High-Performance Revitalization Act of 2004 Transcript: Congressional Record July 07, 2004

Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would like to encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 4218, the High-Performance Computing Revitalization Act of 2004, which the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) and I have introduced. I also want to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) for her work in developing this legislation.

H.R. 4218 amends the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991, which established a major Federal research and development program in computing and networking that now involves seven agencies and is funded at about $2 billion per year. This bill seeks to reverse a gradual weakening of the planning mechanisms for the research and development program established by the 1991 act.

High-performance computing and communications technology is key to the Nation's economic competitiveness and security, and it is important to prioritize and effectively coordinate activities among the performing agencies. This bill requires formal biennial reviews of the interagency program by the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee in order to provide outside advice for sharpening program priorities and improving program implementation.

H.R. 4218 also attempts to focus more effort by the interagency program on high-end computing. The key requirement is for the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop and maintain a roadmap for developing and deploying high-end systems necessary to ensure that the U.S. research community has sustained access to the most capable computing systems. In addition, NSF is explicitly required to provide for access by researchers to such computing systems. These requirements are designed to ensure the research community has access to the most powerful computing systems in the world.

Mr. Speaker, the interagency research program launched in 1991, as I have said, has largely been a great success. It has helped provide the computing and networking infrastructure required to support leading-edge research and to drive technology information forward for the benefit of all of us and society at large.

H.R. 4218 will serve to strengthen the research program and deserves swift, favorable passage. Again, I ask my colleagues for their support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.