[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H7023-H7025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WITH RESPECT TO 
 THE PRINCIPLES THAT SHOULD GUIDE THE NATIONAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 
                     STRATEGY OF THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology; the Committee on Education and Labor; 
the Committee on Oversight and Reform; the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs; the Committee on Energy and Commerce; and the Committee on 
Ways and Means be discharged from further consideration of H. Res. 
1250, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1250

       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF THE NATIONAL ARTIFICIAL 
                   INTELLIGENCE STRATEGY OF THE UNITED STATES.

       (a) Findings.--The House of Representatives finds the 
     following:
       (1) In general, artificial intelligence is the ability of a 
     computer system to solve problems and to perform tasks that 
     would otherwise require human intelligence.
       (2) Artificial intelligence will transform the nature of 
     work and nearly all aspects of the United States economy.
       (3) Artificial intelligence will have immense implications 
     for the security of the United States and its allies and 
     partners.
       (4) Investments made by the United States Government will 
     be instrumental in the research and development of artificial 
     intelligence and artificial intelligence-enabling 
     technologies, as it has been for many of the world's 
     revolutionary technologies.
       (5) Developing and using artificial intelligence in ways 
     that are ethical, reduce bias, promote fairness, and protect 
     privacy is essential for fostering a positive effect on 
     society consistent with core United States values.
       (6) The Obama Administration released the Big Data Research 
     and Development Initiative in 2012, Executive Order 13702 
     (relating to creating a national strategic computing 
     initiative) in 2015, and the National Artificial Intelligence 
     Research and Development Strategic Plan in 2016.
       (7) The Trump Administration released Executive Order 13859 
     (relating to maintaining American leadership in artificial 
     intelligence), updated the National Artificial Intelligence 
     Research and Development Strategic Plan in 2019, and released 
     Office of Management and Budget guidance for regulation of 
     artificial intelligence applications in 2020.
       (8) In May 2019, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation 
     and Development (OECD) adopted the OECD Principles on 
     Artificial Intelligence, which included the principles of 
     inclusive growth, sustainable development and well-being, 
     human-centered values and fairness, transparency and 
     explainability, robustness, security and safety, and 
     accountability.
       (9) In February 2020, the European Commission began a 
     consultation process with the release of their white paper 
     ``On Artificial Intelligence - A European approach to 
     excellence and trust'', which set out policy options for a 
     coordinated European approach to artificial intelligence 
     regulation.
       (10) In June 2020, the G7 and several partners launched the 
     Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to increase 
     cooperation focused around the areas of responsible 
     artificial intelligence, data governance, the future of work, 
     and innovation and commercialization.
       (11) Several United States allies, including Canada, 
     Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, 
     and South Korea, have published national artificial 
     intelligence strategies with detailed funding commitments.
       (12) In 2017, China published a national artificial 
     intelligence strategy that detailed the Chinese Communist 
     Party's goal to become the world's primary artificial 
     intelligence innovation center by 2030.
       (13) In 2019, Russia published a national artificial 
     intelligence strategy and, in 2017, Russian President 
     Vladimir Putin said that ``whoever becomes the leader in this 
     sphere will become the ruler of the world''.
       (14) In 2018, the Subcommittee on Information Technology of 
     the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 
     of Representatives, under the leadership of Chairman Will 
     Hurd and Ranking Member Robin Kelly, published ``Rise of the 
     Machines: Artificial Intelligence and its Growing Impact on 
     U.S. Policy'' following a series of hearings on artificial 
     intelligence with experts from academia, industry, and 
     government, concluding that ``the United States cannot 
     maintain its global leadership in artificial intelligence 
     absent political leadership from Congress and the Executive 
     Branch''.
       (15) Congress serves a critical role in establishing 
     national priorities, funding scientific research and 
     development, supporting

[[Page H7024]]

     emerging technologies, and sustaining cooperation with our 
     allies to protect the national security of the United States.
       (b) National Artificial Intelligence Strategy Principles.--
     It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
     following principles should guide the national artificial 
     intelligence strategy of the United States:
       (1) Global leadership.
       (2) A prepared workforce.
       (3) National security.
       (4) Effective research and development.
       (5) Ethics, reduced bias, fairness, and privacy.

