[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 717 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 717

           Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the internet.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 20, 2019

   Ms. Eshoo (for herself and Mr. Collins of Georgia) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
           Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the internet.

Whereas October 29, 2019, was the 50th anniversary of the first message sent 
        from one computer to another using the Advanced Research Projects Agency 
        Network (referred to in this preamble as the ``ARPANET''), a pioneering 
        predecessor to the internet;
Whereas, on October 29, 1969, researchers using the SDS Sigma 7 Host computer in 
        room 3240 of Boelter Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles 
        (referred to in this preamble as ``UCLA''), sent the first ever digital 
        data transmission to researchers using the SDS 940 Host computer at the 
        Stanford Research Institute on the ARPANET;
Whereas the internet evolved in the last 50 years from an academic and 
        governmental endeavor to the greatest communications network in the 
        history of humanity, improving commerce, communications, entertainment, 
        transportation, and so many parts of our economy and society;
Whereas the internet contributes more than $1 trillion of Gross Domestic Product 
        and 3 million jobs to the United States economy annually; and
Whereas the internet developed by efforts from every sector, including--

    (1) Congress for funding the ARPANET and other networks and 
commercializing the internet;

    (2) Federal agencies, including--

    G    (A) the Department of Defense through the Advanced Research 
Projects Agency (now the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) for 
funding and administering the ARPANET and other networks and developing 
network protocols;

    G    (B) the National Science Foundation for funding and administering 
the Computer Science Network (CSNET), the National Science Foundation 
Network (NSFNET), and other networks;

    G    (C) the Department of Commerce through the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration for its leadership role 
in managing multistakeholder technical bodies; and

    G    (D) the Federal Communications Commission in encouraging adoption 
and improving access to the internet;

    (3) State, local, and Tribal governments for encouraging connectivity 
and deploying infrastructure;

    (4) universities and research institutions for playing a critical role 
in development of the technologies underpinning the internet, including--

    G    (A) for hosting the first four nodes of the ARPANET--

        G    (i) UCLA;

        G    (ii) the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International);

        G    (iii) the University of California, Santa Barbara; and

        G    (iv) the University of Utah;

    G    (B) the RAND Corporation; and

    G    (C) countless other universities, think tanks, and independent 
researchers;

    (5) private companies and nonprofit organizations, including those 
that--

    G    (A) enable fixed and mobile internet connectivity by deploying 
infrastructure, including--

        G    (i) coaxial, copper, and fiberoptic cables for backbone, 
submarine, middle-mile, backhaul, and to-the-home services;

        G    (ii) radio and broadcast towers and small cell sites;

        G    (iii) satellite earth stations;

        G    (iv) routers, modems, switches, and connectivity equipment; 
and

        G    (v) internet exchanges;

    G    (B) produce and sell computers, smartphones, and other devices 
that connect to the internet;

    G    (C) develop software to administer and access email, the world 
wide web, and other internet applications;

    G    (D) provide websites, applications, and other software for 
communications, commerce, education, entertainment, employment, and so many 
other parts of our lives;

    G    (E) provide cybersecurity services to protect networks, devices, 
applications, and software; and

    G    (F) enable internet companies through business-to-business 
services; and

    (6) multistakeholder bodies for internet governance, including--

    G    (A) the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers;

    G    (B) the Internet Engineering Task Force;

    G    (C) the North American Network Operators' Group; and

    G    (D) the American Registry for Internet Numbers: Now, therefore, be 
it

    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the first internet 
        message; and
            (2) recognizes the important efforts of government, 
        universities, nonprofit organizations, private companies, and 
        multistakeholder bodies that helped in the establishment and 
        continue to aid in the growth of the internet.
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