[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3332 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3332

   To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 to authorize 
 appropriations for fiscal years 1999 and 2000 for the Next Generation 
Internet program, to require the Advisory Committee on High-Performance 
  Computing and Communications, Information Technology, and the Next 
     Generation Internet to monitor and give advice concerning the 
development and implementation of the Next Generation Internet program 
and report to the President and the Congress on its activities, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 4, 1998

Mr. Sensenbrenner (for himself and Mr. Brown of California) introduced 
   the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 to authorize 
 appropriations for fiscal years 1999 and 2000 for the Next Generation 
Internet program, to require the Advisory Committee on High-Performance 
  Computing and Communications, Information Technology, and the Next 
     Generation Internet to monitor and give advice concerning the 
development and implementation of the Next Generation Internet program 
and report to the President and the Congress on its activities, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Next Generation Internet Research 
Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    (a) In General.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) United States leadership in science and technology has 
        been vital to the Nation's prosperity, national and economic 
        security, and international competitiveness, and there is every 
        reason to believe that maintaining this tradition will lead to 
        long-term continuation of United States strategic advantages in 
        information technology;
            (2) the United States investment in science and technology 
        has yielded a scientific and engineering enterprise without 
        peer, and that Federal investment in research is critical to 
        the maintenance of United States leadership;
            (3) previous Federal investment in computer networking 
        technology and related fields has resulted in the creation of 
        new industries and new jobs in the United States;
            (4) the Internet is playing an increasingly important role 
        in keeping citizens informed of the actions of their 
        government; and
            (5) continued inter-agency cooperation is necessary to 
        avoid wasteful duplication in Federal networking research and 
        development programs.
    (b) Additional Findings for the 1991 Act.--Section 2 of the High-
Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5501) is amended by--
            (1) striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
            ``(4) A high-capacity, flexible, high-speed national 
        research and education computer network is needed to provide 
        researchers and educators with access to computational and 
        information resources, act as a test bed for further research 
        and development for high-capacity and high-speed computer 
        networks, and provide researchers the necessary vehicle for 
        continued network technology improvement through research.''; 
        and
            (2) adding at the end thereof the following:
            ``(7) Additional research must be undertaken to lay the 
        foundation for the development of new applications that can 
        result in economic growth, improved health care, and improved 
        educational opportunities.
            ``(8) Research in new networking technologies holds the 
        promise of easing the economic burdens of information access 
disproportionately borne by rural users of the Internet.
            ``(9) Information security is an important part of 
        computing, information, and communications systems and 
        applications, and research into security architectures is a 
        critical aspect of computing, information, and communications 
        research programs.''.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    (a) In General.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to authorize, through the High-Performance Computing 
        Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.), research programs related 
        to--
                    (A) high-end computing and computation;
                    (B) human-centered systems;
                    (C) high confidence systems; and
                    (D) education, training, and human resources; and
            (2) to provide, through the High-Performance Computing Act 
        of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.), for the development and 
        coordination of a comprehensive and integrated United States 
        research program which will--
                    (A) focus on the research and development of a 
                coordinated set of technologies that seeks to create a 
                network infrastructure that can support greater speed, 
                robustness, and flexibility than is currently available 
                and promote connectivity and interoperability among 
                advanced computer networks of Federal agencies and 
                departments;
                    (B) focus on research in technology that may result 
                in high-speed data access for users that is both 
                economically viable and does not impose a geographic 
                penalty; and
                    (C) encourage researchers to pursue approaches to 
                networking technology that lead to maximally flexible 
                and extensible solutions wherever feasible.
    (b) Modification of Purposes of the 1991 Act.--Section 3 of the 
High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5502) is amended by--
            (1) striking the section caption and inserting the 
        following:

``SEC. 3. PURPOSES.'';

            (2) striking ``purpose of this Act is'' and inserting 
        ``purposes of this Act are'';
            (3) striking subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) and 
        redesignating subparagraphs (B) through (I) as subparagraphs 
        (A) through (H), respectively;
            (4) striking ``Network'' and inserting ``Internet'' in 
        paragraph (1)(B), as so redesignated by paragraph (3) of this 
        subsection;
            (5) striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (1)(H), as so 
        redesignated by paragraph (3) of this subsection;
            (6) striking the period at the end of paragraph (2) and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (7) adding at the end thereof the following:
            ``(3) promoting the more rapid development and wider 
        distribution of networking management and development tools; 
        and
            ``(4) promoting the rapid adoption of open network 
        standards.''.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Elements.--Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 
101(a)(2) of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C 
5511(a)(2)(A) and (B)) are amended to read as follows:
            ``(A) provide for the development of technologies to 
        advance the capacity and capabilities of the Internet;
            ``(B) provide for high performance testbed networks to 
        develop and demonstrate advanced networking technologies and to 
        develop and demonstrate advanced applications made possible by 
        the existence of such testbed networks;''.
    (b) Advisory Committee.--Section 101(b) of the High-Performance 
Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C 5511(b)) is amended by striking ``High-
Performance Computing'' in the subsection heading.

SEC. 5. NEXT GENERATION INTERNET.

    Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C 
5511 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 103. NEXT GENERATION INTERNET.

    ``(a) Establishment.--As part of the Program, the National Science 
Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the 
Department of Commerce, the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, and other agencies participating in the Program are 
authorized to support the Next Generation Internet program. The 
objectives of the Next Generation Internet program shall be to--
            ``(1) support research, development, and demonstration of 
        advanced networking technologies to increase the capabilities 
        and improve the performance of the Internet;
            ``(2) develop an advanced testbed network connecting a 
        significant number of research sites, including universities, 
        Federal research institutions, and other appropriate research 
        partner institutions, to support networking research and to 
        demonstrate new networking technologies; and
            ``(3) develop and demonstrate advanced Internet 
        applications that meet important national goals or agency 
        mission needs, and that are supported by the activities 
        described in paragraphs (1) and (2).
    ``(b) Duties of Advisory Committee.--The Advisory Committee on 
High-Performance Computing and Communications, Information Technology, 
and the Next Generation Internet, established pursuant to section 
101(b) by Executive Order No. 13035 of February 11, 1997 (62 F.R. 
7131), in addition to its functions under section 101(b), shall--
            ``(1) assess the extent to which the Next Generation 
        Internet program--
                    ``(A) carries out the purposes of this Act; and
                    ``(B) addresses concerns relating to, among other 
                matters--
                            ``(i) geographic penalties (as defined in 
                        section 6(1) of the Next Generation Internet 
                        Research Act of 1998); and
                            ``(ii) technology transfer to and from the 
                        private sector;
            ``(2) assess the extent to which the role of each Federal 
        agency and department involved in implementing the Next 
        Generation Internet program is clear and complementary to, and 
        non-duplicative of, the roles of other participating agencies 
        and departments; and
            ``(3) make recommendations relating to its findings under 
        paragraphs (1) and (2).
    ``(b) Reports.--The Advisory Committee shall assess implementation 
of the Next Generation Internet program and shall report, not less 
frequently than annually, to the President, the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and the Committee on Science 
of the House of Representatives on its findings and recommendations for 
the preceding fiscal year. The first such report shall be submitted 6 
months after the date of enactment of the Next Generation Internet 
Research Act of 1998 and the last report shall be submitted by 
September 30, 2000.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated for the purposes of this section $110,000,000 for fiscal 
year 1999 and $115,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.''.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) Geographic penalty.--The term ``geographic penalty'' 
        means the imposition of costs on users of the Internet in rural 
        or other locations, attributable to the distance of the user 
        from network facilities or the low population density of the 
        area in which the user is located, that are substantially 
        greater than the costs imposed on users in locations closer to 
        such facilities or on users in locations with significantly 
        greater population density.
            (2) Internet.--The term ``Internet'' means the 
        international computer network of both Federal and non-Federal 
        interoperable packet switched data networks.
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