     SEC. 2. GLOBAL LEADERSHIP.

       It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
     United States should take a global leadership role in 
     artificial intelligence.

     SEC. 3. WORKFORCE PREPARATION.

       (a) Findings.--The House of Representatives finds the 
     following:
       (1) Artificial intelligence and automation will present 
     significant challenges to workers in affected industries due 
     to the automating of some routine and repetitive tasks, but 
     will also create additional employment opportunities.
       (2) Closing the artificial intelligence talent gap in the 
     short and medium-term will require a targeted approach to 
     identifying and filling roles that require the skills to 
     build and work with artificial intelligence systems.
       (3) The United States should take a leadership role in the 
     artificial intelligence-driven economy by filling the 
     artificial intelligence talent gap and preparing United 
     States workers for the jobs of the future, including by 
     prioritizing inclusivity and equal opportunity.
       (4) Departments and agencies of the Federal Government are 
     increasingly using data to administer benefits, assess 
     outcomes, and fulfill other mission-critical activities.
       (5) Effectively creating, managing, and implementing 
     artificial intelligence related research and development 
     grants will require technical expertise.
       (6) Departments and agencies of the Federal Government will 
     need to be able to recruit employees with technical 
     expertise.
       (7) Lifelong learning and skill acquisition can increase 
     flexibility with respect to career opportunities.
       (8) The United States will need to be able to attract the 
     best artificial intelligence researchers and computer 
     scientists from around the world to work in the United 
     States.
       (b) Matters to Consider.--
       (1) Education.--It is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that the national competitiveness of the 
     United States in artificial intelligence would benefit from--
       (A) increased funding for Federal programs that support 
     science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer 
     science education;
       (B) grant programs that continue funding the integration of 
     ethics courses and modules into science, engineering, and 
     computer science curricula;
       (C) new education programs of study related to artificial 
     intelligence that incorporate industry-recognized 
     credentials, including certifications and certificates, 
     embedded within secondary and postsecondary degree programs; 
     and
       (D) continued support for teacher preparation programs that 
     increase the number of teachers with the ability to teach 
     science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer 
     science education.
       (2) Promoting diversity.--It is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that--
       (A) the inclusion of students from historically under-
     represented groups in existing technology education programs 
     would benefit a diverse artificial intelligence workforce; 
     and
       (B) recruitment and retention policies with respect to 
     under-represented communities and marginalized groups in the 
     Federal workforce should be reviewed for the purpose of 
     determining if such policies require modification for 
     technology workers.
       (3) Artificial intelligence training.--
       (A) In general.--It is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that the Federal Government should assess the 
     effectiveness of current public workforce development 
     programs with respect to the additional support such programs 
     will need to effectively address job disruptions and job 
     creations that result from the increased use of artificial 
     intelligence.
       (B) Work-based learning and on-the-job training programs.--
     It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
     Federal Government should support the adoption of work-based 
     learning and on-the-job training programs to prepare the 
     United States workforce for an artificial intelligence-
     influenced economy, including by--
       (i) undertaking studies to determine best practices to 
     implement such programs; and
       (ii) ensuring that there is sufficient Federal funding to 
     support high-quality programs that coordinate with Federal 
     workforce development programs.
       (4) Federal hiring practices.--It is the sense of the House 
     of Representatives that the Federal Government should--
       (A) allow technical experts to use their skills to assist 
     multiple departments and agencies of the Federal Government, 
     such as the United States Digital Service;
       (B) focus on the retention of non-partisan experts within 
     the Federal Government who are working to modernize Federal 
     information technology;
       (C) include in the criteria for recruiting for artificial 
     intelligence jobs the consideration of a multi-disciplinary 
     set of skills, including an understanding of ethical 
     practices with respect to the design and use of artificial 
     intelligence systems, privacy, information security, law, and 
     civil liberties;
       (D) review hiring practices for employment in the Federal 
     Government for the purpose of ensuring that such practices do 
     not disqualify individuals with a less traditional 
     background, including due to a lack of undergraduate or 
     graduate degree attainment, who have skills that will benefit 
     work in artificial intelligence systems management and 
     research and development; and
       (E) conduct studies with respect to best practices for 
     skills-based hiring.

