IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 717 
Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the internet. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 20, 2019 
Ms. ESHOO (for herself and Mr. COLLINS of Georgia) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the internet. 
Whereas October 29, 2019, was the 50th anniversary of the 
first message sent from one computer to another using 
the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (re-
ferred to in this preamble as the ‘‘ARPANET’’), a pio-
neering predecessor to the internet; 
Whereas, on October 29, 1969, researchers using the SDS 
Sigma 7 Host computer in room 3240 of Boelter Hall at 
the University of California, Los Angeles (referred to in 
this preamble as ‘‘UCLA’’), sent the first ever digital 
data transmission to researchers using the SDS 940 
Host computer at the Stanford Research Institute on the 
ARPANET; 
Whereas the internet evolved in the last 50 years from an 
academic and governmental endeavor to the greatest 
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•HRES 717 IH 
communications network in the history of humanity, im-
proving 
commerce, 
communications, 
entertainment, 
transportation, and so many parts of our economy and 
society; 
Whereas the internet contributes more than $1 trillion of 
Gross Domestic Product and 3 million jobs to the United 
States economy annually; and 
Whereas the internet developed by efforts from every sector, 
including— 
(1) Congress for funding the ARPANET and other 
networks and commercializing the internet; 
(2) Federal agencies, including— 
(A) the Department of Defense through the Ad-
vanced Research Projects Agency (now the Defense 
Advanced Research Projects Agency) for funding 
and administering the ARPANET and other net-
works and developing network protocols; 
(B) the National Science Foundation for fund-
ing and administering the Computer Science Net-
work (CSNET), the National Science Foundation 
Network (NSFNET), and other networks; 
(C) the Department of Commerce through the 
National Telecommunications and Information Ad-
ministration for its leadership role in managing 
multistakeholder technical bodies; and 
(D) the Federal Communications Commission 
in encouraging adoption and improving access to the 
internet; 
(3) State, local, and Tribal governments for encour-
aging connectivity and deploying infrastructure; 
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(4) universities and research institutions for playing 
a critical role in development of the technologies under-
pinning the internet, including— 
(A) for hosting the first four nodes of the 
ARPANET— 
(i) UCLA; 
(ii) the Stanford Research Institute (now 
SRI International); 
(iii) the University of California, Santa 
Barbara; and 
(iv) the University of Utah; 
(B) the RAND Corporation; and 
(C) countless other universities, think tanks, 
and independent researchers; 
(5) private companies and nonprofit organizations, 
including those that— 
(A) enable fixed and mobile internet connectivi-
ty by deploying infrastructure, including— 
(i) coaxial, copper, and fiberoptic cables for 
backbone, submarine, middle-mile, backhaul, 
and to-the-home services; 
(ii) radio and broadcast towers and small 
cell sites; 
(iii) satellite earth stations; 
(iv) routers, modems, switches, and con-
nectivity equipment; and 
(v) internet exchanges; 
(B) produce and sell computers, smartphones, 
and other devices that connect to the internet; 
(C) develop software to administer and access 
email, the world wide web, and other internet appli-
cations; 
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(D) provide websites, applications, and other 
software for communications, commerce, education, 
entertainment, employment, and so many other 
parts of our lives; 
(E) provide cybersecurity services to protect 
networks, devices, applications, and software; and 
(F) enable internet companies through busi-
ness-to-business services; and 
(6) multistakeholder bodies for internet governance, 
including— 
(A) the Internet Corporation for Assigned 
Names and Numbers; 
(B) the Internet Engineering Task Force; 
(C) the North American Network Operators’ 
Group; and 
(D) the American Registry for Internet Num-
bers: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the first 
internet message; and 
(2) recognizes the important efforts of govern-
ment, universities, nonprofit organizations, private 
companies, and multistakeholder bodies that helped 
in the establishment and continue to aid in the 
growth of the internet. 
Æ 
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