[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 38 (Thursday, March 30, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1994-S1995]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. Craig, Mr. Schumer, and Mrs. 
        Murray):
  S. 2336. A bill to authorize funding for networking and information 
technology research and development at the Department of Energy for 
fiscal years 2001 through 2005, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


   networking and information technology research and development of 
                          energy missions act

 Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce 
the ``Networking and Information Technology Research and Development 
for Department of Energy Missions Act,'' which is cosponsored by 
Senators Craig, Schumer, and Murray.
  This bipartisan bill is in recognition of the critical contributions 
and future potential of computing programs within the Department of 
Energy's Office of Science. These programs have played a key role in 
the development of high performance computing, networking, and 
information technology. Some of their notable accomplishments have 
included: the establishment of the first national supercomputer center, 
the development of mathematical algorithm libraries for high 
performance computing, the development of a critical interface and 
other software packages to support high speed parallel interconnection 
of supercomputers, and the development of a fundamental component of 
how information is routed on the internet. Recent recognition of the 
scientists supported by this program have included: the 1998 Fernbach 
award; the 1998 Gordon Bell prize; awards for the best overall paper as 
well and the best of show award at the Supercomputing 1998 conference; 
the best paper and a number of special awards at the Supercomputing 
1999 conference, the Maxwell prize in applied mathematics, and the 2000 
Norbert Wiener Prize in applied mathematics.
  The future potential of these programs is immense and not limited to 
the computation, networking, and information sciences. There is also 
great potential for helping not only the mission needs of the 
Department of Energy but also the broader scientific community and the 
public through increased understanding of biological systems, energy 
and environmental systems, chemical, physical, and plasma systems, and 
high energy and nuclear systems. This understanding is key to our more 
efficient and environmentally friendly production and utilization of 
energy and material goods.
  The notable features of the bill include: an authorization for 
increased funding similar in scope to what is proposed in the House of 
Representatives for the National Science Foundation computational 
efforts; an open competition for funding; a collaborative program 
between DOE program offices; building partnerships between 
laboratories, universities, and industry; a focus on solutions to 
networking and information technology problems that are critical to the 
achieving DOE missions; and management of funding provided to NNSA 
laboratories administered by the sponsoring program of the Department. 
This last provision is consistent with the legislation which created 
the NNSA in that it maintains accountability for new money authorized 
by this bill in DOE civilian programs so that such funding will remain 
within the purview of civilian programs under the oversight of the 
authorizing committee for this legislation, while maintaining the 
principle that funding at laboratories under the purview of the NNSA be 
consistent with their general programmatic missions.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2336

       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 ``Networking and Information 
     Technology Research and Development for Department of Energy 
     Missions Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Department of Energy, especially in its Office of 
     Science research programs, has played a key role in the 
     development of high performance computing, networking and 
     information technology. Important contributions by the 
     Department include pioneering the concept of remote, 
     interactive

[[Page S1995]]

     access to supercomputers; developing the first interactive 
     operating system for supercomputers; establishing the first 
     national supercomputer center; laying the mathematical 
     foundations for high performance computing with numerical 
     linear algebra libraries now used by thousands of researchers 
     worldwide; leading the transition to massively parallel 
     supercomputing by developing software for parallel virtual 
     machines; and contributing to the development of the Internet 
     with software that is now used in the TCP/IP system 
     responsible for routing information packages to their correct 
     destinations.
       (2) The Department of Energy's contributions to networking 
     and information technology have played a key role in the 
     Department's ability to accomplish its statutory missions in 
     the past, in particular through the development of remote 
     access to its facilities. Continued accomplishments in these 
     areas will be needed to continue to carry out these missions 
     in the future.
       (3) The Department of Energy, through its portfolio of 
     unique facilities for scientific research including high 
     energy and nuclear physics laboratories, neutron source and 
     synchrotron facilities, and computing and communications 
     facilities such as the National Energy Research Scientific 
     Computing Center and Energy Sciences Network, has a unique 
     and vital role in advancing the scientific research, 
     networking and information technology infrastructure for the 
     nation.
       (4) The challenge of remote creation of, access to, 
     visualization of, and simulation with petabyte-scale 
     (1,000,000 gigabyte) data sets generated by experiments at 
     DOE scientific facilities is common to a number of different 
     scientific disciplines. Effective treatment of these problems 
     will likely require collaborative efforts between the 
     university, national laboratory and industrial sectors and 
     involve close interactions of the broader scientific 
     community with computational, networking and information 
     scientists.
       (5) The solution of contemporary challenges facing the 
     Department of Energy in developing and using high-performance 
     computing, networking, communications, and information 
     technologies will be of immense value to the entire nation. 
     Potential benefits include: effective earth, climate, and 
     energy systems modeling; understanding aging and fatigue 
     effects in materials crucial to energy systems; promoting 
     energy-efficient chemical production through rational 
     catalyst design; predicting the structure and functions of 
     the proteins coded by DNA and their response to chemical and 
     radiation damage; designing more efficient combustion 
     systems; and understanding turbulent flow in plasmas in 
     energy and advanced materials applications.

     SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROGRAMS.

       (a) High-Performance Computing Act Program.--Section 203(a) 
     of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 
     5523(a)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'';
       (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and inserting 
     ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding after paragraph (4) the following:
       ``(5) conduct an integrated program of research, 
     development, and provision of facilities to develop and 
     deploy to scientific and technical users the high-performance 
     computing and collaboration tools needed to fulfill the 
     statutory missions of the Department of Energy.''.
       (b) Computation, Networking and Information Technology 
     Collaborative Program.--Within the funds authorized under 
     this Act, the Secretary shall provide up to $25,000,000 in 
     each fiscal year for a program of collaborative projects 
     involving remote access to high-performance computing assets 
     or remote experimentation over network facilities. The 
     program shall give priority to cross-disciplinary projects 
     that involve more than one office within the Office of 
     Science of the Department of Energy or that couple the Office 
     of Science with Departmental energy technology offices.
       (c) Program Line Authority.--To the extent consistent with 
     their national security mission, laboratories administered by 
     the National Nuclear Security Administration may compete for 
     funding authorized in this Act to the same extent and on the 
     same terms as other Department of Energy offices and 
     laboratories. Such funding at laboratories administered by 
     the National Nuclear Security Administration shall be under 
     the direct programmatic control of the sponsoring program for 
     the funding in the Department of Energy.
       (d) Merit Review.--All grants, contracts, cooperative 
     agreements, or other financial assistance awarded under 
     programs authorized in this Act shall be made only after 
     being subject to independent merit review by the Department 
     of Energy.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 
     Energy for the purposes of carrying out section 203 of the 
     High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5523) and 
     this Act $190,000,000 for fiscal year 2001; $250,000,000 for 
     fiscal year 2002; $285,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; 
     $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and $300,000,000 for 
     fiscal year 2005.
                                 ______