IB 

Union Calendar No. 433 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7630 

[Report No. 118–521] 

To require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications of 

the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2024 

Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California (for himself and Ms. STEVENS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology 

MAY 23, 2024 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 7630 RH

A BILL 

To require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, 

and for other purposes. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 7630 RH

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accelerating Net5 working, Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic 

6 Research Act’’ or the ‘‘ANCHOR Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

10 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

11 (2) OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH VESSEL.—The 

12 term ‘‘oceanographic research vessel’’ has the mean13 ing given the term in section 2101 of title 46, 

14 United States Code. 

15 (3) U.S. ACADEMIC RESEARCH FLEET.—The 

16 term ‘‘U.S Academic Research Fleet’’ means the 

17 United States-flagged vessels that— 

18 (A) have been accepted into, and are ac19 tively participants administered within, the Uni20 versity-National Oceanographic Laboratory Sys21 tem; 

22 (B) are operated as oceanographic research 

23 vessels by research universities and laboratories; 

24 (C) receive funding from the National 

25 Science Foundation; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 7630 RH

1 (D) have achieved designation as a mem2 ber vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet 

3 through the standard U.S. Academic Research 

4 Fleet evaluation process. 

5 SEC. 3. PLAN TO IMPROVE CYBERSECURITY AND TELE6 COMMUNICATIONS OF U.S. ACADEMIC RE7 SEARCH FLEET. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director , in con10 sultation with other Federal agency owners heads of other 

11 Federal agencies and the head of any university or labora12 tory that owns or operates a vessel of the U.S. Academic 

13 Research Fleet, shall submit to the Committee on Com14 merce, Science, and Transportation of the U.S. Senate 

15 and the Committee on Space, Science, and Technology of 

16 the U.S. House of Representatives a plan to improve the 

17 cybersecurity and telecommunications of the Academic Re18 search Fleet. 

19 (b) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by subsection (a) 

20 shall include— 

21 (1) an assessment of the telecommunications 

22 and networking needs of the U.S. Academic Re23 search Fleet, consistent with the typical scientific 

24 mission of each vessel; 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 7630 RH

1 (2) in accordance with guidance issued by the 

2 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 

3 and the National Institute for Standards and Tech4 nology, an assessment of cybersecurity needs appro5 priate for— 

6 (A) the ownership of vessels within the 

7 U.S. Academic Research Fleet; and 

8 (B) the typical research functions and top9 ics of such vessels; 

10 (3) an assessment of the costs necessary to 

11 meet the needs described in paragraphs (1) and (2), 

12 including— 

13 (A) any necessary equipment, such as sat14 ellite communications equipment, software, 

15 high-performance computing clusters shipboard 

16 and shoreside, or enterprise hardware; and 

17 (B) estimated personnel costs in excess of 

18 current expenditures, including any necessary 

19 training, support, or logistics; 

20 (4) an assessment of the time required to im21 plement any upgrades required to meet the needs 

22 described in paragraphs (1) and (2) under varying 

23 budgets and funding scenarios; 

24 (5) a proposal for the adoption of common solu25 tions or consortial licensing agreements, or by cenVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 May 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7630.RH H7630

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 7630 RH

1 tralizing elements of fleet cybersecurity, tele2 communications, or data management at a single fa3 cility; and 

4 (6) in consultation with any non-Federal owners 

5 of a vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, a 

6 spending plan for the National Science Foundation, 

7 the Office of Naval Research, non-Federal owners of 

8 vessels of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, users 

9 of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, or any com10 bination thereof, to provide funding to cover the 

11 costs described in paragraph (3). 

12 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Director in preparing 

13 the plan required by subsection (a), shall consider the fol14 lowing— 

15 (1) the network capabilities, including speed 

16 and bandwidth targets, necessary to meet the sci17 entific mission needs of each class of vessel within 

18 the U.S. Academic Research Fleet for such purposes 

19 as— 

20 (A) executing the critical functions and 

21 communications of each vessel; 

22 (B) providing network access for the 

23 health and well-being of deployed personnel, in24 cluding communications to conduct telemedicine 

25 (including mental health care), counseling, 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 7630 RH

1 interviews with crisis response providers, and 

2 other remote individual care and services; 

3 (C) as necessary to meet operations, 

4 uploading any scientific data to a shoreside 

5 server, including the copying of data off ship 

6 for disaster recovery or risk mitigation pur7 poses; 

8 (D) as appropriate, conducting real-time 

9 streaming to enable shore-based observers to 

10 participate in ship-based maintenance or re11 search activities; 

12 (E) real-time coordinated viewing of— 

13 (i) scientific instrumentation so that it 

14 is possible to conduct scientific surveys and 

15 seafloor mapping with fully remote subject 

16 matter experts; and 

17 (ii) critical operational technology by 

18 manufacturers and vendors so that it is 

19 possible to carry out maintenance and re20 pairs to systems with limited expertise on 

21 each vessel, with fully remote subject-mat22 ter experts advising; and 

23 (F) as appropriate, enabling video commu24 nications to allow improved outreach to, and 

25 other educational services for, K–12 students, 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•HR 7630 RH

1 including occasional remote classroom teaching 

2 for instructors at sea to improve oceanographic 

3 access for students; and 

4 (2) In consultation with the Director of the Cy5 bersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the 

6 Director of the National Institute for Standards and 

7 Technology, and the heads of other Federal agen8 cies, as appropriate— 

9 (A) the cybersecurity recommendations in 

10 the report of the private scientific advisory 

11 group known as JASON entitled ‘‘Cybersecurity 

12 at NSF Major Facilities’’ (JSR–21–10E) and 

13 dated October 2021 as applied to the U.S. Aca14 demic Research Fleet; 

15 (B) aligning with international standards 

16 and guidance for information security, including 

17 the use of encryption for sensitive information, 

18 the detection and handling of security incidents, 

19 and other areas determined relevant by the Di20 rector; 

21 (C) facilitating access to cybersecurity per22 sonnel and training of research and support 

23 personnel; and 

24 (D) the requirements for controlled unclas25 sified or classified information. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•HR 7630 RH

1 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF AND REPORT ON PLAN. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in coordination with 

3 the Office of Naval Research, non-Federal owners of ves4 sels of the Academic Research Fleet, users of the U.S. 

5 Academic Research Fleet, or any combination thereof, 

6 may support upgrades to the cyberinfrastructure and cy7 bersecurity of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet con8 sistent with the plan required by section 3. 

9 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 2 years 

10 after the submission of the plan required by section 3, the 

11 Director shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

12 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com13 mittee on Space, Science, and Technology of the House 

14 of Representatives a report describing the progress made 

15 in implementing the plan. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
Union Calendar No. 433 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7630 

[Report No. 118–521] 

A BILL 

To require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and 

search Fleet, and for other purposes. telecommunications of the U.S. Academic ReMAY 23, 2024 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB