activities of the separate agencies which are identified in the HPC Program plan.

The planning and implementation of the applications program established by section 301 of the bill is patterned on the mechanisms put in place by the 1991 Act. One difference is that the role of the OSTP Director is given more prominence by specifying that the Director is required to establish the coordinated interagency applications program and to develop the applications program plan. The HPC Program has been criticized for a lack of strong central management control since no one agency is given responsibility to implement the Program and to ensure that the Program goals are achieved. The Bush Administration responded to this criticism by creating a National Coordination Office for the HPC Program. The director of the Coordination Office was created as a part-time position and was assigned to an individual at any agency participating in the HPC Program, rather than to an individual on the OSTP staff. While not having budgetary control of the Program, the director of the Coordination Office was assigned the responsibility to be the chairman of the FCCSET subcommittee that prepares the HPC Program plan and to be the point of contact for the public and Congress for information about the HPC Program.

Committee view

The Committee emphasizes the role of OSTP in convening the federal agencies to prepare the plan for the applications program, in ensuring that the agencies' activities are fully coordinated, and in keeping Congress informed about the status and progress of the applications program. In addition, the Committee expects OSTP to monitor the agencies' activities sufficiently to ensure conformity to the applications program plan, as well as to the HPC Program plan. The Committee strongly recommends that OSTP use the Coordination Office for the HPC Program and request assistance from the high-performance computing and applications advisory committee, established by section 4 of the bill, to assist with monitoring the agencies' activities.

The Committee expects that, in complying with section 302(c) of the bill, the OSTP Director will report to Congress on any activities carried out by agencies using funds identified as part of the applications program which do not conform to the goals and priorities specified in the plan for the applications program.

In order to establish confidence on the part of the public and Congress that the decentralized HPC and applications programs are being managed effectively, it is important that information about the two programs be readily available. To that end, the Committee recommends that the Coordination Office for the HPC Program maintain and disseminate the following kinds of information regarding the HPC Program and the applications program: (1) abstracts for projects supported by each participating agency, including project funding levels, periods of support, and principal participants; (2) names of points of contact at each participating agency; (3) breakouts of funding for the programs by major budget category within each participating agency's budget, including the level of funding available for new awards for the current fiscal year; and

(4) announcements of current requests for proposals issued by all participating agencies.

2. NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUPPORT OF APPLICATIONS

Committee view

The Committee intends that any project which involves the use of computer networks and which is part of the applications program authorized by section 3 of the bill make use of those networking technologies which are best suited to achieve the intended objective. The Committee expects that federal agencies which implement the bill will support projects which take advantage of proven networking technologies, as well as networking technologies at the leading edge of current capabilities.

The bill does not specify the use of wire or wireless technologies nor the use of packet switched or circuit switched networks for any activity authorized. The bill provides for support of projects that require the use of broadband networks, but the bill does not require that every application be based on the use of broadband networks, as defined by the bill. Although the Committee anticipates that access to the Internet will be needed for many projects because of the wide connectivity to the Internet that now exists among the research and education communities, the bill imposes no requirement that the Internet must be employed for projects involving linkages between widely separated sites. The Committee expects that, in evaluating projects for support, agencies will consider the tradeoff between the cost and capabilities of alternative networking technologies and will require that the most appropriate technologies be used for each project.

3. THE HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING AND APPLICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Background

The HPC Act of 1991 established a non-governmental advisory committee to provide the OSTP Director with an independent assessment of the HPC Program, including progress in implementation, need for revisions, and balance among components. The advisory committee was viewed by the Committee as an important mechanism in the planning and implementation of the HPC Program for obtaining the expertise of non-federal scientists and engineers and for incorporating the views of groups which will be R&D performers, suppliers of services, and users of networks. Unfortunately, members of the advisory committee have not been appointed nor the committee instituted to date.

The bill amends section 101(b) of the HPC Act of 1991, which establish the advisory committee for the HPC Program, in order to expand the role of the committee to cover both the HPC Program and the applications program authorized by section 3 of the bill. The OSTP Director, rather than the President, is assigned the responsibility by the bill to appoint committee members.

Committee view

The Committee strongly believes that the advisory committee is essential to ensure the success of both the HPC Program and the

applications program and expects the OSTP Director to move expeditiously to appoint members to the committee so that it may begin to function without additional delay. The Committee requests that the Director appoint members to the committee within 6 months of enactment of the bill.

The Committee emphasizes that the recommendations of the advisory committee must be taken into consideration during the process for developing and updating the plans for the HPC and applications programs. In the annual report to Congress required by section 101(b)(2), the Committee expects the advisory committee to document its recommendations to the OSTP Director on the subjects defined in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 101(b)(1).

