IB 
Union Calendar No. 344
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4218
[Report No. 108–580] 
To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 27, 2004
Mrs. BIGGERT (for herself, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. BOEHLERT, and Mr. 
JOHNSON of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Science 
JULY 1, 2004
Additional sponsors: Mr. EHLERS, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, 
and Mr. GORDON
JULY 1, 2004
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed 
A BILL 
To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘High-Performance 
Computing Revitalization Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 4 of the High-Performance Computing Act 
of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5503) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and multi-
disciplinary teams of researchers’’ after ‘‘high-per-
formance computing resources’’; 
(2) in paragraph (3)—
(A) by striking ‘‘scientific workstations,’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘(including vector super-
computers and large scale parallel systems)’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘and applications’’ and in-
serting ‘‘applications’’; and 
(D) by inserting ‘‘, and the management of 
large data sets’’ after ‘‘systems software’’; 
(3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘packet 
switched’’; and 
(4) by amending paragraphs (5) and (6) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(5) ‘Program’ means the High-Performance 
Computing Research and Development Program de-
scribed in section 101; and 
‘‘(6) ‘Program Component Areas’ means the 
major subject areas under which are grouped related 
individual projects and activities carried out under 
the Program.’’.
SEC. 3. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING RESEARCH AND 
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 
Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of 
1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511 et seq.) is amended—
(1) in the title heading, by striking ‘‘AND 
THE NATIONAL RESEARCH AND EDU-
CATION NETWORK’’ and inserting ‘‘RE-
SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT’’; 
(2) in section 101—
(A) the section heading, by striking ‘‘NA-
TIONAL
HIGH-PERFORMANCE
COM-
PUTING’’ and inserting ‘‘HIGH-PERFORM-
ANCE COMPUTING RESEARCH AND DEVEL-
OPMENT’’; 
(B) in subsection (a)—
(i) in the subsection heading, by strik-
ing 
‘‘NATIONAL
HIGH-PERFORMANCE 
COMPUTING’’ and inserting ‘‘HIGH-PER-
FORMANCE COMPUTING RESEARCH
AND 
DEVELOPMENT’’; 
(ii) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) 
and inserting the following: ‘‘(1) The 
President shall implement a High-Perform-
ance Computing Research and Develop-
ment Program, which shall—
(III) by inserting before subpara-
graph (D), as so redesignated by sub-
clause (II) of this clause, the following 
new subparagraphs: 
‘‘(A) establish the goals and priorities for Fed-
eral high-performance computing research, develop-
ment, networking, and other activities; 
‘‘(B) establish Program Component Areas that 
implement the goals established under subparagraph 
(A), and identify the Grand Challenges that the Pro-
gram should address; 
‘‘(C) provide for interagency coordination of 
Federal high-performance computing research, devel-
opment, networking, and other activities undertaken 
pursuant to the Program;’’; and 
(IV) by inserting after subparagraph 
(D), as so redesignated by subclause (II) 
of this clause, the following new subpara-
graph: 
‘‘(E) develop and maintain a research, develop-
ment, and deployment roadmap for the provision of 
high-performance computing systems under para-
graph (1)(C); and’’; and
(v) in paragraph (3), as so redesig-
nated by clause (iii) of this subpara-
graph—
(I) 
by 
striking 
‘‘paragraph 
(3)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 
(2)(D)’’; 
(II) by amending subparagraph 
(A) to read as follows: 
‘‘(A) provide a detailed description of the Pro-
gram Component Areas, including a description of 
any changes in the definition of or activities under 
the Program Component Areas from the preceding 
report, and the reasons for such changes, and a de-
scription of Grand Challenges supported under the 
Program;’’; 
(III) in subparagraph (C), by 
striking ‘‘specific activities’’ and all 
that follows through ‘‘the Network’’ 
and inserting ‘‘each Program Compo-
nent Area’’; 
(IV) in subparagraph (D), by in-
serting ‘‘and for each Program Com-
ponent Area’’ after ‘‘participating in 
the Program’’;
(V) in subparagraph (D), by 
striking ‘‘applies;’’ and inserting ‘‘ap-
