[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 42 (Monday, March 12, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H2406-H2408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AMENDING THE HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING ACT OF 1991
Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 1068) to amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991, as
amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 1068
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15
U.S.C. 5511 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in the title heading, by striking ``AND THE NATIONAL
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORK'' and inserting ``RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT'';
(2) in section 101(a)--
(A) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1)
and inserting the following:
``(A) provide for long-term basic and applied research on
high-performance computing;
``(B) provide for research and development on, and
demonstration of, technologies to advance the capacity and
capabilities of high-performance computing and networking
systems;
``(C) provide for sustained access by the research
community in the United States to high-performance computing
systems that are among the most advanced in the world in
terms of performance in solving scientific and engineering
problems, including provision for technical support for users
of such systems;
``(D) provide for efforts to increase software
availability, productivity, capability, security,
portability, and reliability;
``(E) provide for high-performance networks, including
experimental testbed networks, to enable research and
development on, and demonstration of, advanced applications
enabled by such networks;
``(F) provide for computational science and engineering
research on mathematical modeling and algorithms for
applications in all fields of science and engineering;
``(G) provide for the technical support of, and research
and development on, high-performance computing systems and
software required to address Grand Challenges;
``(H) provide for educating and training additional
undergraduate and graduate students in software engineering,
computer science, computer and network security, applied
mathematics, library and information science, and
computational science; and
``(I) provide for improving the security of computing and
networking systems, including Federal systems, including
research required to establish security standards and
practices for these systems.'';
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating paragraphs
(3) and (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively;
(C) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated by subparagraph
(B) of this paragraph--
(i) by striking subparagraph (B);
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (C) as
subparagraphs (D) and (F), respectively;
(iii) by inserting before subparagraph (D), as so
redesignated by clause (ii) of this subparagraph, the
following new subparagraphs:
``(A) establish the goals and priorities for Federal high-
performance computing research, development, networking, and
other activities;
``(B) establish Program Component Areas that implement the
goals established under subparagraph (A), and identify the
Grand Challenges that the Program should address;
``(C) provide for interagency coordination of Federal high-
performance computing research, development, networking, and
other activities undertaken pursuant to the Program;''; and
(iv) by inserting after subparagraph (D), as so
redesignated by clause (ii) of this subparagraph, the
following new subparagraph:
``(E) develop and maintain a research, development, and
deployment roadmap for the provision of high-performance
computing systems under paragraph (1)(C); and''; and
(D) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated by subparagraph
(B) of this paragraph--
(i) by striking ``paragraph (3)(A)'' and inserting
``paragraph (2)(D)'';
(ii) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
``(A) provide a detailed description of the Program
Component Areas, including a description of any changes in
the definition of or activities under the Program Component
Areas from the preceding report, and the reasons for such
changes, and a description of Grand Challenges supported
under the Program;'';
(iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``specific
activities'' and all that follows through ``the Network'' and
inserting ``each Program Component Area'';
(iv) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``and for each
Program Component Area'' after ``participating in the
Program'';
(v) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``applies;'' and
inserting ``applies; and'';
(vi) by striking subparagraph (E) and redesignating
subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (E); and
(vii) in subparagraph (E), as so redesignated by clause
(vi) of this subparagraph, by inserting ``and the extent to
which the Program incorporates the recommendations of the
advisory committee established under subsection (b)'' after
``for the Program'';
(3) by striking subsection (b) of section 101 and inserting
the following:
``(b) Advisory Committee.--(1) The President shall
establish an advisory committee on high-performance computing
consisting of non-Federal members, including representatives
of the research, education, and library communities, network
providers, and industry, who are specially qualified to
provide the Director with advice and information on high-
performance computing. The recommendations of the advisory
committee shall be considered in reviewing and revising the
Program. The advisory committee shall provide the Director
with an independent assessment of--
``(A) progress made in implementing the Program;
``(B) the need to revise the Program;
``(C) the balance between the components of the Program,
including funding levels for the Program Component Areas;
``(D) whether the research and development undertaken
pursuant to the Program is helping to maintain United States
leadership in high-performance computing and networking
technology; and
``(E) other issues identified by the Director.
``(2) In addition to the duties outlined in paragraph (1),
the advisory committee shall conduct periodic evaluations of
the funding, management, coordination, implementation, and
activities of the Program, and shall report not less
frequently than once every two fiscal years to the Committee
on Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on its
findings and recommendations. The first report shall be due
within one year after the date of enactment of this
paragraph.
``(3) Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act
shall not apply to the advisory committee established by this
subsection.''; and
(4) in section 101(c)(1)(A), by striking ``Program or'' and
inserting ``Program Component Areas or''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 4 of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15
U.S.C. 5503) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``and multidisciplinary
teams of researchers'' after ``high-performance computing
resources'';
(2) in paragraph (3)--
(A) by striking ``scientific workstations,'';
(B) by striking ``(including vector supercomputers and
large scale parallel systems)'';
[[Page H2407]]
(C) by striking ``and applications'' and inserting
``applications''; and
(D) by inserting ``, and the management of large data
sets'' after ``systems software'';
(3) in paragraph (4), by striking ``packet switched'';
(4) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (5);
(5) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (6) and
inserting ``; and''; and
(6) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(7) `Program Component Areas' means the major subject
areas under which are grouped related individual projects and
activities carried out under the Program.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Baird) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Washington.
General Leave
Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous materials on H.R. 1068, the bill now under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Washington?
There was no objection.
Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 1068, a bill to amend the High-Performance
Computing Act of 1991. This is a bipartisan bill which Congresswoman
Biggert and I introduced.
I want particularly to acknowledge the role Mrs. Biggert has played
in working to develop this legislation over the past several years.
This bill is based on a bill introduced by Congresswoman Biggert and
Congressman Lincoln Davis during the past two Congresses. And in both
those Congresses, the bill passed the House.
I also want to thank Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall for
their support for the legislation, for helping to advance it through
the committee and to bring it to the floor.
H.R. 1068 will improve the planning and coordination process for the
major Federal interagency research program in information technology.
Information technology is a major driver of economic growth. It creates
high-wage jobs, provides for rapid communication throughout the world,
and provides the tools for acquiring knowledge.
For example, information technology helps to make the workplace more
productive, to improve the quality of health care, and to make
government more responsive and accessible to the needs of our citizens.
High-performance computing and networking is not only an essential
component of U.S. scientific competitiveness, it also has important
industrial, medical, and defense applications.
Vigorous long-term research is essential for realizing the potential
of information technology. The technical advances that led to today's
computers and the Internet evolved from past federally sponsored
research, in partnership with industry and universities. High-
performance computing is necessary as we work to develop new ways to
transfer vast amounts of information around the world.
The depth and strength of U.S. capability in information technology
stems in part from the sustained research and development program
carried out by Federal research agencies under a program codified by
the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991. That act is widely credited
with reinvigorating U.S. high-performance computing capabilities after
a period of relative decline during the late 1980s.
The 1991 act created a multi-agency R&D program to accelerate
development of information technology and to attack challenging
computational science and engineering problems. The 1991 act also put
in place a formal process for planning and budgeting for the activities
carried out under the interagency R&D program, which is formally known
as the Networking and Information Technology R&D Program.
The need for this legislation today arises from what I would
characterize as a weakening over time of the planning and
prioritization process for the program.
In order to maintain our competitiveness, we must ensure that the
resources available to advance high-performance computing technology
are allocated to the highest priority areas and that the activities
supported are carefully coordinated among the performing agencies.
Toward that end, H.R. 1068 requires formal biennial reviews of the
interagency program by its external advisory committee in order to
provide advice from the research community and from the information
technology industries on how to sharpen program priorities and improve
program implementation. Also, the required annual progress report for
the program must now include a formal response to the recommendations
of the advisory committee.
H.R. 1068 calls on the agencies carrying out the program to focus
more effort on high-end computing. The key requirement is for the
Office of Science and Technology Policy to create and maintain a road
map for developing and deploying high-end systems necessary to ensure
that the U.S. research community has sustained access to the most
capable computing systems.
Finally, this bill clarifies the grand challenge problems supported
under the interagency program, such as clean energy production, climate
change, and patient safety and health quality, which are intended to
involve multidisciplinary teams of researchers and demand the most
capable high-performance computing and networking resources.
Consistent with this requirement, the bill also specifies the
provisions for access to high-end computing systems includes technical
support to users of these systems.
