I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1223 
To require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications of 
the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2025 
Mr. FONG (for himself and Ms. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and tele-
communications of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, 
and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Accelerating Net-
working, Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic 
Research Act’’ or the ‘‘ANCHOR Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PLAN TO IMPROVE CYBERSECURITY AND TELE-
COMMUNICATIONS OF U.S. ACADEMIC RE-
SEARCH FLEET. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director, in con-
sultation with other Federal agency owners and the head 
of any university or laboratory that owns or operates a 
vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, shall submit 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology of the House of Representatives a plan 
to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications of 
the U.S. Academic Research Fleet. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by subsection (a) 
shall include— 
(1) an assessment of the telecommunications 
and networking needs of the U.S. Academic Re-
search Fleet, consistent with the typical scientific 
mission of each vessel; 
(2) in accordance with guidance issued by the 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 
and the National Institute for Standards and Tech-
nology, an assessment of cybersecurity needs appro-
priate for— 
(A) the operation of vessels within the U.S. 
Academic Research Fleet; and 
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(B) the specific research functions and ac-
tivities of such vessels; 
(3) an assessment of the costs necessary to 
meet the needs described in paragraphs (1) and (2), 
including— 
(A) any necessary equipment costs in ex-
cess of current expenditures, such as satellite 
communications equipment, software, high-per-
formance computing infrastructure shipboard 
and shoreside, or enterprise hardware; 
(B) estimated personnel costs in excess of 
current expenditures, including any necessary 
training, support, or logistics; and 
(C) the estimated impact on daily charter 
rates associated with the costs described in sub-
paragraphs (A) and (B); 
(4) an assessment of the time required to im-
plement any upgrades required to meet the needs 
described in paragraphs (1) and (2) under varying 
budgets and funding scenarios; 
(5) an assessment of opportunities for the adop-
tion of common solutions or consortial licensing 
agreements, or for the centralization of elements of 
fleet cybersecurity, telecommunications, or data 
management at a single facility; and 
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(6) in consultation with any non-Federal owners 
of a vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, a 
spending plan for the National Science Foundation, 
the Office of Naval Research, non-Federal owners of 
vessels of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, users 
of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, or any com-
bination thereof, to provide funding to cover the 
costs described in paragraph (3). 
(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Director in preparing 
the plan required by subsection (a), shall, as appropriate, 
consider the following: 
(1) The network capabilities, including speed 
and bandwidth targets, necessary to meet the sci-
entific mission needs of each class of vessel within 
the U.S. Academic Research Fleet for such purposes 
as— 
(A) executing the critical functions and 
communications of each vessel; 
(B) providing network access for the 
health and well-being of deployed personnel, in-
cluding communications to conduct telemedicine 
(including mental health care), counseling, 
interviews with crisis response providers, and 
other remote individual care and services; 
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(C) as necessary to meet operations, 
uploading any scientific data to a cloud-based 
server or shoreside server, including the copying 
of data off ship for disaster recovery or risk 
mitigation purposes; 
(D) conducting real-time streaming to en-
able shore-based observers to participate in 
ship-based maintenance or research activities; 
(E) scientific instrumentation so that it is 
possible to conduct scientific surveys and 
seafloor mapping with fully remote subject mat-
ter experts; 
(F) critical operational technology by man-
ufacturers and vendors so that it is possible to 
carry out maintenance and repairs to systems 
with limited expertise on each vessel, with fully 
remote subject matter experts advising; and 
(G) enabling video communications to 
allow improved outreach to, and other edu-
cational services for, K–12 students, including 
occasional remote classroom teaching for in-
structors at sea to improve oceanographic ac-
cess for students. 
(2) In consultation with the Director of the Cy-
bersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the 
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Director of the National Institute for Standards and 
Technology, and the heads of other Federal agen-
cies, as appropriate— 
(A) the cybersecurity recommendations in 
the report of the private scientific advisory 
group known as JASON entitled ‘‘Cybersecurity 
at NSF Major Facilities’’ (JSR–21–10E) and 
dated October 2021 as applied to the U.S. Aca-
demic Research Fleet; 
(B) aligning with international standards 
and guidance for information security, including 
the use of encryption for sensitive information, 
the detection and handling of security incidents, 
and other areas determined relevant by the Di-
rector; 
(C) facilitating access to cybersecurity per-
sonnel and training of research and support 
personnel; and 
(D) the requirements for controlled unclas-
sified or classified information. 
(d) IMPLEMENTATION OF AND REPORT ON PLAN.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in coordina-
tion with the Office of Naval Research, non-Federal 
owners of vessels of the Academic Research Fleet, 
users of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, or any 
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combination thereof, may support upgrades to the 
cyberinfrastructure and cybersecurity of the U.S. 
Academic Research Fleet consistent with the plan 
required by subsection (a). 
(2) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than two 
years after the submission of the plan required by 
subsection (a), the Director shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology of the House of Representatives a 
report describing the progress made in implementing 
the plan. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the National Science Foundation. 
(2) OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH VESSEL.—The 
term ‘‘oceanographic research vessel’’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 2101 of title 46, 
United States Code. 
(3) U.S. ACADEMIC
RESEARCH
FLEET.—The 
term ‘‘U.S Academic Research Fleet’’ means the 
United States-flagged vessels that— 
(A) are operated as oceanographic research 
vessels by research universities and laboratories; 
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(B) have achieved designation as a member 
vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet 
through the standard U.S. Academic Research 
Fleet evaluation process; and 
(C) have been accepted into, and are active 
participants within, the University-National 
Oceanographic Laboratory System. 
Æ 
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