VICKY HARTZLER 
COMMITIEE ON ARMED SERVICES 
COMMITIEE ON AGRICULTURE 
COMMITIEE ON THE BUDGET 
www.HARTZLER.HOUSE.GOv 
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WaS'bmgton, ZD<C 20515- 2504 
The Honorable Tom Wheeler 
Chairman 
Federal Communications Commission 
445 121h Street, SW 
Washington, DC 20536 
Dear Chairman Wheeler: 
August I , 2014 ~ Z 0 
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1023 LONGWORTH BUilDING 
WASIIIN(.TON, D.C. 20515 
(2021 225 2876 
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COlUMBIA, MO 65201 
(5731 442 9311 
1909 NORTH COMMERCIAL 5THl U 
HAAAISONVILLI, MO 64701 
(8161884 3411 
219 NORTH ADAMS AVENUE 
LEBANON, MO 65536 
(4171 532 5582 
415 SouTH OHIO, Sum 2128 
51 DALIA, MO 65301 
(5731 442 9311 
The rural communities located in my Congressional District rely on broadband Internet access as 
a tool to build businesses, apply for jobs, enhance educational opportunities and connect to 
friends and relatives. With this in mind, I write to emphasize how important it is to ensure that 
the final details of Phase II of the Connect America Fund (CAF II) live up to its promise. 
CAF II offers a tremendous opportunity to bring faster broadband connections to millions of 
Americans who wouldn't otherwise receive these benefits. Thanks to the Federal 
Communication Commission's (FCC) well-publicized efforts, thousands of rural communities 
are now counting on CAF II. And because CAF 11 represents the final phase of Universal Service 
reform for these areas, the FCC's rules will effectively determine whether millions of rural 
residents have a broadband connection or not. 
To the FCC's credit, the June 10 Further Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (FNPRM) identifies a 
number of constructive ideas that could help achieve the speedier network goals without 
exceeding the CAF II annual budget. Indeed, the FNPRM has also raised hopes further by more 
than doubling the promised download speeds from 4 Mbps to 1 0 Mbps. However, I am 
concerned that if the FCC more than doubles the speed requirements without allowing the 
appropriate level of flexibility in other elements of CAF II, the program's overall mission could 
be endangered. 
The CAF II funding period must be extended from the current 5 years to 10 years in order to 
allow adequate time for the construction of the higher-capacity network. Further, the FCC also 
must establish network build-out parameters consistent with the goal of providing quality 
broadband service to as many people as possible within CAF's limited funding framework. As 
such, providers must be given the flexibility to substitute extremely high-cost locations with 
unserved locations in partially-served census blocks. 
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER 
Despite the FCC's efforts to overcome the digital divide, I still often hear from constituents 
seeking assistance to bring broadband service to their homes. The concerns they raise are a 
reminder of how challenging rural broadband policy can be, but also how important it is. Thank 
you for considering my concerns, and I look forward to working with you. 
1/~ 
Vicky Hartzler 
Member of Congress