High Performance Computing Act of 1991

High Performance Computing Act of 1991

Long title	An Act to provide for a coordinated Federal program to ensure continued United States leadership in high-performance computing.
Acronyms (colloquial)	HPCA
Nicknames	Gore Bill
Enacted by	the 102nd United States Congress
Effective	December 9, 1991
Citations
Public law	102-194
Statutes at Large	105 Stat. 1594
Codification
Titles amended	15 U.S.C.: Commerce and Trade
U.S.C. sections created	15 U.S.C. ch. 81 § 5501
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 272 by Al Gore (D-TN) on January 24, 1991 Committee consideration by Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee and Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space Passed the Senate on September 11, 1991 (passed) Passed the House on November 20, 1991 (passed) with amendment Senate agreed to House amendment on November 22, 1991 (agreed) Signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on December 9, 1991

The High Performance Computing Act of 1991 (HPCA) is an Act of Congress promulgated in the 102nd United States Congress as (Pub.L. 102–194) on December 9, 1991. Often referred to as the Gore Bill, it was created and introduced by then Senator Al Gore, and led to the development of the National Information Infrastructure and the funding of the National Research and Education Network (NREN).

The act built on prior U.S. efforts of developing a national networking infrastructure, starting with the ARPANET in the 1960s, and the funding of the National Science Foundation Network (NSFnet) in the 1980s. The renewed effort became known in popular language as building the Information superhighway. It also included the High-Performance Computing and Communications Initiative and spurred many significant technological developments, such as the Mosaic web browser, and the creation of a high-speed fiber optic computer network.

The bill was enacted on December 9, 1991, and led to the National Information Infrastructure (NII) which Gore referred to as the "Information superhighway". President George H. W. Bush predicted that the Act would help "unlock the secrets of DNA," open up foreign markets to free trade, and a promise of cooperation between government, academia, and industry.

Among the many technological achievements that resulted from the funding of the Gore Bill, was the development of Mosaic in 1993, the World Wide Web browser software which is credited by most scholars as beginning the Internet boom of the 1990s:

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