I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3284 

To provide for fundamental research programs in advanced scientific 

computing at the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2021 

Mr. OBERNOLTE (for himself and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To provide for fundamental research programs in advanced 

scientific computing at the Department of Energy, 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 Com5 puting Research and Development Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Department of 

8 Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18642) 

9 is amended— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3284 IH

1 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

2 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—The Director shall carry out a re6 search, development, and demonstration program to ad7 vance computational and networking capabilities to ana8 lyze, model, simulate, and predict complex phenomena rel9 evant to the development of new energy technologies and 

10 the competitiveness of the United States.’’. 

11 (b) ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS.—Section 304 of the De12 partment of Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 18642) is further amended by adding at the end 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(e) BEYOND EXASCALE COMPUTING PROGRAM.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab17 lish a program to develop and implement a strategy 

18 for achieving computing systems with capabilities be19 yond exascale computing systems. In establishing 

20 this program, the Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) maintain foundational research pro22 grams in mathematical, computational, and 

23 computer sciences focused on new and emerging 

24 computing needs within the mission of the De25 partment, including but not limited to postVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3284.IH H3284

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3284 IH

1 Moore’s law computing architectures, novel ap2 proaches to modeling and simulation, artificial 

3 intelligence and scientific machine learning, 

4 quantum computing, and extreme heterogeneity; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) retain best practices and maintain 

7 support for essential hardware and software ele8 ments of the Exascale Computing Project that 

9 are necessary for sustaining the vitality of a 

10 long-term exascale ecosystem. 

11 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than one year after 

12 the date of the enactment of the Next Generation 

13 Computing Research and Development Act of 2021, 

14 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

15 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

16 Representatives, and the Committee on Energy and 

17 Natural Resources of the Senate, a report on the de18 velopment and implementation of the strategy out19 lined in paragraph (1). 

20 ‘‘(f) ENERGY EFFICIENT COMPUTING PROGRAM.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall sup22 port a program of fundamental research, develop23 ment, and demonstration of energy efficient com24 puting technologies relevant to advanced computing 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3284 IH

1 applications in high performance computing, artifi2 cial intelligence, and scientific machine learning. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXECUTION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM.—In carrying out the pro5 gram, the Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) establish a partnership for Na7 tional Laboratories, industry partners, and 

8 institutions of higher education for co9 design of energy efficient hardware, tech10 nology, software, and applications across 

11 all applicable program offices of the De12 partment; 

13 ‘‘(ii) develop hardware and software 

14 technologies that decrease the energy needs 

15 of advanced computing practices; 

16 ‘‘(iii) consider multiple heterogeneous 

17 computing architectures, including neuro18 morphic computing, persistent computing, 

19 and ultrafast networking; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) provide, as appropriate, on a 

21 competitive, merit-reviewed basis, access 

22 for researchers from institutions of higher 

23 education, National Laboratories, industry, 

24 and other Federal agencies to the energy 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3284 IH

1 efficient computing technologies developed 

2 pursuant to clause (i). 

3 ‘‘(B) SELECTION OF PARTNERS.—In se4 lecting participants for the partnership estab5 lished under subparagraph (A)(i), the Secretary 

6 shall select participants through a competitive, 

7 merit-review process. 

8 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than one year after 

9 the date of the enactment of the Next Generation 

10 Computing Research and Development Act of 2021, 

11 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

12 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

13 Representatives, and the Committee on Energy and 

14 Natural Resources of the Senate, a report on— 

15 ‘‘(A) the activities conducted under para16 graph (2)(A); and 

17 ‘‘(B) the coordination and management of 

18 the Program to ensure an integrated research 

19 program across the Department. 

20 ‘‘(g) ENERGY SCIENCES NETWORK.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

22 for an upgrade to the Energy Sciences Network user 

23 facility in order to meet Federal research needs for 

24 highly reliable data transport capabilities optimized 

25 for the requirements of large-scale science. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3284 IH

1 ‘‘(2) CAPABILITIES.—In carrying out paragraph 

2 (1), the Secretary shall ensure the following capabili3 ties: 

4 ‘‘(A) To provide high bandwidth scientific 

5 networking across the continental United States 

6 and the Atlantic Ocean. 

7 ‘‘(B) To maximize network reliability. 

8 ‘‘(C) To protect the network and data from 

9 cyber-attacks. 

10 ‘‘(D) To support exponentially increasing 

11 levels of data from the Department’s scientific 

12 user facilities, experiments, and sensors. 

13 ‘‘(E) To integrate heterogeneous com14 puting frameworks and systems. 

15 ‘‘(h) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.—The Director of 

16 the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research 

17 shall support the development of a computational science 

18 workforce through a program that— 

19 ‘‘(1) facilitates collaboration between university 

20 students and researchers at the National Labora21 tories; and 

22 ‘‘(2) endeavors to advance science in areas rel23 evant to the mission of the Department through the 

24 application of computational science.’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3284 IH

1 (c) COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE GRADUATE FELLOW2 SHIP.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Depart4 ment of Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 18642) is further amended by adding at the 

6 end the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE GRADUATE FELLOW8 SHIP.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall sup10 port the Computational Science Graduate Fellowship 

11 program in order to facilitate collaboration between 

12 graduate students and researchers at the National 

13 Laboratories, and contribute to the development of 

14 a computational workforce to help advance research 

15 in areas relevant to the mission of the Department. 

16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—Recipients of fellowships 

17 under the Computational Science Graduate Fellow18 ship program described in paragraph (1) shall be se19 lected from among citizens, nationals, and lawfully 

20 admitted permanent resident aliens of the United 

21 States.’’. 

22 (2) FUNDING.—From the funds authorized to 

23 be appropriated for the Advanced Scientific Com24 puting Research program of the Department’s Office 

25 of Science, the Secretary shall make available for 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3284 IH

1 carrying out the activities under section 304(i) of 

2 the Department of Energy Research and Innovation 

3 Act (42 U.S.C. 18642(i))— 

4 (A) $21,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

5 (B) $22,050,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

6 (C) $23,152,500 for fiscal year 2024; and 

7 (D) 24,310,125 for fiscal year 2025. 

8 (d) APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND SOFTWARE DEVEL9 OPMENT.—Section 304(d) of the Department of Energy 

10 Research and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18642(d)), as re11 designated by subsection (a)(1), is amended to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(d) APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND SOFTWARE DE14 VELOPMENT FOR HIGH-END COMPUTING SYSTEMS, COM15 PUTATIONAL, AND COMPUTER SCIENCES RESEARCH.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry 

17 out activities to develop, test, and support— 

18 ‘‘(A) mathematics, models, statistics, and 

19 algorithms for modeling complex systems on ad20 vanced computing architectures; and 

21 ‘‘(B) tools, languages, programming envi22 ronments, and operations for high-end com23 puting systems (as defined in section 2 of the 

24 American Super Computing Leadership Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 5541)). 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3284 IH

1 ‘‘(2) PORTFOLIO BALANCE.—The Director shall 

2 maintain a balanced portfolio within the advanced 

3 scientific computing research and development pro4 gram established under section 976 of the Energy 

5 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16316) that supports 

6 robust investment in— 

7 ‘‘(A) applied mathematical, computational, 

8 and computer sciences research needs relevant 

9 to the mission of the Department, including ac10 tivities related to data science, artificial intel11 ligence, scientific machine learning, quantum 

12 information science, and other emerging areas; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) associated high-performance com15 puting hardware and facilities.’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS