II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2176

To require the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program of research 

and development to advance high-end computing. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2004

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Natural Resources 

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program 

of research and development to advance high-end computing.

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 ‘‘High-End Computing 

5 Revitalization Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) high-end computing is a critical component 

9 of the scientific advances, defense capabilities, and 
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1 commercial competitiveness of the United States in 

2 the 21st century; 

3 (2) with the deployment of the Earth System 

4 Simulator in Japan, the United States no longer has 

5 a clear lead in high-end computing worldwide; 

6 (3)(A) promising new architectures should be 

7 developed that increase memory and network band8 width, minimize latency, and coordinate the architec9 tures’ various components to maximize application 

10 performance; and 

11 (B) it is recognized that different architectures 

12 may be better suited to different applications; 

13 (4)(A) software that improves efficiency on and 

14 accessibility to high-end systems should be devel15 oped; and 

16 (B) this development effort should include re17 search in optimal algorithms, programming environ18 ments, tools, languages, and operating systems for 

19 high-end computing, in collaboration with architec20 ture development efforts; 

21 (5) without government support, market forces 

22 are unlikely to drive sufficient innovation in high23 end computing, because the private sector would not 

24 capture the full value of its innovations on a short 

25 enough time frame; and 
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1 (6) having played an important role in the de2 velopment of high-end computing, networking, and 

3 information technology, the Department of Energy, 

4 and the research programs of the Office of Science 

5 of the Department, are particularly qualified to lead 

6 research in those fields. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) HIGH-END COMPUTING SYSTEM.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘high-end 

11 computing system’’ means a computing system 

12 with performance that substantially exceeds 

13 commonly available systems. 

14 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘high-end 

15 computing system’’ includes a system described 

16 in subparagraph (A) that is based on a variety 

17 of architectures, including vector, reconfigurable 

18 logic, streaming, processor-in-memory, and 

19 multithreading architectures. 

20 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

22 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

23 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

24 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Director 
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1 of the Office of Science of the Department of En2 ergy. 

3 (4) ULTRASCALE SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING CAPA4 BILITY.—The term ‘‘ultrascale scientific computing 

5 capability’’ means a computing capability supporting 

6 open scientific research in the United States that is 

7 at least 100 times such computing capability in ex8 istence on the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 4. HIGH-END COMPUTING SYSTEMS PROGRAM. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other authority 

11 provided by law, the Secretary shall carry out a program 

12 of research and development (involving software and hard13 ware) to advance high-end computing systems. 

14 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out the program, the Sec15 retary shall—

16 (1) support both individual investigators and 

17 multidisciplinary teams of investigators; 

18 (2) conduct research in multiple architectures, 

19 including vector, reconfigurable logic, streaming, 

20 processor-in-memory, and multithreading architec21 tures; 

22 (3) conduct research in software development 

23 on optimal algorithms, programming environments, 

24 tools, languages, and operating systems for high-end 
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1 computing systems, in collaboration with architec2 ture development efforts; 

3 (4) in accordance with subsection (c), develop, 

4 plan, construct, acquire, or operate equipment or fa5 cilities for the use of investigators conducting re6 search and development on an ultrascale scientific 

7 computing capability; 

8 (5) support technology transfer to the private 

9 sector and others in accordance with applicable law; 

10 and 

11 (6) ensure that the program is coordinated with 

12 relevant activities in industry and other Federal 

13 agencies, including the National Nuclear Security 

14 Administration, the National Science Foundation, 

15 the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, 

16 and the National Security Agency. 

17 (c) ULTRASCALE SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING CAPA18 BILITY.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the program car20 ried out under this Act, the Secretary shall develop, 

21 plan, construct, acquire, or operate a coordinated set 

22 of facilities for investigators to develop an ultrascale 

23 scientific computing capability for—

24 (A) scientific research and development 

25 using high-end computing systems; and
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1 (B) developing potential advancements in 

2 high-end computing system architecture and 

3 software. 

4 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this 

5 subsection, the Secretary shall—

6 (A) support multiple high-end computing 

7 system architectures; and 

8 (B) conduct research on the basis of pro9 posals (including proposals that are submitted 

10 by industry, institutions of higher education, 

11 national laboratories, or any Federal agency) 

12 for research on problems that would particu13 larly benefit from large computing power, even 

14 as the reliability of new hardware and software 

15 components are being evaluated. 

16 (d) HIGH-END SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CEN17 TER.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the program car19 ried out under this Act, the Secretary shall develop, 

20 plan, construct, acquire, or operate at least 1 High21 End Software Development Center. 

22 (2) DUTIES.—A Center shall concentrate ef23 forts to develop, test, maintain, and support optimal 

24 algorithms, programming environments, tools, lan-
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1 guages, and operating systems for high-end com2 puting systems. 

3 (3) STAFF.—A Center shall include—

4 (A) a regular research staff, to create a 

5 centralized knowledge-base for high-end soft6 ware development; and 

7 (B) a rotating staff of researchers from 

8 other institutions and industry to assist in the 

9 coordination of research efforts and promote 

10 technology transfer to the private sector. 

11 (4) USE OF EXPERTISE.—The Secretary shall 

12 use the expertise of a Center to assess research and 

13 development in high-end computing system architec14 ture. 

15 (5) LOCATION.—The location of a Center shall 

16 be determined by a competitive proposal process ad17 ministered by the Secretary. 

18 (e) PEER REVIEW.—Each grant, contract, coopera19 tive agreement, and financial assistance awarded under 

20 this section shall be made only after independent peer re21 view. 

22 (f) CLASSIFIED RESEARCH OR FACILITIES.—No 

23 funds under this section may be used to directly support 

24 classified research or facilities. 
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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts made 

3 available for high-end computing systems under other pro4 visions of law, there are authorized to be appropriated to 

5 the Secretary to carry out this Act—

6 (1) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

7 (2) $155,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

8 (3) $160,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

9 (4) $165,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

10 (5) $170,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

11 (b) ULTRASCALE SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING CAPA12 BILITY.—Of the funds made available under subsection 

13 (a), $100,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for 

14 each fiscal year to carry out section 4(c). 

15 (c) HIGH-END SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CEN16 TER.—Of the funds made available under subsection (a), 

17 $10,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for each fis18 cal year to carry out section 4(d).

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