Committee view

4. SUPPORT FOR TRAINING

The applications of computing and networking authorized by section 3 of the bill are focused on individuals who in many cases will be unsophisticated in the use of the technologies involved. The Committee emphasizes that the plan for the applications program should include projects to develop user-friendly computer interfaces. Agencies participating in the applications programs should give special consideration to projects which include training components. The connections program [Sec. 305] requires that training in use of networks accompany support for network connections.

Also, the Committee notes that some projects addressing applications authorized by the bill will take advantage of the powerful new generation of parallel computers. For the full potential of this class of computers to be achieved, a significant increase is needed in the number of software programmers trained to program parallel computers. The Committee recommends that the agencies participating in activities under the HPC Act of 1991, as amended by the bill, provide assistance to and encourage colleges and universities to develop parallel programming course work requirements for all science and engineering disciplines.

VI. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

During the 2nd Session of the 102nd Congress, Representative George Brown, Jr. introduced H.R. 5759, the Information Infrastructure and Technology Act of 1992, which was a companion to S. 2937 introduced by Senator Albert Gore. No action was taken on either bill prior to adjournment of the 102nd Congress. The broad objectives and some specific provisions of the bills are similar to H.R. 1757.

In the 103rd Congress, Representative Rick Boucher introduced H.R. 1757, the High-Performance Computing and High-Speed Networking Applications Act of 1993 on April 21, 1993. The bill was referred solely to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Hearings were held on the bill by the Science Subcommittee on April 27, May 6, and May 11, 1993. An amendment in the nature of a substitute was adopted and ordered reported by voice vote on June 30, 1993 (see Committee Actions).

On January 21, 1993, Senator Hollings introduced S. 4, the National Competitiveness Act of 1993. Title VI of S. 4, as introduced,

contains the text of S. 2937, which was introduced in the 102nd Congress. On May 25, 1993, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee ordered S. 4 reported, including amendments to title VI.

VII. COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Pursuant to Rule XI, clause 2(1)(3) of the Rules of the House of Representatives, under the authority of Rule X, clause 2(b)(1) and clause 3(f), the Committee's oversight findings and conclusions are reflected in the recommendations found in the present bill and report.

VIII. OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

No statement of findings and recommendations on oversight activity pursuant to Rule X, clause 2(b)(2), and Rule XI, clause 2(1)(3), of the Rules of the House of Representatives, have been submitted by the Committee on Government Operations for inclusion in this report.

IX. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

Hon. GEORGE E. BROWN, Jr.,

U.S. CONGRESS,

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE,
Washington, DC, July 9, 1993.

Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1757, the National Information Infrastructure Act of 1993.

Enactment of H.R. 1757 would not affect direct spending or receipts. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply to the bill.

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased to provide them.

Sincerely,

ROBERT D. REISCHAUER, Director.

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

1. Bill number: H.R. 1757.

2. Bill title: National Information Infrastructure Act of 1993. 3. Bill status: As ordered reported by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on June 30, 1993.

4. Bill purpose: H.R. 1757 would provide for an interagency federal program to encourage development of applications of high-performance computing and high-speed networking. The Office of Science and Technology Policy, through the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology, would coordinate the program. The bill would authorize:

$15 million for fiscal year 1994, $30 million for fiscal year 1995, and $50 million for fiscal year 1996 to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a local network access program;

$16 million for 1994, $45 million for 1995, $60 million for 1996, and $75 million for each of the years 1997 and 1998 to NSF for education applications;

$8 million for 1994, $16 million for 1995, $22 million for 1996, and $32 million for each of the years 1997 and 1998 to NSF for library database applications;

$4 million for 1994, $8 million for 1995, $10 million for 1996, and $12 million for each of the years 1997 and 1998 to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for library applications, including developing databases of software and remote-sensing images; and

$22 million for 1994, $54 million for 1995, $72 million for 1996, and $90 million for each of the years 1997 and 1998 to the Department of Health and Human Services for health care applications;

$6 million for 1994, $15 million for 1995, and $20 million for each of the years 1996 through 1998 to unspecified agencies for research activities;

$4 million for 1994, $12 million for 1995, $16 million for 1996, and $21 million for each years 1997 and 1998 to unspecified agencies for a program to improve access to government information.

The bill also would amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 to reduce the 1994 authorization for the Department of Energy from $138 million to $124 million.

5. Estimated cost to the Federal Government:

The costs of this bill would fall primarily within budget functions 250 and 550.

Basis of Estimate: The authorization for NASA funding in 1994 has already been enacted (in Public Law 102-195), and H.R. 1757 would not change this total amount. Otherwise, authorizations for NASA, NSF, and the Department of Health and Human Services have not been enacted for any of the fiscal years 1994 through 1989. For these other authorizations, we have assumed that the full amounts authorized in this bill would be appropriated for each fiscal year. The estimated outlays are based on historical spending patterns for similar activities.

6. Pay-as-you-go considerations: The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 sets up pay-as-you-go procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or receipts through 1995. CBO estimates that enactment of H.R. 1757 would not affect direct spending or receipts. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply to the bill.