ANCHOR Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1223 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1223

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2025

 Mr. Fong (for himself and Ms. Stevens) introduced the following bill;
 which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 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.
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