QUEST Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1837 To establish and support the Quantum User Expansion for Science and Technology Program at the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2021 Mr. LUCAS (for himself, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. GIMENEZ, Mr. OBERNOLTE, Mrs. KIM of California, Mr. VALADAO, and Mr. POSEY) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To establish and support the Quantum User Expansion for Science and Technology Program at the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘QUEST Act of 2021’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1837.IH H1837 2 •HR 1837 IH SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY QUANTUM USER EXPAN- 1 SION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PRO- 2 GRAM. 3 Title IV of the National Quantum Initiative Act (15 4 U.S.C. 8851 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 5 the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 403. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY QUANTUM USER EX- 7 PANSION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 8 PROGRAM. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 10 date of the enactment of the QUEST Act of 2021, the 11 Secretary of Energy (referred to in this section as the 12 ‘Secretary’) shall, establish and carry out a program (to 13 be known as the ‘Quantum User Expansion for Science 14 and Technology program’ or ‘QUEST program’) to en- 15 courage and facilitate access to United States quantum 16 computing hardware and quantum computing clouds for 17 research purposes in order to— 18 ‘‘(1) enhance the United States quantum re- 19 search enterprise; 20 ‘‘(2) educate the future quantum computing 21 workforce; and 22 ‘‘(3) accelerate the advancement of United 23 States quantum computing capabilities. 24 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—In carrying out this section, the 25 Secretary shall— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1837.IH H1837 3 •HR 1837 IH ‘‘(1) coordinate with— 1 ‘‘(A) the Director of the National Science 2 Foundation; 3 ‘‘(B) the Director of the National Institute 4 of Standards and Technology; 5 ‘‘(C) the Chair of the Quantum Informa- 6 tion Science of the National Science and Tech- 7 nology Council established under section 8 103(a); and 9 ‘‘(D) the Chair of the subcommittee on the 10 Economic and Security Implications of Quan- 11 tum Science; 12 ‘‘(2) provide researchers based within the 13 United States with access to, and use of, United 14 States quantum computing resources through a com- 15 petitive, merit-reviewed process; 16 ‘‘(3) consider applications from the National 17 Laboratories, multi-institutional collaborations, insti- 18 tutions of higher education, industry stakeholders, 19 and any other entities that the Secretary determines 20 are appropriate to provide national leadership on 21 quantum computing related issues; and 22 ‘‘(4) consult and coordinate with private sector 23 stakeholders, the user community, and interagency 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:30 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1837.IH H1837 4 •HR 1837 IH partners on program development and best manage- 1 ment practices. 2 ‘‘(c) LEVERAGING.—In carrying out this section, the 3 Secretary shall leverage resources and expertise across the 4 Department of Energy and from— 5 ‘‘(1) the National Institute of Standards and 6 Technology; 7 ‘‘(2) the National Science Foundation; 8 ‘‘(3) the National Aeronautics and Space Ad- 9 ministration; 10 ‘‘(4) other relevant Federal agencies; 11 ‘‘(5) the National Laboratories; 12 ‘‘(6) industry stakeholders; 13 ‘‘(7) institutions of higher education; and 14 ‘‘(8) the National Quantum Information 15 Science Research Centers. 16 ‘‘(d) SECURITY.—In carrying out the activities au- 17 thorized by this section, the Secretary, in consultation 18 with the Director of the National Science Foundation and 19 the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 20 Technology, shall ensure proper security controls are in 21 place to protect sensitive information, as appropriate. 22 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 23 date of the enactment of the QUEST Act of 2021, the 24 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Science, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:30 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1837.IH H1837 5 •HR 1837 IH Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 1 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 2 the Senate, a report on the results of the QUEST program 3 activities and any other information the Secretary deter- 4 mines appropriate. 5 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—Funds authorized to be appro- 6 priated for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, 7 there shall be made available to the Secretary to carry out 8 the activities under this section, 9 ‘‘(1) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 10 ‘‘(2) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 11 ‘‘(3) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 12 ‘‘(4) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 13 ‘‘(5) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:30 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1837.IH H1837