H.R. 1223

[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.