I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3611 

To provide for a pilot project for a nationwide network of secure computing 

enclaves for federally funded research in universities, and other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 2, 2019 

Mr. BABIN (for himself, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. NORMAN, 

Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, and Mr. BAIRD) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 

and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for a pilot project for a nationwide network 

of secure computing enclaves for federally funded research in universities, and other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Securing American Re5 search From Cyber Theft Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purposes of this Act are to help institutions of 

3 higher education protect federally funded research from 

4 cyber theft and interference by— 

5 (1) directing the Networking and Information 

6 Technology Research and Development Program to 

7 provide for support and guidance on improving the 

8 security of academic computing and networking sys9 tems that process, store, and transmit federally 

10 funded research; and 

11 (2) establishing a pilot program to support re12 gional secure computing enclaves for academia to 

13 provide researchers with secure data storage and 

14 adequately protect Federal Government data. 

15 SEC. 3. NETWORKING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 

16 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE. 

17 Section 101 of the High-Performance Computing Act 

18 of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511) is amended— 

19 (1) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(J) provide for improving the security, re22 liability, and resiliency of computing and net23 working systems used by institutions of higher 

24 education and other nonprofit research institu25 tions for the processing, storage and transVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3611.IH H3611

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1 mission of sensitive federally funded research 

2 and associated data;’’; and 

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (J) through 

4 (O) as subparagraphs (K) through (P), respectively. 

5 SEC. 4. COMPUTING ENCLAVE PILOT PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in co7 ordination with the Director of the National Institute of 

8 Standards and Technology, the Director of the National 

9 Science Foundation, and the Secretary of Energy, shall 

10 establish a pilot program to ensure the security of feder11 ally supported research data and to assist regional institu12 tions of higher education and their researchers in compli13 ance with regulations regarding the safeguarding of sen14 sitive information and other relevant regulations and Fed15 eral guidelines. 

16 (b) STRUCTURE.—In carrying out the pilot program 

17 established pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

18 select three institutions of higher education from among 

19 institutions classified under the Indiana University Center 

20 for Postsecondary Research Carnegie Classification as a 

21 doctorate-granting university with a very high level of re22 search activity, and with a history of working with secure 

23 information for the development, installation, mainte24 nance, or sustainment of secure computing enclaves. 

25 (c) REGIONALIZATION.— 


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1 (1) In selecting universities pursuant to sub2 section (b), the Secretary of Defense shall give pref3 erence to institutions of higher education with the 

4 capability of serving other regional universities. 

5 (2) The enclaves should be geographically dis6 persed to better meet the needs of regional interests. 

7 (d) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The Department of De8 fense shall work with Institutions of Higher Education se9 lected pursuant to subsection (b) to— 

10 (1) develop an approved design blueprint for 

11 compliance with Federal data protection protocols; 

12 (2) develop a comprehensive and confidential 

13 list, or a bill of materials, of each binary component 

14 of the software, firmware, or product that is re15 quired to deploy additional secure computing en16 claves; 

17 (3) develop templates for all policies and proce18 dures required to operate the secure computing en19 clave in a research setting; 

20 (4) develop a system security plan template; 

21 and 

22 (5) develop a process for managing a plan of 

23 action and milestones for the secure computing en24 clave. 


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1 (e) DURATION.—The pilot program established pur2 suant to subsection (a) shall operate for not less than 3 

3 years. 

4 (f) REPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall report 

6 to the Committee on Armed Services of the House, 

7 the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, the 

8 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

9 House, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

10 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 6 

11 months after the completion of the pilot program 

12 under subsection (a). 

13 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

14 subsection (f)(1) shall include— 

15 (A) an assessment of the pilot program 

16 under subsection (a), including an assessment 

17 of the security benefits provided by such secure 

18 computing enclaves; 

19 (B) recommendations related to the valued 

20 of expanding the network of secure computing 

21 enclaves; and 

22 (C) recommendations on the efficacy of the 

23 use of secure computing enclaves by other Fed24 eral agencies in a broader effort to expand se25 curity of Federal research. 


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1 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, 

3 $38,000,000 for fiscal years 2020 through 2022, to carry 

4 out the activities outlined in this section. 

5 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

8 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

9 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High10 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

11 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Defense. 

Æ 


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