[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4516 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 4516


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 8, 2004

   Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To require the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program of research 
             and development to advance high-end computing.

    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 ``Department of Energy High-End 
Computing Revitalization Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) High-end computing system.--The term ``high-end 
        computing system'' means a computing system with performance 
        that substantially exceeds that of systems that are commonly 
        available for advanced scientific and engineering applications.
            (2) Leadership system.--The term ``Leadership System'' 
        means a high-end computing system that is among the most 
        advanced in the world in terms of performance in solving 
        scientific and engineering problems.
            (3) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.

SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY HIGH-END COMPUTING RESEARCH AND 
              DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a program of 
research and development (involving software and hardware) to advance 
high-end computing systems, and shall develop and deploy such systems 
for advanced scientific and engineering applications.
    (b) Program.--The program shall--
            (1) support both individual investigators and 
        multidisciplinary teams of investigators;
            (2) conduct research in multiple architectures, which may 
        include vector, reconfigurable logic, streaming, processor-in-
        memory, and multithreading architectures;
            (3) conduct research on software for high-end computing 
        systems, including research on algorithms, programming 
        environments, tools, languages, and operating systems for high-
        end computing systems, in collaboration with architecture 
        development efforts;
            (4) provide for sustained access by the research community 
        in the United States to high-end computing systems and to 
        Leadership Systems, including provision for technical support 
        for users of such systems;
            (5) support technology transfer to the private sector and 
        others in accordance with applicable law; and
            (6) ensure that the high-end computing activities of the 
        Department of Energy are coordinated with relevant activities 
        in industry and with other Federal agencies, including the 
        National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research 
        Projects Agency, the National Security Agency, the National 
        Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration, the National Institute of Standards and 
        Technology, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
    (c) Leadership Systems Facilities.--
            (1) In general.--As part of the program carried out under 
        this Act, the Secretary shall establish and operate Leadership 
        Systems facilities to--
                    (A) conduct advanced scientific and engineering 
                research and development using Leadership Systems; and
                    (B) develop potential advancements in high-end 
                computing system hardware and software.
            (2) Administration.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
        Secretary shall provide access to Leadership Systems on a 
        competitive, merit-reviewed basis to researchers in United 
        States industry, institutions of higher education, national 
        laboratories, and other Federal agencies.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    In addition to amounts otherwise made available for high-end 
computing, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to 
carry out this Act--
            (1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
            (2) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and
            (3) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.

SEC. 5. SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.

    In carrying out its programs on the social, economic, legal, 
ethical, and cultural implications of information technology, the 
National Science Foundation shall support research into the 
implications of computers (including both hardware and software) that 
would be capable of mimicking human abilities to learn, reason, and 
make decisions.

SEC. 6. ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Amendments.--Section 23 of the National Science Foundation 
Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n-9) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration'' each place it appears in subsections (a) and 
        (b) and inserting ``, the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration, and the Department of Energy'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting ``the Secretary of 
        Energy,'' after ``the Administrator of the National Aeronautics 
        and Space Administration,'';
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``5'' in each of paragraphs (1) and 
                (2) and inserting ``4'';
                    (B) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph 
                (2);
                    (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph 
                (4), and in that paragraph by striking ``3'' and 
                inserting ``2''; and
                    (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following 
                new paragraph:
            ``(3) 3 members selected by the Secretary of Energy; and''; 
        and
            (4) in subsection (f), by striking ``the advisory bodies of 
        other Federal agencies, such as the Department of Energy, which 
        may engage in related research activities'' and inserting 
        ``other Federal advisory committees that advise Federal 
        agencies which engage in related research activities''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on March 15, 2005.

SEC. 7. REMOVAL OF SUNSET PROVISION FROM SAVINGS IN CONSTRUCTION ACT OF 
              1996.

    Section 14(e) of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15 U.S.C. 
205l(e)) is repealed.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 7, 2004.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.