This story was originally published on September 14, 2018.

(CNN Business) The United States just took a step forward in its battle for global computing supremacy.

The US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Thursday to help it match China in quantum computing capabilities. Quantum computers promise to be orders of magnitude faster than the traditional computers we use today.

The bill was passed shortly after the Center for New American Security, a Washington, DC-based think tank of former Pentagon officials, warned in a new report China's focus on quantum technologies could help it to surpass the United States military.

Traditional computers store data as a binary digit, like a light switch that's on or off. Quantum computing relies on qubits, which can be in many positions at once.

This creates new possibilities for more powerful computers, and quantum advocates speak excitedly of new options such as more secure communications and improved cancer treatments.

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