[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 617 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 617


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 24, 2019

   Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
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 the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs' health and genomics data housed at the National 
        Laboratories, as well as data from other sources, on science, 
        innovation, and health care 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 memoranda of understanding in order to carry 
        out reimbursable agreements 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;
            (2) consult with the Department of Veterans Affairs and 
        other Federal agencies as appropriate; and
            (3) ensure that data storage meets all privacy and security 
        requirements established by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
        and that access to data is provided in accordance with relevant 
        Department of Veterans Affairs data access policies, including 
        informed consent.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 2 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.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out this section $27,000,000 
during the period of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.

SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to carry out research, 
development, and demonstration activities to develop tools to apply to 
big data that enable Federal agencies, institutions of higher 
education, nonprofit research organizations, and industry to better 
leverage the capabilities of the Department to solve complex, big data 
challenges. The Secretary shall carry out these activities through a 
competitive, merit-reviewed process, and consider applications from 
National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, multi-
institutional collaborations, and other appropriate entities.
    (b) Activities.--In carrying out the research, development, and 
demonstration activities authorized under subsection (a), the Secretary 
may--
            (1) utilize all available mechanisms to prevent duplication 
        and coordinate research efforts across the Department;
            (2) establish multiple 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
            (3) 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 2 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 activities authorized under subsection (a).
    (d) Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Energy to carry out subsection (a) $15,000,000 for each of 
the fiscal years 2020 through 2023.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 23, 2019.

            Attest:

                                             CHERYL L. JOHNSON,

                                                                 Clerk.