Mr. Speaker, the interagency information technology research program
launched by the 1991 act has been largely a success. H.R. 1068 will
serve to strengthen this vital research program and deserves the
approval of this House. I ask my colleagues for their support in
passing H.R. 1068.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1068. It will strengthen
the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991.
Tomorrow, the Committee on Science and Technology will hold a hearing
on U.S. innovation and competitiveness. High-performance computers have
a role to play in our economic competitiveness, as they vastly enhance
our ability to perform very complex computations quickly and they do it
efficiently. H.R. 1068 will help ensure that American researchers have
access to the very best tools available as they tackle cutting-edge
problems in key fields such as nanotechnology, homeland security, and
biotechnology. In addition, this bill helps reinforce the Federal
commitment to ``supercomputing,'' a commitment that becomes
increasingly more important as European and Asian countries continue to
increase their investment in developing and purchasing the next
generation of supercomputers.
Nobody knows this measure better than my distinguished colleague from
Illinois (Mrs. Biggert). She has worked tirelessly in two previous
Congresses to have this important legislation enacted. In fact, she has
been successful in the House on both occasions, only to see it stall on
the Senate side.
In an effort to keep that from happening again, we have made a few
modifications to help ensure it gets Senate support. With these slight
alterations, I hope we will find that the third time is a charm.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1068.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman
from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas, the
ranking member of the Science Committee, for yielding me the time.
And I am so pleased to be the cosponsor of this bill that was
introduced by my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Washington
(Mr. Baird). He has been a great member on the Science Committee for
several years. This bill may seem familiar to many of my colleagues in
the House and for
[[Page H2408]]
good reason. In both the 108th and 109th Congresses, we did introduce
legislation that would do exactly the same thing as the bill we are
considering today with some additions. H.R. 4218 in the 108th Congress
and H.R. 28 in the 109th Congress were approved not only overwhelmingly
by the Science Committee but by the full House of Representatives.
{time} 1415
Unfortunately, because of jurisdictional complications, our friends
in the other body across the rotunda had never considered this
legislation. It had been endorsed by the President's science adviser,
Dr. Marburger, several years ago. It is a real shame that it hasn't
moved forward, but we are really happy we are, I think, going to have
both sides of the aisle work on it this time.
At the time when we first introduced the High Performance Computing
Revitalization Act in April of 2004, a new Japanese supercomputer, the
Earth Simulator, was the fastest supercomputer in the world, a title it
held for well over 2 years, from June 2002 through November of 2004.
Some experts claimed that Japan was able to produce a computer far
ahead of American machines because the U.S. had taken an overly
cautious or conventional approach to computing R&D. In hindsight, we
see that caution meant lost opportunities.
Granted a lot has changed since November of 2004. The U.S. is now
home to not only the world's fastest supercomputer, but seven of the 10
fastest, thanks to the hard work and competitive spirit of people at
IBM, Cray and Silicon Graphics, as well as the Department of Energy and
NSF.
But we must retain the leadership and development and use of
supercomputers. As confirmed by reports of the Council on
Competitiveness and the President's Information Technology Advisory
Committee, supercomputers are essential to maintaining U.S. leadership
in many scientific fields and have many applications, from
pharmaceuticals and climate to national and homeland security.
That is why the bill that we are considering today is so important.
It is designed to ensure U.S. preeminence and competitiveness in
computational science. This bill commits the Federal Government to
providing the research community with sustained access to the highest
end supercomputers, supporting all aspects of high performance
computing, including software development and data management for
scientific and engineering applications, and developing and maintaining
a road map for computational science in the fields that require it.
I am honored to have worked with the chairman of the Research and
Science Education Subcommittee, Mr. Baird, on this straightforward,
commonsense legislation, and I have good reason to be hopeful that it
will pass. As my colleague from Washington has already indicated, we
made changes in this bill, simple changes, that would help our
colleagues in the other body avoid those jurisdictional problems that
they seem to have sometimes that have stymied their consideration of
this bill in the past.
In closing, I just want to say that this bill will provide
researchers in the United States with the computing resources they need
to remain world class. Our Nation's scientific enterprise and our
economy will be stronger for it.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1068.
Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, I will just very briefly again commend Mrs.
Biggert for her leadership on this. She has been steadfast and dogged
on this. We hope with the changes we made to this bill, it will meet
the approval of the other body. This is not a partisan issue. This is
about keeping American science and industry at the very forefront of
the world. This bill will help us do that.
Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 1068, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________