IIB 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4218 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 8, 2004 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991. 

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘High-Performance 

3 Computing Revitalization Act of 2004’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 Section 4 of the High-Performance Computing Act 

6 of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5503) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and multi8 disciplinary teams of researchers’’ after ‘‘high-per9 formance computing resources’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘scientific workstations,’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘(including vector super13 computers and large scale parallel systems)’’; 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘and applications’’ and in15 serting ‘‘applications’’; and 

16 (D) by inserting ‘‘, and the management of 

17 large data sets’’ after ‘‘systems software’’; 

18 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘packet 

19 switched’’; and 

20 (4) by amending paragraphs (5) and (6) to 

21 read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(5) ‘Program’ means the High-Performance 

23 Computing Research and Development Program de24 scribed in section 101; and 

25 ‘‘(6) ‘Program Component Areas’ means the 

26 major subject areas under which are grouped related 
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1 individual projects and activities carried out under 

2 the Program.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING RESEARCH AND 

4 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

5 Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of 

6 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) in the title heading, by striking ‘‘AND 

8 THE NATIONAL RESEARCH AND EDU9 CATION NETWORK’’ and inserting ‘‘RE10 SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT’’; 

11 (2) in section 101— 

12 (A) the section heading, by striking ‘‘NA13 TIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE COM14 PUTING’’ and inserting ‘‘HIGH-PERFORM15 ANCE COMPUTING RESEARCH AND DEVEL16 OPMENT’’; 

17 (B) in subsection (a)— 

18 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik19 ing ‘‘NATIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE

20 COMPUTING’’ and inserting ‘‘HIGH-PER21 FORMANCE COMPUTING RESEARCH AND

22 DEVELOPMENT’’; 

23 (ii) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) 

24 and inserting the following: ‘‘(1) The 

25 President shall implement a High-Perform-
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1 ance Computing Research and Develop2 ment Program, which shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) provide for long-term basic and ap4 plied research on high-performance computing; 

5 ‘‘(B) provide for research and development 

6 on, and demonstration of, technologies to ad7 vance the capacity and capabilities of high-per8 formance computing and networking systems; 

9 ‘‘(C) provide for sustained access by the 

10 research community in the United States to 

11 high-performance computing systems that are 

12 among the most advanced in the world in terms 

13 of performance in solving scientific and engi14 neering problems, including provision for tech15 nical support for users of such systems; 

16 ‘‘(D) provide for efforts to increase soft17 ware availability, productivity, capability, secu18 rity, portability, and reliability; 

19 ‘‘(E) provide for high-performance net20 works, including experimental testbed networks, 

21 to enable research and development on, and 

22 demonstration of, advanced applications enabled 

23 by such networks; 

24 ‘‘(F) provide for computational science and 

25 engineering research on mathematical modeling 
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1 and algorithms for applications in all fields of 

2 science and engineering; 

3 ‘‘(G) provide for the technical support of, 

4 and research and development on, high-per5 formance computing systems and software re6 quired to address Grand Challenges; 

7 ‘‘(H) provide for educating and training 

8 additional undergraduate and graduate students 

9 in software engineering, computer science, com10 puter and network security, applied mathe11 matics, library and information science, and 

12 computational science; and 

13 ‘‘(I) provide for improving the security of 

14 computing and networking systems, including 

15 Federal systems, including research required to 

16 establish security standards and practices for 

17 these systems.’’; 

18 (iii) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

19 and (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respec20 tively; 

21 (iv) in paragraph (2), as so redesig22 nated by clause (iii) of this subpara23 graph— 

24 (I) by striking subparagraph (B); 
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1 (II) by redesignating subpara2 graphs (A) and (C) as subparagraphs 

3 (D) and (F), respectively; 

4 (III) by inserting before subpara5 graph (D), as so redesignated by sub6 clause (II) of this clause, the following 

7 new subparagraphs: 

8 ‘‘(A) establish the goals and priorities for Fed9 eral high-performance computing research, develop10 ment, networking, and other activities; 

11 ‘‘(B) establish Program Component Areas that 

12 implement the goals established under subparagraph 

13 (A), and identify the Grand Challenges that the Pro14 gram should address; 

15 ‘‘(C) provide for interagency coordination of 

16 Federal high-performance computing research, devel17 opment, networking, and other activities undertaken 

18 pursuant to the Program;’’; and 

19 (IV) by inserting after subpara20 graph (D), as so redesignated by sub21 clause (II) of this clause, the following 

