secretary a proposal for a project that meets the requirements of this section.

(2) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.-A State or local government (including any agency, subdivision, or instrumentality thereof (including consortia thereof)) shall be eligible for a loan or loan guarantee under this section to provide broadband services to an eligible rural community only if, not later than 90 days after the Administrator has promulgated regulations