§ 5501. Findings

The Congress finds the following:

• (1) Advances in computer science and technology are vital to the Nation's prosperity, national and economic security, industrial production, engineering, and scientific advancement.
• (2) The United States currently leads the world in the development and use of high-performance computing for national security, industrial productivity, science, and engineering, but that lead is being challenged by foreign competitors.
• (3) Further research and development, expanded educational programs, improved computer research networks, and more effective technology transfer from government to industry are necessary for the United States to reap fully the benefits of high-performance computing.
• (4) A high-capacity and high-speed national research and education computer network would provide researchers and educators with access to computer and information resources and act as a test bed for further research and development of high-capacity and high-speed computer networks.
• (5) Several Federal agencies have ongoing high-performance computing programs, but improved long-term interagency coordination, cooperation, and planning would enhance the effectiveness of these programs.
• (6) A 1991 report entitled "Grand Challenges: High-Performance Computing and Communications" by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, outlining a research and development strategy for high-performance computing, provides a framework for a multiagency high-performance computing program. Such a program would provide American researchers and educators with the computer and information resources they need, and demonstrate how advanced computers, high-capacity and high-speed networks, and electronic data bases can improve the national information infrastructure for use by all Americans.