22 new subparagraph: 

23 ‘‘(E) develop and maintain a research, develop24 ment, and deployment roadmap for the provision of 
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1 high-performance computing systems under para2 graph (1)(C); and’’; and 

3 (v) in paragraph (3), as so redesig4 nated by clause (iii) of this subpara5 graph— 

6 (I) by striking ‘‘paragraph 

7 (3)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

8 (2)(D)’’; 

9 (II) by amending subparagraph 

10 (A) to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(A) provide a detailed description of the Pro12 gram Component Areas, including a description of 

13 any changes in the definition of or activities under 

14 the Program Component Areas from the preceding 

15 report, and the reasons for such changes, and a de16 scription of Grand Challenges supported under the 

17 Program;’’; 

18 (III) in subparagraph (C), by 

19 striking ‘‘specific activities’’ and all 

20 that follows through ‘‘the Network’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘each Program Compo22 nent Area’’; 

23 (IV) in subparagraph (D), by in24 serting ‘‘and for each Program Com-
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1 ponent Area’’ after ‘‘participating in 

2 the Program’’; 

3 (V) in subparagraph (D), by 

4 striking ‘‘applies;’’ and inserting ‘‘ap5 plies; and’’; 

6 (VI) by striking subparagraph 

7 (E) and redesignating subparagraph 

8 (F) as subparagraph (E); and 

9 (VII) in subparagraph (E), as so 

10 redesignated by subclause (VI) of this 

11 clause, by inserting ‘‘and the extent to 

12 which the Program incorporates the 

13 recommendations of the advisory com14 mittee established under subsection 

15 (b)’’ after ‘‘for the Program’’; 

16 (C) in subsection (b)— 

17 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

18 through (5) as subparagraphs (A) through 

19 (E), respectively; 

20 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘Advisory 

21 Committee.—’’; 

22 (iii) in paragraph (1)(C), as so redes23 ignated by clauses (i) and (ii) of this sub24 paragraph, by inserting ‘‘, including fund-
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1 ing levels for the Program Component 

2 Areas’’ after ‘‘of the Program’’; 

3 (iv) in paragraph (1)(D), as so redes4 ignated by clauses (i) and (ii) of this sub5 paragraph, by striking ‘‘computing’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘high-performance computing 

7 and networking’’; and 

8 (v) by adding at the end the following 

9 new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(2) In addition to the duties outlined in paragraph 

11 (1), the advisory committee shall conduct periodic evalua12 tions of the funding, management, coordination, imple13 mentation, and activities of the Program, and shall report 

14 not less frequently than once every two fiscal years to the 

15 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives 

16 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor17 tation of the Senate on its findings and recommendations. 

18 The first report shall be due within one year after the date 

19 of enactment of this paragraph.’’; and 

20 (D) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking 

21 ‘‘Program or’’ and inserting ‘‘Program Compo22 nent Areas or’’; and 

23 (3) by striking sections 102 and 103. 
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1 SEC. 4. AGENCY ACTIVITIES. 

2 Title II of the High-Performance Computing Act of 

3 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5521 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) by amending subsection (a) of section 201 

5 to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—As part of the 

7 Program described in title I, the National Science Foun8 dation shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) support research and development to gen10 erate fundamental scientific and technical knowledge 

11 with the potential of advancing high-performance 

12 computing and networking systems and their appli13 cations; 

14 ‘‘(2) provide computing and networking infra15 structure support to the research community in the 

16 United States, including the provision of high-per17 formance computing systems that are among the 

18 most advanced in the world in terms of performance 

19 in solving scientific and engineering problems, and 

20 including support for advanced software and applica21 tions development, for all science and engineering 

22 disciplines; and 

23 ‘‘(3) support basic research and education in all 

24 aspects of high-performance computing and net25 working.’’; 
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1 (2) by amending subsection (a) of section 202 

2 to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—As part of the 

4 Program described in title I, the National Aeronautics and 

5 Space Administration shall conduct basic and applied re6 search in high-performance computing and networking, 

7 with emphasis on— 

8 ‘‘(1) computational fluid dynamics, computa9 tional thermal dynamics, and computational aero10 dynamics; 

11 ‘‘(2) scientific data dissemination and tools to 

12 enable data to be fully analyzed and combined from 

13 multiple sources and sensors; 

