Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I wanted to reassure the Senate and thank Chairman Alexander for making sure that this legislation has $285 million in it for advanced computing. It also includes the Kirk language to ensure that the United States is home to the No. 1 supercomputer in the world. Today, China has the fastest computer in the world. It is called the Tianhe-2. It is clocked at 33.8 petaflops per second. Computers in the U.S. National Labs should soon topple China. It is a priority issue that I share with Chairman Alexander. The Titan computer, which is now at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, is ranked at No. 2 in the world. At Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, we are working on a computer to be upgraded which will soon be No. 1 in the world. It will clock in at 180 petaflops per second. That is 18 times faster than the current computer that is at Argonne called Mira and three times faster than China's top computer today. With that, supercomputing is essential for American competitiveness in the future. I think it is essential that we pass this legislation to make sure that we are all No. 1 in supercomputing. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.”