[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2575 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2575
To authorize an AI Center of Excellence within the General Services
Administration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 8, 2019
Mr. McNerney (for himself and Mr. Meadows) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize an AI Center of Excellence within the General Services
Administration, 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 ``AI in Government Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``Administration'' means the General Services
Administration;
(2) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of
General Services;
(3) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given the term in
section 3502 of title 44, United States Code;
(4) the term ``AI CoE'' means the AI Center of Excellence
described in section 3;
(5) the term ``artificial intelligence'' means any method
implemented on a computer, including any method that is drawn
from machine learning, data science, or statistics, to enable
the computer to carry out a task or behavior that would require
intelligence if performed by a human;
(6) the term ``Board'' means the advisory board established
under section 5(a);
(7) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget;
(8) the term ``institution of higher education'' has the
meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002); and
(9) the term ``nonprofit organization'' means an
organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of that Code.
SEC. 3. AI CENTER OF EXCELLENCE.
(a) In General.--There is established within the Administration an
office to be known as the ``AI Center of Excellence'', which shall--
(1) advise and promote the efforts of the Federal
Government in developing innovative uses of artificial
intelligence by the Federal Government to the benefit of the
public; and
(2) improve cohesion and competency in the use of
artificial intelligence.
(b) Duties.--The duties of the AI CoE shall include--
(1) regularly convening individuals from agencies,
industry, Federal laboratories, nonprofit organizations,
institutions of higher education, and other entities to discuss
recent developments in artificial intelligence, including the
dissemination of information regarding programs, pilots, and
other initiatives at agencies, as well as recent trends and
relevant information on artificial intelligence;
(2) advising Federal Government acquisition and use of
artificial intelligence through technical insight and
expertise, as needed;
(3) assisting agencies in applying the management and use
of data in applications of artificial intelligence;
(4) identifying and disseminating information regarding
educational and workforce development opportunities for agency
employees relative to artificial intelligence topics, and
leading those opportunities, as needed;
(5) studying economic, policy, legal, and ethical
challenges and implications related to the use of artificial
intelligence by the Federal Government, including how the
privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights of individuals are
or will be affected by the use of artificial intelligence by
the Federal Government;
(6) encouraging and assisting joint initiatives with State
or local governments, regional organizations, private
businesses, institutions of higher education, nonprofit
organizations, and Federal laboratories to advance the
innovative use of artificial intelligence in government; and
(7) assisting relevant agencies in developing and
maintaining plans for the governance of agency artificial
intelligence systems.
(c) Staff.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall provide necessary
staff, resources, and administrative support for the AI CoE.
(2) Temporary or term appointments.--The Administrator may
hire temporary or term employees in accordance with part 316 of
title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor
regulation, to serve as AI CoE employees.
(3) Fellows.--The Administrator may, to the maximum extent
practicable, appoint fellows to participate in the AI CoE from
nonprofit organizations, think tanks, institutions of higher
education, and industry.
(4) Details.--When appropriate, and to the maximum extent
practicable, the Administrator may detail AI CoE employees to
agencies on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis in
accordance with section 3341 of title 5, United States Code.
(d) Report to Congress.--The Administrator shall submit to Congress
an annual report on the AI CoE, which shall include, for the preceding
year--
(1) a summary of the activity of the AI CoE, including a
description of specific projects worked on in partnership with
agencies;
(2) recommendations on ways in which agencies can better
support the development and deployment of artificial
intelligence, including initiatives designed to promote
knowledge of those technologies among the Federal workforce;
and
(3) an identification of joint initiatives encouraged or
assisted under subsection (b)(6).
(e) Transfer of Functions.--All functions of the Emerging Citizen
Technology Office of the Administration, including the personnel,
assets, and obligations of the Emerging Citizen Technology Office, as
in existence before the date of enactment of this Act, shall be
transferred to the AI CoE.
(f) Deeming of Name.--Any reference in law, regulation, document,
paper, or other record of the United States to the Emerging Citizen
Technology Office of the Administration shall be deemed a reference to
the AI CoE.
SEC. 4. AGENCY GOVERNANCE PLANS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS.
