By voice vote, the House passed: H.R. 4218, High-Performance Computing Revitalization Act of 2004; H.R. 4516, Department of Energy High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004; H.R. 3890, a bill to reauthorize the Steel and Aluminum Energy Conservation and Technology Competitiveness Act of 1998; and H.R. 1856, Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research Amendments Act of 2003.

Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) said, “I am pleased that the Science Committee has produced a bipartisan set of bills that will go a long way toward improving U.S. competitiveness. These bills will help the U.S. maintain its status as the world leader in supercomputing, help the domestic metals industry remain competitive by increasing its energy efficiency, and address the tens of millions of dollars in damage caused each year by harmful algal blooms.”

H.R. 4218, the High-Performance Computing Revitalization Act of 2004 would help the U.S. retain its supremacy in supercomputing and advance U.S. competitiveness. Sponsored by Energy Subcommittee Chairman Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Representative Lincoln Davis (D-TN), the bill would strengthen U.S. supercomputing capabilities by requiring the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to ensure U.S. researchers access to high-performance computers, and by increasing interagency coordination of supercomputing programs. The bill was endorsed by the Bush Administration at a May 13, 2004 Science Committee hearing.

“Right now American high performance computing is at a crossroads,” said Biggert. “These bills will ensure that America remains a leader in the development and use of supercomputers. Our nation’s scientific enterprise, and our economy, will be stronger for it.”

Davis said, “Legislation such as H.R. 4218, the High-Performance Computing Revitalization Act of 2004, will help streamline our national efforts in high-end computing. This bill calls for more forward-thinking planning, better interagency coordination, and greater emphasis on high performance computing. This revitalization has been long overdue.”

Biggert and Davis are also the primary sponsors of H.R. 4516, the Department of Energy High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004. That bill also would further U.S. computing capabilities by establishing an R&D program within DOE to develop more advanced computers and by authorizing DOE to establish supercomputer user facilities that would be available for use to U.S. researchers on a competitive, peer-reviewed basis.

“World-class science increasingly relies on world-class supercomputers,” Biggert said. “My bill supports the Department of Energy’s efforts to provide elite computing resources to U.S. researchers. Only then can the United States regain its competitive edge and recapture the distinction of being home to the world’s most powerful supercomputer.”

Davis said, “A continued investment in high-computing facilities such as the one at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will put America back in the lead in this area. H.R. 4516 will provide the guidance and funding needed for the Department of Energy to strengthen national research and development programs to advance high-end computing.”

H.R. 3890, which is sponsored by Representative Melissa Hart (R-PA), would reauthorize a popular DOE R&D program that has increased the competitiveness of the domestic metals industry by helping it improve its energy efficiency. The program was first authorized in 1988. H.R. 3890 would reauthorize the program through 2009 and would modify it to include R&D on technologies that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hart said, “I am pleased that my colleagues in the House of Representatives have agreed that we must give every advantage possible to our steel industry by continuing to fund research that reduces energy consumption and pollution and boosts competitiveness. My bill recognizes that the steel industry isn't looking for handouts from taxpayers, rather, the role of government in this case should be to create the type of climate manufacturing and metals businesses need to succeed.”

H.R. 1856 would address another costly problem, harmful algal blooms and hypoxia, which cost the U.S. economy tens of millions of dollars per year due to the closure of fisheries and beaches and the treatment of illnesses. Sponsored by Environment, Technology and Standards Subcommittee Chairman Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), the legislation would help fight organisms that cause “dead zones” and other biological problems in U.S. ocean coastal areas and the Great Lakes. The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research Amendments Act of 2003 (H.R. 1856) would reauthorize the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Control Act of 1998 and expand current research programs to include the Great Lakes.

Ehlers said, “H.R. 1856 provides an updated framework for research programs to improve our response to the nationwide problem of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia. It adds freshwater regions, such as the Great Lakes, as an important focus area for HAB and hypoxia research. It also increases participation of local resource managers to ensure that the research is answering questions that face the people managing these problems. I am pleased the House passed this bill today.”

“Harmful algal blooms are devastating to our coastal waterways and beaches, wreaking havoc on the local economies and residents that depend so closely on their health,” said Representative Brian Baird (D-WA), a cosponsor of the bill. “In Hood Canal, Washington, these blooms have sucked the life out of the canal’s waters, killing fish, shellfish and the local industry jobs that rely on them. We have made progress recently to identify harmful algal blooms, but we must translate research to practice and clean our coastal waters to protect the ecological and economic health of our fisheries that depend on them.”

###

108-279