[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 132 (Wednesday, November 17, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H9868-H9869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY HIGH-END COMPUTING REVITALIZATION ACT OF 2004

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in 
the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 4516) to require the Secretary 
of Energy to carry out a program of research and development to advance 
high-end computing.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Senate amendment:
       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

        This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Energy High-
     End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

        In this Act:
       (1) Center.--The term ``Center'' means a High-End Software 
     Development Center established under section 3(d).
       (2) 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.
       (3) 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.
       (4) 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)).
       (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Energy, acting through the Director of the Office of 
     Science of the Department of Energy.

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

       (a) In General.--The Secretary shall--
       (1) carry out a program of research and development 
     (including development of software and hardware) to advance 
     high-end computing systems; and
       (2) develop and deploy high-end computing 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 of 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 Nuclear Security 
     Administration, the National Security Agency, the National 
     Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space 
     Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration, the National Institutes 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 1 or more 
     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 to Leadership Systems, on a 
     competitive, merit-reviewed basis, access to researchers in 
     United States industry, institutions of higher education, 
     national laboratories, and other Federal agencies.
       (d) High-End Software Development Center.--
       (1) In general.--As part of the program carried out under 
     this Act, the Secretary shall establish at least 1 High-End 
     Software Development Center.
       (2) Duties.--A Center shall concentrate efforts to develop, 
     test, maintain, and support optimal algorithms, programming 
     environments, tools, languages, and operating systems for 
     high-end computing systems.
       (3) Proposals.--In soliciting proposals for the Center, the 
     Secretary shall encourage staffing arrangements that include 
     both permanent staff and a rotating staff of researchers from 
     other institutions and industry to assist in coordination of 
     research efforts and promote technology transfer to the 
     private sector.
       (4) Use of expertise.--The Secretary shall use the 
     expertise of a Center to assess research and development in 
     high-end computing system architecture.
       (5) Selection.--The selection of a Center shall be 
     determined by a competitive proposal process administered by 
     the Secretary.

     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. 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) in subsection (a) and paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
     subsection (b), by striking ``and the National Aeronautics 
     and Space Administration'' and inserting ``, the National 
     Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Department of 
     Energy'';
       (2) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ``Administration, 
     and'' and inserting ``Administration, the Secretary of 
     Energy, '';
       (3) in subsection (c)--
       (A) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking ``5'' and 
     inserting ``4'';
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (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:
       ``(3) 3 members selected by the Secretary of Energy; 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 that engage in related research 
     activities''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     take effect on March 15, 2005.

     SEC. 6. REMOVAL OF SUNSET PROVISION FROM SAVINGS IN 
                   CONSTRUCTION ACT OF 1996.

        Section 14 of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15 U.S.C. 
     205l) is amended by striking subsection (e).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).


                             General Leave

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on the Senate amendment to H.R. 4516, the 
bill now under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, when we think of how computers affect our lives, we 
probably think of the work we do on our office desktop machines, or 
maybe the Internet surfing we do in our spare time. We do not normally 
think of the enormous contribution that supercomputers, also called 
high-performance computers, make to the world around us.
  These powerful machines are used in the development of 
pharmaceuticals, in modeling the earth's climate, and in applications 
critical to ensuring our national and homeland security and our 
economic competitiveness. High-performance computers also are central 
to maintaining U.S. leadership in many scientific fields. Computational 
science complements theory and experimentation in fields such as plasma 
physics and fusion, astrophysics, nuclear physics and genomics.
  The bill currently under consideration, H.R. 4516, spells out in 
detail the research and development the Department of Energy should be 
doing to help

[[Page H9869]]

ensure that America remains a leader in the development and use of 
supercomputers. More specifically, H.R. 4516 does three things.
  First, it requires the Secretary of Energy to establish and operate 
high-end computing facilities involving leadership-class machines that 
are among the most elite in the world.
  Second, this bill directs the Secretary to conduct advanced 
scientific and engineering research and development using these 
leadership class systems, and to continue to advance the capabilities 
of high-end computing hardware and software.
  Finally, the bill requires that these computing facilities be made 
available on a competitive, peer-reviewed basis to researchers from 
U.S. industry, institutions of higher learning, national laboratories 
and other Federal agencies.
  Mr. Speaker, dramatic scientific and commercial breakthroughs will 
require us to increase computing power by a factor of 100 or, in some 
cases, by a factor of 1,000. While attaining these increases may seem 
daunting, the history of computer development has taught us that, with 
a sustained commitment to research, such gains are within our reach.
  That is why Energy Secretary Abraham announced last summer the 
selection of a team, including Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge 
National Laboratory, IBM, Cray and other partners, to develop and build 
a new, high-end computing facility.
  H.R. 4516 complements and supports this DOE initiative and ensures 
that the department can fulfill its responsibility to help lead the 
Federal Government's supercomputing R&D efforts.
  The Senate passed this bill by unanimous consent last month, and in 
July the House passed a similar version by voice vote. I urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation again and send it to the 
President's desk so that the United States can maintain its distinction 
as home to the world's most powerful computer.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4516, the Department of Energy 
High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004.
  I had the pleasure of working on this legislation with my esteemed 
colleague across the aisle, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. 
Biggert), who does an excellent job on the Committee on Science, and I 
look forward to having more opportunities to work with her on other 
important policy goals that we are able to impact at the Committee on 
Science.
  The bill authorizes research and development activities at the 
Department of Energy to provide for the design, the development and the 
deployment of powerful computing systems, including both hardware and 
software. It will lead to the development of the computational tools 
needed for solving the most demanding science and engineering problems. 
The activities authorized will constitute part of the ongoing 
interagency information technology research and development program 
established by the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991.
  H.R. 4516 will build on the demonstrated expertise of the Department 
of Energy in advancing the technology needed for designing and building 
the most powerful scientific computing systems in the world.
  Equally important, the bill provides for the development and 
deployment of leadership-class computing systems, such as the system 
recently announced for installation at the Oak Ridge National 
Laboratory, which will provide access on a competitive basis for the 
research community in the United States.
  The effect of the bill will be to put into the hands of researchers 
the tools they need to attack the most challenging problems in science 
and engineering, as well as to accelerate the development of the 
computing tools needed to underpin industrial competitiveness and our 
national defense.
  Finally, H.R. 4516 will help to implement the Federal plan for high-
end computing that was released earlier this year by the Office of 
Science and Technology Policy.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend this legislative measure to my colleagues and 
recommend its passage by the House, as amended by the other body.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to conclude this debate by recognizing the bill's cosponsors, 
the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis) and the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Gordon), and thank them for their efforts in support of 
this legislation.
  I also would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert) 
for holding a Science Committee hearing last May to review our Federal 
investment in high-end computing. The hearing was a success. We 
received positive feedback on this legislation from a number of experts 
on high-performance computing who testified before the committee.
  I also would like to acknowledge the U.S. supercomputing industry for 
its impressive accomplishments. I congratulate IBM for its new Blue 
Gene/L supercomputer, which was recognized just last week as the 
fastest computer in the world. The Blue Gene/L is faster than Japan's 
Earth Simulator, which held the world record in computing speed for 
nearly 3 years. With passage of this bill, the DOE can work closely 
with IBM and other industry leaders like Cray and Silicon Graphics 
Incorporated as well as academia to ensure that the United States 
continues to be home to the world's fastest supercomputer for years to 
come.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) that the House suspend the 
rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 4516.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was 
concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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