IIB 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2020 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 13, 2009 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation 
AN ACT 
To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 
to authorize activities for support of networking and 
information technology research, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Networking and Infor-
mation Technology Research and Development Act of 
2009’’. 
SEC. 2. PROGRAM PLANNING AND COORDINATION. 
(a) PERIODIC REVIEWS.—Section 101 of the High- 
Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(d) PERIODIC REVIEWS.—The agencies identified in 
subsection (a)(3)(B) shall— 
‘‘(1) periodically assess the contents and fund-
ing levels of the Program Component Areas and re-
structure the Program when warranted, taking into 
consideration any relevant recommendations of the 
advisory committee established under subsection (b); 
and 
‘‘(2) ensure that the Program includes large- 
scale, long-term, interdisciplinary research and de-
velopment activities, including activities described in 
section 104.’’. 
(b) DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC PLAN.—Section 
101 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 5511) is amended further by 
adding after subsection (d), as added by subsection (a) 
of this Act, the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The agencies identified in 
subsection (a)(3)(B), working through the National 
Science and Technology Council and with the assist-
ance of the National Coordination Office established 
under section 102, shall develop, within 12 months 
after the date of enactment of the Networking and 
Information Technology Research and Development 
Act of 2009, and update every 3 years thereafter, a 
5-year strategic plan to guide the activities described 
under subsection (a)(1). 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The strategic plan shall 
specify near-term and long-term objectives for the 
Program, the anticipated time frame for achieving 
the near-term objectives, the metrics to be used for 
assessing progress toward the objectives, and how 
the Program will— 
‘‘(A) foster the transfer of research and 
development results into new technologies and 
applications for the benefit of society, including 
through cooperation and collaborations with 
networking and information technology re-
search, development, and technology transition 
initiatives supported by the States; 
‘‘(B) encourage and support mechanisms 
for interdisciplinary research and development 
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in networking and information technology, in-
cluding through collaborations across agencies, 
across Program Component Areas, with indus-
try, with Federal laboratories (as defined in 
section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology 
Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703)), and 
with international organizations; 
‘‘(C) address long-term challenges of na-
tional importance for which solutions require 
large-scale, long-term, interdisciplinary research 
and development; 
‘‘(D) place emphasis on innovative and 
high-risk projects having the potential for sub-
stantial societal returns on the research invest-
ment; 
‘‘(E) strengthen all levels of networking 
and information technology education and 
training programs to ensure an adequate, well- 
trained workforce; and 
‘‘(F) attract more women and underrep-
resented minorities to pursue postsecondary de-
grees in networking and information tech-
nology. 
‘‘(3) NATIONAL RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 
strategic plan developed in accordance with paragraph (1) 
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