119-hr1223

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1223 Referred in Senate

    (RFS) ]

<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1223

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 May 21, 2025

 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
 Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

 AN ACT

 To require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications 
 of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Accelerating Networking, 
Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic Research Act'' or the 
``ANCHOR Act''.

SEC. 2. PLAN TO IMPROVE CYBERSECURITY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS OF U.S. 
 ACADEMIC RESEARCH FLEET.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation with other Federal 
agency owners and the head of any university or laboratory that owns or 
operates a vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, shall submit to 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives a plan to improve the cybersecurity and 
telecommunications of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet.

    (b) Elements.--The plan required by subsection

    (a) shall include--

    (1) an assessment of the telecommunications and networking 
 needs of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, consistent with the 
 typical scientific mission of each vessel;

    (2) in accordance with guidance issued by the Cybersecurity 
 and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Institute 
 for Standards and Technology, an assessment of cybersecurity 
 needs appropriate for--
        (A) the operation of vessels within the U.S. 
 Academic Research Fleet; and
        (B) the specific research functions and activities 
 of such vessels;

    (3) an assessment of the costs necessary to meet the needs 
 described in paragraphs

    (1) and

    (2) , including--
        (A) any necessary equipment costs in excess of 
 current expenditures, such as satellite communications 
 equipment, software, high-performance computing 
 infrastructure shipboard and shoreside, or enterprise 
 hardware;
        (B) estimated personnel costs in excess of current 
 expenditures, including any necessary training, 
 support, or logistics; and
            (C) the estimated impact on daily charter rates 
 associated with the costs described in subparagraphs
        (A) and
        (B) ;

    (4) an assessment of the time required to implement any 
 upgrades required to meet the needs described in paragraphs

    (1) and

    (2) under varying budgets and funding scenarios;

    (5) an assessment of opportunities for the adoption of 
 common solutions or consortial licensing agreements, or for the 
 centralization of elements of fleet cybersecurity, 
 telecommunications, or data management at a single facility; 
 and

    (6) in consultation with any non-Federal owners of a vessel 
 of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, a spending plan for the 
 National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, non-
 Federal owners of vessels of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, 
 users of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, or any combination 
 thereof, to provide funding to cover the costs described in 
 paragraph

    (3) .
            (c) Considerations.--The Director in preparing the plan required by 
subsection

    (a) , shall, as appropriate, consider the following:

    (1) The network capabilities, including speed and bandwidth 
 targets, necessary to meet the scientific mission needs of each 
 class of vessel within the U.S. Academic Research Fleet for 
 such purposes as--
        (A) executing the critical functions and 
 communications of each vessel;
        (B) providing network access for the health and 
 well-being of deployed personnel, including 
 communications to conduct telemedicine (including 
 mental health care), counseling, interviews with crisis 
 response providers, and other remote individual care 
 and services;
            (C) as necessary to meet operations, uploading any 
 scientific data to a cloud-based server or shoreside 
 server, including the copying of data off ship for 
 disaster recovery or risk mitigation purposes;
            (D) conducting real-time streaming to enable shore-
 based observers to participate in ship-based 
 maintenance or research activities;
        (E) scientific instrumentation so that it is 
 possible to conduct scientific surveys and seafloor 
 mapping with fully remote subject matter experts;
        (F) critical operational technology by 
 manufacturers and vendors so that it is possible to 
 carry out maintenance and repairs to systems with 
 limited expertise on each vessel, with fully remote 
 subject matter experts advising; and
        (G) enabling video communications to allow improved 
 outreach to, and other educational services for, K-12 
 students, including occasional remote classroom 
 teaching for instructors at sea to improve 
 oceanographic access for students.

    (2) In consultation with the Director of the Cybersecurity 
 and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Director of the 
 National Institute for Standards and Technology, and the heads 
 of other Federal agencies, as appropriate--
        (A) the cybersecurity recommendations in the report 
 of the private scientific advisory group known as JASON 
 entitled ``Cybersecurity at NSF Major Facilities'' 
 (JSR-21-10E) and dated October 2021 as applied to the 
 U.S. Academic Research Fleet;
        (B) aligning with international standards and 
 guidance for information security, including the use of 
 encryption for sensitive information, the detection and 
 handling of security incidents, and other areas 
 determined relevant by the Director;
            (C) facilitating access to cybersecurity personnel 
 and training of research and support personnel; and
            (D) the requirements for controlled unclassified or 
 classified information.
            (d) Implementation of and Report on Plan.--

    (1) In general.--The Director, in coordination with the 
 Office of Naval Research, non-Federal owners of vessels of the 
 Academic Research Fleet, users of the U.S. Academic Research 
 Fleet, or any combination thereof, may support upgrades to the 
 cyberinfrastructure and cybersecurity of the U.S. Academic 
 Research Fleet consistent with the plan required by subsection

    (a) .

    (2) Report required.--Not later than two years after the 
 submission of the plan required by subsection

    (a) , the Director 
 shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, 
 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report 
 describing the progress made in implementing the plan.

    (e) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
 the National Science Foundation.

    (2) Oceanographic research vessel.--The term 
 ``oceanographic research vessel'' has the meaning given the 
 term in 

section 2101 of title 46, United States Code.

    (3) U.S. academic research fleet.--The term ``U.S Academic 
 Research Fleet'' means the United States-flagged vessels that--
        (A) are operated as oceanographic research vessels 
 by research universities and laboratories;
        (B) have achieved designation as a member vessel of 
 the U.S. Academic Research Fleet through the standard 
 U.S. Academic Research Fleet evaluation process; and
            (C) have been accepted into, and are active 
 participants within, the University-National 
 Oceanographic Laboratory System.

 Passed the House of Representatives May 19, 2025.

 Attest:

 KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

 Clerk.