In enacting legislation that impacts on rural areas or is directly related to telecommunications, Congress has rarely considered the role of communications in rural development. Neither the House nor the Senate Agriculture Committees considered the role of telecommunications in drafting the 1972 Rural Development Act. While no specific provisions for telecommunications were included in the Act, the Farmers Home Administration approved a loan for a broadband communications system under Title I, Section 102 regarding Community Facility Loans. Although the needs addressed in the 1976 Educational Broadcasting Facilities and Telecommunications Act were not specifically rural, experiments in using satellite communications for educational purposes were conducted. The 1975 Regional Development Act provided for demonstration projects in health, nutrition, and vocational and technical education. Yet, there was no explicit intention for telecommunications to be included in these projects. This lack of attention appears to be a matter of oversight rather than one of deliberate exclusion. While there have been numerous broadband communications experimental projects involving different rural areas, most have started with technology rather than program. Without a clear Congressional mandate, it is highly unlikely that a coordinated systematic approach will evolve using broadband communications technology to serve rural people. (Author/NQ)