plies; and’’; 
(VI) by striking subparagraph 
(E) and redesignating subparagraph 
(F) as subparagraph (E); and 
(VII) in subparagraph (E), as so 
redesignated by subclause (VI) of this 
clause, by inserting ‘‘and the extent to 
which the Program incorporates the 
recommendations of the advisory com-
mittee established under subsection 
(b)’’ after ‘‘for the Program’’; 
(C) in subsection (b)—
(i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 
through (5) as subparagraphs (A) through 
(E), respectively; 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘ADVI-
SORY COMMITTEE.—’’; 
(iii) in paragraph (1)(C), as so redes-
ignated by clauses (i) and (ii) of this sub-
paragraph, by inserting ‘‘, including fund-
ing levels for the Program Component 
Areas’’ after ‘‘of the Program’’;
(iv) in paragraph (1)(D), as so redes-
ignated by clauses (i) and (ii) of this sub-
paragraph, by striking ‘‘computing’’ and 
inserting 
‘‘high-performance 
computing 
and networking’’; and 
(v) by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(2) In addition to the duties outlined in paragraph 
(1), the advisory committee shall conduct periodic evalua-
tions of the funding, management, coordination, imple-
mentation, and activities of the Program, and shall report 
not less frequently than once every two fiscal years to the 
Committee on Science of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate on its findings and recommendations. 
The first report shall be due within one year after the date 
of enactment of this paragraph.’’; and 
(D) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking 
‘‘Program or’’ and inserting ‘‘Program Compo-
nent Areas or’’; and 
(3) by striking sections 102 and 103. 
SEC. 4. AGENCY ACTIVITIES. 
Title II of the High-Performance Computing Act of 
1991 (15 U.S.C. 5521 et seq.) is amended—
(1) by amending subsection (a) of section 201 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—As part of the 
Program described in title I, the National Science Foun-
dation shall—
‘‘(1) support research and development to gen-
erate fundamental scientific and technical knowledge 
with the potential of advancing high-performance 
computing and networking systems and their appli-
cations; 
‘‘(2) provide computing and networking infra-
structure support to the research community in the 
United States, including the provision of high-per-
formance computing systems that are among the 
most advanced in the world in terms of performance 
in solving scientific and engineering problems, and 
including support for advanced software and applica-
tions development, for all science and engineering 
disciplines; and 
‘‘(3) support basic research and education in all 
aspects of high-performance computing and net-
working.’’; 
(2) by amending subsection (a) of section 202 
to read as follows:
‘‘(C) develop and propose voluntary stand-
ards and guidelines, and develop measurement 
techniques and test methods, for the interoper-
ability of high-performance computing systems 
in networks and for common user interfaces to 
high-performance computing and networking 
systems; and 
‘‘(D) work with industry and others to de-
velop, and facilitate the implementation of, 
high-performance computing applications to 
solve science and engineering problems that are 
relevant to industry; and 
‘‘(2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration shall conduct basic and applied research 
on high-performance computing applications, with 
emphasis on—
‘‘(A) improving weather forecasting and 
climate prediction; 
‘‘(B) collection, analysis, and dissemination 
of environmental information; and 
‘‘(C) development of more accurate models 
of the ocean-atmosphere system.’’; and 
(5) by amending subsection (a) of section 205 
to read as follows:
‘‘(a) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—As part of the 
Program described in title I, the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency shall conduct basic and applied research di-
rected toward advancement and dissemination of computa-
tional techniques and software tools for high-performance 
computing systems with an emphasis on modeling to—
‘‘(1) develop robust decision support tools; 
‘‘(2) predict pollutant transport and the effects 
of pollutants on humans and on ecosystems; and 
‘‘(3) better understand atmospheric dynamics 
and chemistry.’’.
Union Calendar No. 344
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4218
[Report No. 108–580] 
A BILL 
To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 
1991. 
JULY 1, 2004
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed