[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6398 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6398

To authorize the Department of Energy to conduct collaborative research 
with the Department of Veterans Affairs in order to improve healthcare 
  services for veterans in the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 17, 2018

Mr. Norman (for himself, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. Smith 
 of Texas, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Knight, Mr. Rohrabacher, 
  Mr. Hultgren, Mr. Babin, Mrs. Comstock, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Biggs, Mr. 
  Marshall, and Mrs. Lesko) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in 
  addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Department of Energy to conduct collaborative research 
with the Department of Veterans Affairs in order to improve healthcare 
  services for veterans in the United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Energy Veterans' 
Health Initiative Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Energy.
            (2) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory'' 
        has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the Energy 
        Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to advance Department of Energy 
expertise in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing in 
order to improve health outcomes for veteran populations by--
            (1) supporting basic research through the application of 
        artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, modeling 
        and simulation, machine learning, and large-scale data 
        analytics to identify and solve outcome-defined challenges in 
        the health sciences;
            (2) maximizing the impact of health and genomics data 
        provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as 
        other sources, on science, innovation, and healthcare outcomes 
        through the use and advancement of artificial intelligence and 
        high-performance computing capabilities of the Department of 
        Energy;
            (3) promoting collaborative research through the 
        establishment of partnerships to improve data sharing between 
        Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of higher 
        education, and nonprofit institutions;
            (4) establishing multiple scientific computing user 
        facilities to house and provision available data to foster 
        transformational outcomes; and
            (5) driving the development of technology to improve 
        artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and 
        networking relevant to mission applications of the Department 
        of Energy, including modeling, simulation, machine learning, 
        and advanced data analytics.

SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY VETERANS HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish and carry out a 
research program in artificial intelligence and high-performance 
computing, focused on the development of tools to solve big data 
challenges associated with veteran's healthcare, and to support the 
efforts of the Department of Veterans Affairs to identify potential 
health risks and challenges utilizing data on long-term healthcare, 
health risks, and genomic data collected from veteran populations. The 
Secretary shall carry out this program through a competitive, merit-
reviewed process, and consider applications from National Laboratories, 
institutions of higher education, multi-institutional collaborations, 
and other appropriate entities.
    (b) Program Components.--In carrying out the program established 
under subsection (a), the Secretary may--
            (1) conduct basic research in modeling and simulation, 
        machine learning, large-scale data analytics, and predictive 
        analysis in order to develop novel or optimized algorithms for 
        prediction of disease treatment and recovery;
            (2) develop methods to accommodate large data sets with 
        variable quality and scale, and to provide insight and models 
        for complex systems;
            (3) develop new approaches and maximize the use of 
        algorithms developed through artificial intelligence, machine 
        learning, data analytics, natural language processing, modeling 
        and simulation, and develop new algorithms suitable for high-
        performance computing systems and large biomedical data sets;
            (4) advance existing and construct new data enclaves 
        capable of securely storing data sets provided by the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and 
        other sources; and
            (5) promote collaboration and data sharing between National 
        Laboratories, research entities, and user facilities of the 
        Department by providing the necessary access and secure data 
        transfer capabilities.
    (c) Coordination.--In carrying out the program required under 
subsection (a), the Secretary is authorized to--
            (1) enter into a memorandum of understanding with the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs and other entities in order to 
        maximize the effectiveness of Department of Energy research and 
        development to improve veterans' healthcare; and
            (2) consult with the Department of Veterans Affairs and 
        other Federal agencies as appropriate.
    (d) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs 
of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, 
a report detailing the effectiveness of--
            (1) the interagency coordination between each Federal 
        agency involved in the research program carried out under this 
        section;
            (2) collaborative research achievements of the program; and
            (3) potential opportunities to expand the technical 
        capabilities of the Department.
    (e) Funding.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall devote 
$27,000,000 to carry out this section for fiscal years 2019 and 2020, 
subject to the availability of appropriations, to come from amounts 
made available for medical and prosthetic research. This section shall 
be carried out using funds otherwise appropriated by law after the date 
of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DATA ANALYTICS, AND COMPUTATIONAL 
              RESEARCH PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a pilot program to 
develop tools for big data analytics by utilizing data sets generated 
by Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
research organizations, and industry in order to advance artificial 
intelligence technologies to solve complex, big data challenges. The 
Secretary shall carry out this program through a competitive, merit-
reviewed process, and consider applications from National Laboratories, 
institutions of higher education, multi-institutional collaborations, 
and other appropriate entities.
    (b) Program Components.--In carrying out the pilot program 
established under subsection (a), the Secretary may--
            (1) establish a cross-cutting research initiative to 
        prevent duplication and coordinate research efforts in 
        artificial intelligence and data analytics across the 
        Department;
            (2) conduct basic research in modeling and simulation, 
        artificial intelligence, machine learning, large-scale data 
        analytics, natural language processing, and predictive analysis 
        in order to develop novel or optimized predictive algorithms 
        suitable for high-performance computing systems and large 
        biomedical data sets;
            (3) develop multivariate optimization models to accommodate 
        large data sets with variable quality and scale in order to 
        visualize complex systems;
            (4) establish multiple scientific computing user facilities 
        to serve as data enclaves capable of securely storing data sets 
        created by Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, 
        nonprofit organizations, or industry at National Laboratories; 
        and
            (5) promote collaboration and data sharing between National 
        Laboratories, research entities, and user facilities of the 
        Department by providing the necessary access and secure data 
        transfer capabilities.
    (c) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report 
evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program under subsection (a), 
including basic research discoveries achieved in the course of the 
program and potential opportunities to expand the technical 
capabilities of the Department through the development of artificial 
intelligence and data analytics technologies.
    (d) Funding.--For purposes of carrying out this section, the 
Secretary of Energy shall devote $52,000,000 to carry out this section, 
which shall include $26,000,000 for each fiscal years 2019 and 2020, 
subject to the availability of appropriations. This section shall be 
carried out using funds otherwise appropriated by law after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. SPENDING LIMITATION.

    No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and this Act and such 
amendments shall be carried out using amounts otherwise available for 
such purpose.
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