FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF POLICY.

SEC. 2352. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF POLICY. (a) Findings.— The Congress finds that— (1) making modern telecommunications technology and services available in rural areas in the United States promotes economic development and improves the quality of life in rural areas; and 104 STAT. 4039 (2) the efficient operation of the Rural Telephone Bank and the Rural Electrification Administration telephone loan programs is essential to the continued development of the telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas in the United States. (b) Statement of Policy.— It is the policy of the Congress that the Rural Telephone Bank and the Rural Electrification Administration make loans that facilitate the development and enhancement of the rural telecommunications infrastructure in order to make modern telecommunications technology and services available at reasonable rates to the greatest practicable number of people in rural areas in the United States.