12 March 1992 /internet/legislative.actions/hearing.12mar92/traxler.testimony statement of HONORABLE BOB TRAXLER HOUSE SCIENCE, SPACE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE MARCH 12, 1992 Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to appear before your Subcommittee today. This hearing is an important step in the process of our fully understanding and appreciating the various factors that should be considered as we chart the future of computer networking in this country. I appear before you today as Chairman of the VA-HUD and Independent Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. My Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the National Science Foundation, an important player in the creation and nurturing of NSFNet. I want you to know that as Chairman of the Subcommittee that has recommended millions of dollars for the creation of our nation's six federally funded supercomputer centers and for NSFNet itself, I feel extremely proud of the way in which that network has evolved. The litany of accomplishments of the NSFNet is long and impressive and, I believe, those accomplishments reflect exactly what the Congress and NSF intended when setting up the network. Virtually all observers agree that NSFNet has been a resounding success. It is a stellar example of cooperation between the federal government, the academic research community and the private sector. It is a homegrown system, if you will, that has given the United States clear leadership in computing networking, while at the same time providing boundless opportunities for students, scientists, the business community--individuals from virtually every walk of life--to access resources ranging from electronic bulletin boards to supercomputers across this continent and around the world. NSFNet links our nation's institutions of higher education, including some 65% of all universities, government and research laboratories, representing a significant portion of the larger Internet system, and also representing the forerunner for the National Research and Education Network (NREN). As such it has truly become an invaluable asset critical to our nation's competitiveness. NSFNet, however, is no monolith. Rather it is a "network of networks," with its backbone now being tied into by some 5,000 individual networks, an estimated 1,500 of them from outside the United States, linking us to 36 other nations in Europe and the Pacific Rim. I am pleased with the evolution of NSFNet to date because I believe it has provided one of the most outstanding examples of inter-agency cooperation and it has thus effectively made maximum use of our increasingly scarce federal resources. Importantly, federal investment in NSFNet has leveraged private investment. Merit Network, Inc., through its corporate partners has invested four dollars for every federal dollar expended. The regional education networks have invested many times more. As a result, the network that has been created continues to grow and to spread into all sectors of our nation's daily commerce and educational experience. I believe that through its practical development and demonstration of networking techniques and capabilities, NSFNet has put us many years ahead of where we otherwise would have been in this endeavor. It has opened numerous commercial opportunities and has paved thw way for the day when a neteork of this enormity can in fact be sustained by the private sector. In fact, through the efforts now underway to develop and demonstrate networking technologies, business opportunities have been created and will continue to emerge as we move toward broader and broader "mass service" markets. Are we there yet? I think that is one excellent question for your hearings today. My personal feeling is that, even as commercial opportunities grow, NSFNet has much work still to be done. I would hope that we can keep the momentum and the leadership we have in this area. I believe government involvement can and should continue to be used to insure that the breakneck pace of advancement in the field of computer networking can be martialled to our further benefit. Rather than impeding commercial opportunities, I believe NSFNet has fostered them. That is just what I believe the Congress intended. Likewise, I believe NSFNet is our best hope for staying at the leading edge of networking technology worldwide. Its work in creating networking standards and developing technology transfer systems will continue to stimulate new uses of the network and, therefore, further new commercial opportunities. I congratulate you on your hearings today and I look forward to working with you on this critically important project and these important issues.