Obernolte introduces bill to ramp up U.S. leadership in advanced computing

WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA), Ranking Member on the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee at the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, introduced H.R. 3284, the Next Generation Computing Research and Development Act, to accelerate advanced scientific computing programs at the Department of Energy (DOE).

“The future of innovation lies in our ability to unlock new answers about the workings of our world. Those answers will only come with the help of the next generation of supercomputers. The Next Generation Computing Research and Development Act will help American scientists and students lead the way in advanced computing and find new answers to problems including predicting weather patterns, helping to prevent wildfires, improving our national defense, and strengthening our energy grid,” said Rep. Obernolte.

H.R. 3284, the Next Generation Computing Research and Development Act, will build on the successes of the Exascale Computing Project at DOE and advance the development of computing systems and technologies with capabilities beyond classical computing abilities. It supports energy-efficient computing, computing workforce development, and applied mathematics and software development activities. Additionally, the bill upgrades the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) user facility to optimize data sharing for large-scale science.

“Our ability to better understand biological systems, materials composition, medical treatments, and the foundational physics of our universe requires state-of-the-art computing technologies and techniques to solve complex problems and process large-scale data,” Ranking Member Lucas said. “That in turn allows us to develop cutting edge technologies for clean energy production, advanced manufacturing, and biotechnology, among many others. Rep. Obernolte’s bill to improve our computing capacities is needed not only to advance our scientific knowledge, but also to help us develop practical applications that will make the U.S. more technologically advanced, energy-efficient, and globally competitive. Investing in research like this is what’s needed to keep the U.S. ahead of foreign competitors like the Chinese Communist Party, so I’m proud to join Rep. Obernolte on this important bill.”

Read the full text of the bill here.