II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2046

To reauthorize the Next Generation Internet Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 9, 2000

Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. BREAUX, and

Mr. HOLLINGS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To reauthorize the Next Generation Internet Act, and for

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 ‘‘Next Generation Inter5 net 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) The United States investment in science

9 and technology has yielded a scientific and engineer10 ing enterprise without peer. The Federal investment
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1 in research is critical to the maintenance of our

2 international leadership.

3 (2) The Internet is at a pivotal point in its his4 tory. While promising new applications in medicine,

5 environmental science, and other disciplines are be6 coming a reality, they are still constrained by the

7 Internet’s capacity and capabilities. The current

8 Internet cannot support an emerging set of activi9 ties, many of which are essential to mission-critical

10 applications in government, national laboratories,

11 academia and business.

12 (3) Government-sponsored network research

13 and development is critical to the success of the

14 Next Generation Internet. Previous Federal invest15 ment in computer networking technology and related

16 fields has resulted in the creation of new industries

17 and new jobs in the United States.

18 (4) Since its establishment in 1998, the Next

19 Generation Internet Program has successfully fund20 ed peer-reviewed research to address the critical

21 need for increased network performance and man22 agement.

23 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

24 The purposes of this Act are—
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1 (1) to authorize, through the Next Generation

2 Internet Program and Large Scale Networking Pro3 gram, research programs related to—

4 (A) high-end computing and computation;

5 (B) human-centered systems;

6 (C) high confidence systems; and

7 (D) education, training, and human re8 sources; and

9 (2) to provide, through the Next Generation

10 Internet Program and Large Scale Networking Pro11 gram, for the development and coordination of a

12 comprehensive and integrated United States re13 search program which will—

14 (A) focus on research and development to15 ward advancing network technologies to create

16 a network infrastructure that can support

17 greater speed, robustness, and flexibility;

18 (B) promote connectivity and interoper19 ability among advanced computer networks of

20 Federal agencies and departments;

21 (C) conduct research on the tools and serv22 ices that hear future agency networking re23 quirements demands, including application spe24 cific multicast, quality of service, and internet

25 video conferencing;
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1 (D) focus on research and development of

2 the next generation network fabric, particularly

3 concerning the expansion of affordable band4 width for users that is both economically viable

5 and does not impose a geographic penalty (as

6 defined in section 7(a) of the Next Generation

7 Internet Research Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 5501

8 nt.); and

9 (E) encourage researchers to pursue ap10 proaches to networking technology that lead to

11 flexible and extensible solutions wherever fea12 sible.

13 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

14 Section 103(d) of the High-Performance Computing

15 Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5513(d)) is amended to read as

16 follows:

17 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

19 appropriated for the purpose of carrying out the

20 Next Generation Internet program and Large Scale

21 Networking program the following amounts:
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‘‘Agency FY 2000 FY 2002 FY 2003

‘‘Department of Defense $70,300,000 $74,200,000 $78,300,000

‘‘Department of Energy $32,000,000 $33,800,000 $35,700,000

‘‘National Aeronautics and

Space Administration $19,500,000 $20,600,000 $21,700,000

‘‘National Institutes of Health $96,000,000 $101,300,000 $106,300,000

‘‘National Institute of Standards and Technology $4,200,000 $4,400,000 $4,600,000

‘‘National Science Foundation $111,200,000 $117,300,000 $123,800,000

‘‘National Security Agency $1,900,000 $2,000,000 $2,100,000

‘‘Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality $7,400,000 $7,800,000 $8,200,000

1 ‘‘(2) USE OF SUCH FUNDS.—Funds authorized by

2 paragraph (1)—

3 ‘‘(A) shall be used in a manner that con4 tributes to achieving the goals of the Next Gen5 eration Internet Program and the Large Scale

6 Networking program; and

7 ‘‘(B) may be used only for research that is

8 merit-based and peer-reviewed.’’.

9 SEC. 5. RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE.

10 Section 103 of the High-Performance Computing Act

11 of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5513) is amended by adding at the

12 end thereof the following:

13 ‘‘(e) RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—Out of appropriated

14 amounts authorized by subsection (d), not less than 10

15 percent of the total amounts made available to fund re16 search shall be used to fund research grants into the re17 duction of the cost of Internet access services available to

18 users in geographically-remote areas. The research shall

19 include investigation of wireless, hybrid, and satellite tech-
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1 nologies. In awarding grants under this subsection, the ad2 ministering agency shall give priority to qualified, post3 secondary educational institutions that participate in the

4 Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Re5 search.’’.

6 SEC. 6. MINORITY AND SMALL COLLEGE INTERNET AC7 CESS.

8 Section 103 of the High-Performance Computing Act

9 of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5513), as amended by section 6, is

10 further amended by adding at the end thereof the fol11 lowing:

12 ‘‘(f) MINORITY AND SMALL COLLEGE INTERNET AC13 CESS.—Not less than 5 percent of the amounts made

14 available for research under subsection (e) shall be used

15 for grants to institutions of higher education that are His16 panic-serving, Native American, Historically Black, or

17 small colleges and universities.’’.

18 SEC. 7. DIGITAL DIVIDE STUDY.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Academy of

20 Sciences shall conduct a study to determine the extent to

21 which the Internet backbone and network infrastructure

22 contribute to the uneven access to Internet-related tech23 nologies and services by rural and low-income Americans.

24 The study shall include—
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1 (1) an assessment of the existing geographical

2 penalty (as defined in section 7(a)(1) of the Next

3 General Internet Research Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C.

4 5501 nt.)) and its impact on all users and their abil5 ity to obtain secure and reliable Internet access;

6 (2) a review of all current Federally-funded re7 search to decrease the inequity of Internet access to

8 rural and low-income users; and

9 (3) an estimate of the potential impact of Next

10 Generation Internet research institutions acting as

11 aggregators and mentors for nearby smaller or dis12 advantaged institutions.

13 (b) REPORT.—The National Academy of Sciences

14 shall transmit a report containing the results of the study

15 and recommendations required by subsection (a) to the

16 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor17 tation and the House of Representatives Committee on

18 Science within 1 year after the date of enactment of this

19 Act.

20 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

21 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Acad22 emy of Sciences such sums as may be necessary to carry

23 out this section.

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