Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren reintroduced legislation to jumpstart research into high-performance computing technologies to ensure continued American leadership in advanced computing. The American Super Computing Leadership Act (H.R. 874) amends the Department of Energy (DOE) High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004 to promote accelerated gains in “exascale” computing, computing whose speed approaches that of the human brain. The House previously passed Rep. Hultgren’s legislation but it died in the Senate last Congress.
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) today introduced similar legislation to ensure America remains at the forefront of the supercomputing field.
“Massive gains in computing power are necessary to meet our national security, scientific, and health care needs, including testing our aging nuclear stockpile to modeling the human brain in order to fight Alzheimer’s disease. Exascale computing, exceeding the existing generation of super computing power by 10,000 percent, helps get us there,” said Rep. Hultgren. “America is falling behind as China boasts the world’s fastest computer, and is accelerating their progress. Exascale computing represents an exciting new world of science and American leadership, and it’s up to us to seize it.
Currently, China has the world’s fastest supercomputer after surpassing U.S. capabilities in 2013. In addition to introducing this legislation, Senator Alexander has supported a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy and IBM that will construct Summit, a supercomputer that will once again be the fastest in the world, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory by 2017. The new supercomputer at Oak Ridge will have five times the performance as Titan, the current system, and will help Tennessee become a center for advanced manufacturing, creating thousands of good-paying jobs.
The legislation announced Wednesday would further support supercomputing technology and build on the success of the High-End Computing Revitalization Act, which was introduced by Alexander and then-Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) in 2004 and developed the first leadership class facility at Oak Ridge for high-end supercomputing. Rep. Hultgren previously introduced the American Supercomputing Leadership Act, which was passed by the House in the previous Congress.
