II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2998 

To require the Secretary of Defense to establish the Defense Quantum 

Information Consortium, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2018 

Ms. HARRIS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to establish the Defense 

Quantum Information Consortium, 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 ‘‘Quantum Computing 

5 Research Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) focused and continued investment in the de9 velopment of viable quantum information science 

10 technology is vital to national security; 


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1 (2) quantum information science should address 

2 two critical development problems, namely quantum 

3 communication and quantum computing; 

4 (3) alignment of effort within the United States 

5 government, academic, and private sectors are vital 

6 to ensuring the best technology is made available for 

7 the defense of the United States; and 

8 (4) to the extent possible to protect national se9 curity, work performed under section 3 should be 

10 maintained at the lowest possible classification level 

11 to promote coordination between consortium part12 ners and growth within the field of quantum infor13 mation science. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFENSE QUANTUM INFORMATION CONSORTIUM. 

15 (a) CONSORTIUM.— 

16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of De18 fense shall, in coordination with the Director of 

19 the Office of Science and Technology Policy, es20 tablish a consortium on matters relating to 

21 quantum information sciences. 

22 (B) DESIGNATION.—The consortium es23 tablished under paragraph (1) shall be known 

24 as the ‘‘Defense Quantum Information Consor25 tium’’ (in this section the ‘‘Consortium’’). 


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1 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Consortium shall con2 sist of— 

3 (A) one component composed of members 

4 selected by the Chief of Naval Research from 

5 among institutions of higher learning and in6 dustry partners located in the eastern half of 

7 the United States which are recognized for 

8 achievement in quantum information science; 

9 and 

10 (B) one component composed of members 

11 selected by the Director of the Army Research 

12 Laboratory from among institutions of higher 

13 learning and industry partners located in the 

14 western half of the United States which are rec15 ognized for achievement in quantum informa16 tion science. 

17 (3) DUTIES.— 

18 (A) CHIEF OF NAVAL RESEARCH.—The 

19 Chief of Naval Research shall— 

20 (i) coordinate and administer the 

21 grants awarded under subsection (b) to 

22 members selected under paragraph (2)(A); 

23 and 

24 (ii) coordinate partnerships between 

25 such members. 


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1 (B) DIRECTOR OF THE ARMY RESEARCH

2 LABORATORY.—The Director of the Army Re3 search Laboratory shall— 

4 (i) coordinate and administer the 

5 grants awarded under subsection (b) to 

6 members selected under paragraph (2)(B); 

7 and 

8 (ii) coordinate partnerships between 

9 such members. 

10 (b) BOARD.— 

11 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall, in 

12 coordination with the Director, establish a board to 

13 support the Consortium. 

14 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The board established 

15 under paragraph (1) shall be composed of members 

16 as follows: 

17 (A) The Chief of Naval Research and a 

18 designee of the Chief. 

19 (B) The Director of the Army Research 

20 Laboratory and a designee of the Director. 

21 (C) The Assistant Director of Quantum 

22 Information Science at the Office of Science 

23 and Technology Policy. 

24 (D) Members of the National Quantum 

25 Initiative (NQI). 


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1 (3) DUTIES.—The duties of the board estab2 lished under paragraph (1) are as follows: 

3 (A) To award grants under subsection (c). 

4 (B) To assist with ongoing research being 

5 conducted by members of the Consortium relat6 ing to quantum information sciences. 

7 (C) To facilitate partnerships between 

8 members of the Consortium. 

9 (c) GRANTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The board established under 

11 subsection (b)(1) shall award grants to members of 

12 the Consortium to conduct research on matters re13 lating to quantum information science. 

14 (2) APPLICATION.—A member of the Consor15 tium seeking a grant under this subsection shall 

16 submit to the board established under subsection 

17 (b)(1) an application therefor at such time, in such 

18 manner, and containing such information as the 

19 board may prescribe. 

20 (3) SELECTION.— 

21 (A) ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECTION COM22 MITTEES.—The board established under sub23 section (b)(1) shall establish a committee to se24 lect applicants for the award of grants under 

25 this subsection. 


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1 (B) SELECTION PROCESS.—In selecting 

2 applicants for awards of grants under this sub3 section, the committee established under sub4 paragraph (A) shall— 

5 (i) develop a competitive application 

6 and grant making process that furthers 

7 the goals of ensuring the competitiveness 

8 of the United States in quantum informa9 tion science; and 

10 (ii) exercise that process to solicit 

11 grant applications from Consortium mem12 bers, select among applications, and grant 

13 high quality awards. 

14 (4) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—In any case in 

15 which a member of the board established under sub16 section (b)(1) or the committee established under 

17 paragraph (3)(A) of this subsection has a conflict of 

18 interest with an applicant or an application for a 

19 grant under this subsection, such member shall 

20 recuse him or herself from all matters relating to 

21 consideration of such applicant or application. 

22 (d) TERMINATION.—The requirements and authori23 ties of this section shall terminate at the end of fiscal year 

24 2024. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec3 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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