14 ‘‘(3) remote exploration and experimentation; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(4) tools for collaboration in system design, 

17 analysis, and testing.’’; 

18 (3) in section 203— 

19 (A) by striking subsections (a) through (d) 

20 and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—As part of the 

22 Program described in title I, the Secretary of Energy 

23 shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) conduct and support basic and applied re25 search in high-performance computing and net-
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1 working to support fundamental research in science 

2 and engineering disciplines related to energy applica3 tions; and 

4 ‘‘(2) provide computing and networking infra5 structure support, including the provision of high6 performance computing systems that are among the 

7 most advanced in the world in terms of performance 

8 in solving scientific and engineering problems, and 

9 including support for advanced software and applica10 tions development, for science and engineering dis11 ciplines related to energy applications.’’; and 

12 (B) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub13 section (b); 

14 (4) by amending subsection (a) of section 204 

15 to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—As part of the 

17 Program described in title I— 

18 ‘‘(1) the National Institute of Standards and 

19 Technology shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) conduct basic and applied metrology 

21 research needed to support high-performance 

22 computing and networking systems; 

23 ‘‘(B) develop benchmark tests and stand24 ards for high-performance computing and net25 working systems and software; 
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1 ‘‘(C) develop and propose voluntary stand2 ards and guidelines, and develop measurement 

3 techniques and test methods, for the interoper4 ability of high-performance computing systems 

5 in networks and for common user interfaces to 

6 high-performance computing and networking 

7 systems; and 

8 ‘‘(D) work with industry and others to de9 velop, and facilitate the implementation of, 

10 high-performance computing applications to 

11 solve science and engineering problems that are 

12 relevant to industry; and 

13 ‘‘(2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad14 ministration shall conduct basic and applied research 

15 on high-performance computing applications, with 

16 emphasis on— 

17 ‘‘(A) improving weather forecasting and 

18 climate prediction; 

19 ‘‘(B) collection, analysis, and dissemination 

20 of environmental information; and 

21 ‘‘(C) development of more accurate models 

22 of the ocean-atmosphere system.’’; and 

23 (5) by amending subsection (a) of section 205 

24 to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—As part of the 

2 Program described in title I, the Environmental Protec3 tion Agency shall conduct basic and applied research di4 rected toward advancement and dissemination of computa5 tional techniques and software tools for high-performance 

6 computing systems with an emphasis on modeling to— 

7 ‘‘(1) develop robust decision support tools; 

8 ‘‘(2) predict pollutant transport and the effects 

9 of pollutants on humans and on ecosystems; and 

10 ‘‘(3) better understand atmospheric dynamics 

11 and chemistry.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS OF INFORMATION TECH13 NOLOGY. 

14 In carrying out its programs on the social, economic, 

15 legal, ethical, and cultural implications of information 

16 technology, the National Science Foundation shall support 

17 research into the implications of computers (including 

18 both hardware and software) that would be capable of 

19 mimicking human abilities to learn, reason, and make de20 cisions. 

21 SEC. 6. ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS ADVISORY COM22 MITTEE. 

23 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 23 of the National 

24 Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

25 1862n–9) is amended— 
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and the National Aeronautics 

2 and Space Administration’’ each place it appears in 

3 subsections (a) and (b) and inserting ‘‘, the National 

4 Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the De5 partment of Energy’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting ‘‘the Sec7 retary of Energy,’’ after ‘‘the Administrator of the 

8 National Aeronautics and Space Administration,’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (c)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘5’’ in each of paragraphs 

11 (1) and (2) and inserting ‘‘4’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para13 graph (2); 

14 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

15 paragraph (4), and in that paragraph by strik16 ing ‘‘3’’ and inserting ‘‘2’’; and 

17 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

18 following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(3) 3 members selected by the Secretary of 

20 Energy; and’’; and 

21 (4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘the advisory 

22 bodies of other Federal agencies, such as the De23 partment of Energy, which may engage in related 

24 research activities’’ and inserting ‘‘other Federal ad-
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1 visory committees that advise Federal agencies 

2 which engage in related research activities’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 subsection (a) shall take effect on March 15, 2005. 

5 SEC. 7. REMOVAL OF SUNSET PROVISION FROM SAVINGS 

6 IN CONSTRUCTION ACT OF 1996. 

7 Section 14(e) of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 

8 (15 U.S.C. 205l(e)) is repealed. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 7, 2004. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.