(a) Guidance.--In order to develop a clear and comprehensive
understanding of how artificial intelligence can be used to deliver
benefits to citizens of the United States while mitigating risks, the
Director, in coordination with the Administrator, the head of any
relevant agency as determined by the Director, and key stakeholders,
shall issue a memorandum to the head of each agency that shall--
(1) inform the development of artificial intelligence
governance approaches by those agencies regarding technologies
and applications that--
(A) are empowered or enabled by the use of
artificial intelligence within that agency; and
(B) advance the innovative use of artificial
intelligence for the benefit of the public while
upholding civil liberties, privacy, and civil rights;
(2) consider ways to reduce barriers to the use of
artificial intelligence in order to promote innovative
application of those technologies for the benefit of the
public, while protecting civil liberties, privacy, and civil
rights;
(3) establish best practices for identifying, assessing,
and mitigating any bias on the basis of any classification
protected under Federal nondiscrimination laws or other
negative unintended consequence stemming from the use of
artificial intelligence systems; and
(4) provide a template of the required contents of the
agency Governance Plans described in subsection (b).
(b) Agency Governance Plans.--Not later than 180 days after the
date on which the memorandum is issued under subsection (a), the head
of each agency shall--
(1) review the applications of artificial intelligence at
the agency;
(2) identify and prioritize applications of artificial
intelligence that would significantly benefit the public while
upholding civil liberties, privacy, and civil rights; and
(3) submit to the Director and the Administrator a
Governance Plan to achieve consistency with the memorandum.
(c) Public Availability.--Each agency described in subsection (b)
shall--
(1) not later than 1 year after the date on which the head
of the agency submits the Governance Plan of the agency under
subsection (b), and each year thereafter, update the Governance
Plan pursuant to any change in the factors described in (a)(1);
(2) solicit public feedback during the development of the
Governance Plan in the form of public hearings and online
submission of comments; and
(3) make available each Governance Plan centrally available
in a machine-readable format at a publicly available online
portal on the website of the agency.
(d) Central Online Governance Plans Portal.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall maintain a single
public interface online to compile published agency Governance
Plans in accordance with subsection (c).
(2) Submission of links.--The Administrator and the
Director shall ensure that agencies can submit links, with
appropriate descriptive metadata, to the public Governance
Plans for publication and public availability on the interface
described in paragraph (1).
SEC. 5. ADVISORY BOARD.
(a) In General.--The Administrator shall establish an advisory
board to advise the Administrator on issues that are relevant to the
mission and duties of the AI CoE and to inform the priorities and
projects worked on by the AI CoE.
(b) Composition.--
(1) Chair.--The Director shall serve as Chair of the Board.
(2) Other members.--The Board shall be composed of the
following members:
(A) One designee from each of the following:
(i) The Office of Science and Technology
Policy.
(ii) The Department of Commerce.
(B) Six designees from agencies not listed in
subparagraph (A), who shall be designated by the Chair
of the Board once every 12 months.
(C) Eight members designated by the Chair of the
Board once every 6 months, of whom--
(i) four shall be representatives of
relevant industries;
(ii) two shall be representatives of
institutions of higher education; and
(iii) two shall be representatives of
public interest groups representing privacy,
civil liberties, and civil rights issues.
(3) Qualifications.--Each member of the Board designated
under subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (2) shall have
demonstrated experience and expertise in the field of
artificial intelligence.
(c) Meetings.--The Board shall meet not less frequently than once
every 12 months.
(d) Annual List.--Each year, the Board shall publish on a publicly
available website a list of areas of improvement within the Federal
Government that would benefit from additional technical or technical
policy expertise.
(e) Compensation.--Members of the Board shall serve on the Board
without compensation, except that members of the Board may be allowed
travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates
authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57
of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular
places of business in the performance of services for the Board.
(f) Duration.--Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5
U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Board.
SEC. 6. UPDATE OF OCCUPATIONAL SERIES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
and in accordance with chapter 51 of title 5, United States Code, the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall--
(1) identify key skills and competencies needed for
positions related to artificial intelligence; and
(2) establish an occupational series, or update and improve
an existing occupational job series, to include positions the
primary duties of which relate to artificial intelligence.
SEC. 7. SUNSET.
Sections 3 and 5 of this Act shall cease to be effective on the
date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
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