Washington (CNN Business) A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is proposing to give small and rural wireless network operators $1 billion to tear out telecom gear produced by Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese providers that US officials consider a national security risk.

Draft legislation released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday would allocate the money to operators with fewer than 2 million subscribers, targeting the dozens of smaller telecom companies nationwide that have integrated the Chinese-made equipment into their mobile networks.

The bill shows how federal policymakers are still grappling with a major challenge: How to effectively ban Chinese telecommunications companies from the US market without harming the small businesses who depend on that gear for its reliability and affordability.

US officials have long believed Huawei equipment could be used by China to spy on sensitive Western communications, a claim Huawei strongly denies.

"Our telecommunications companies rely heavily on equipment manufactured and provided by foreign companies that, in some cases, as with companies such as Huawei and its affiliates, can pose a significant threat to America's commercial and security interests," said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, along with Reps. Greg Walden, Doris Matsui and Brett Guthrie, in a statement.

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