Reported in Senate — S. 318

Calendar No. 169

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 318

[Report No. 119–64]

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 29, 2025

Mr. Padilla (for himself and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

September 29, 2025

Reported by Mr. Cruz, with an amendment

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic

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. Definitions

In this Act:

(1) U.S. Academic Research Fleet

The term U.S. Academic Research Fleet means the United States-flagged vessels that—

(A)

have been accepted into, and are active participants administered within, the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System;

(B)

are operated as oceanographic research vessels by research universities and laboratories;

(C)

receive funding from the National Science Foundation; and

(D)

have achieved designation as a member vessel through a standard evaluation process.

(2) Director

The term Director means the Director of the National Science Foundation.

(3) Oceanographic research vessel

The term oceanographic research vessel has the meaning given the term in section 2101 of title 46, United States Code.

Sec. 3. Plan to improve cybersecurity and telecommunications of U.S. Academic Research Fleet

(a) In general

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall, in consultation with the head of any Federal agency, university, or laboratory that owns or operates a vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Space, Science, 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 that 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 ownership of vessels within the U.S. Academic Research Fleet; and

(B)

the typical research functions and topics 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, such as satellite communications equipment, software, high-performance computing clusters shipboard and shoreside, or enterprise hardware; and

(B)

estimated personnel costs in excess of current expenditures, including any necessary training, support, or logistics;

(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)

the adoption of common solutions or consortial licensing agreements, or by centralizing 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 shall, in preparing the plan required by subsection (a), consider—

(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 the 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 shoreside server, including the copying of data off ship for disaster recovery or risk mitigation purposes;

(D)

as appropriate, conducting real-time streaming to enable shore-based observers to participate in ship-based maintenance or research activities;

(E)

real-time coordinated viewing of—

(i)

scientific instrumentation so that it is possible to conduct scientific surveys and seafloor mapping with fully remote subject-matter experts; and

(ii)

critical operational technology by manufacturers and vendors so that it is possible to carry out maintenance and repairs to systems with limited expertise on the vessel, with fully remote subject-matter experts advising; and

(F)

as appropriate, 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; and

(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.

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. Definitions

In this Act:

(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)

have been accepted into, and are active participants administered within, the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System;

(B)

are operated as oceanographic research vessels by research universities and laboratories;

(C)

receive funding from the National Science Foundation; and

(D)

have achieved designation as a member vessel of the fleet through a standard evaluation process.

Sec. 3. Plan to improve cybersecurity and telecommunications of U.S. Academic Research Fleet

(a) In general

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall, in consultation with the head of any Federal agency, university, or laboratory that owns or operates a vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, 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 missions of the vessels of such fleet;

(2)

in consultation with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an assessment of cybersecurity needs appropriate for—

(A)

the ownership of vessels within the U.S. Academic Research Fleet; and

(B)

the scientific missions 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, such as satellite communications equipment, software, high-performance computing clusters shipboard and shoreside, or enterprise hardware; and

(B)

estimated personnel costs in excess of current expenditures, including any necessary training, support, or logistics;

(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)

the adoption of common solutions or consortial licensing agreements, or by centralizing elements of fleet cybersecurity, telecommunications, or data management at a single facility; and

(6)

(c) Considerations

The Director shall, in preparing the plan required by subsection (a), consider—

(1)

the network capabilities, including speed and bandwidth targets, necessary to meet the scientific mission needs of each class of vessels of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet for such purposes as—

(A)

executing the critical functions and communications of the vessels;

(B)

providing network access to conduct medical care via telemedicine or related crisis response care;

(C)

as necessary to meet operations, uploading any scientific data to a shoreside server, including the copying of data off ship for disaster recovery or risk mitigation purposes;

(D)

as appropriate, conducting real-time streaming to enable shore-based observers to participate in ship-based maintenance or research activities; and

(E)

real-time coordinated viewing of—

(i)

scientific instrumentation so that it is possible to conduct scientific surveys and seafloor mapping with fully remote subject-matter experts; and

(ii)

(2)

in consultation with the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the heads of other Federal agencies, as appropriate—

(A)

(B)

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.