[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 143 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 143
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 16, 2019
Ms. Ernst (for herself, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Portman, Mr. Gardner, Mr. King,
and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following bill; which was read twice
and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
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 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 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 allocate up
to $27,000,000 during the period of fiscal years 2019 through 2023 to
carry out this section, subject to the availability of appropriations.
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.--The Secretary of Energy shall allocate up to
$26,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 and 2020 to carry out this
section, subject to the availability of appropriations.
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