     SEC. 4. NATIONAL SECURITY.

       (a) Findings.--The House of Representatives finds the 
     following:
       (1) Artificial intelligence will have immense implications 
     for national and international security.
       (2) Artificial intelligence tools and systems can augment 
     human intelligence through human-machine collaboration and 
     teaming across the national security ecosystem.
       (3) Ensuring that the public trusts the ability of the 
     military to ethically use artificial intelligence and that 
     human operators in human-machine teams trust the artificial 
     intelligence will be critical factors with respect to the 
     successful implementation of artificial intelligence systems.
       (4) The continued proliferation of national artificial 
     intelligence strategies, plans, statements, and investments 
     demonstrates the increase in global competition in this area.
       (5) New paradigms will be required to effectively test 
     artificial intelligence and to ensure that it is reliable and 
     stable.
       (6) Export and investment controls will be important policy 
     tools to prevent the acquisition of sensitive artificial 
     intelligence and artificial intelligence-enabling 
     technologies, including hardware such as semiconductors and 
     semiconductor manufacturing equipment, by China, Russia, and 
     other adversaries.
       (b) Matters to Consider.--
       (1) Collaboration with foreign nations.--It is the sense of 
     the House of Representatives that the United States should--
       (A) leverage its alliances to promote democratic 
     principles, foster research collaboration, and develop common 
     standards with respect to artificial intelligence;
       (B) promote the interoperability of artificial intelligence 
     for the purpose of strengthening alliances;
       (C) along with allies, take a leading role in international 
     forums to set artificial intelligence principles, norms, and 
     standards; and
       (D) undertake efforts to engage with China and Russia with 
     respect to--
       (i) shared concerns about artificial intelligence safety; 
     and
       (ii) confidence-building by establishing crisis 
     communications procedures designed to reduce the likelihood 
     of unintentional use and the risk of escalation with respect 
     to artificial intelligence systems.
       (2) Foreign artificial intelligence capability.--It is the 
     sense of the House of Representatives that national security 
     agencies should consider conditions-based and capabilities-
     based approaches when evaluating global artificial 
     intelligence capabilities.
       (3) Development and deployment.--It is the sense of the 
     House of Representatives that national security agencies 
     should--
       (A) collaborate with experts in academia, the private 
     sector, and other departments and agencies of the Federal 
     Government to develop best practices for testing, evaluation, 
     validation, and verification of artificial intelligence 
     systems;
       (B) devote agency resources, including investing in 
     research, for the purpose of promoting trustworthiness with 
     respect to human-machine teams;
       (C) engage with experts to develop guidelines for the 
     ethical development and use of artificial intelligence 
     systems; and
       (D) prioritize the development of artificial intelligence 
     systems to cover non-critical tasks until such systems can 
     achieve suitable standards of reliability, interoperability, 
     and security.
       (4) Export and investment controls.--It is the sense of the 
     House of Representatives that the United States should 
     collaborate with its allies to prevent the misuse of 
     artificial intelligence systems by China, Russia, and other 
     adversaries.

     SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

       (a) Findings.--The House of Representatives finds the 
     following:
       (1) Federal funding plays an important role in research and 
     development.
       (2) Federal research and development investments need to be 
     significantly increased to ensure United States leadership in 
     artificial intelligence.
       (3) Federally supported research will play an important 
     role in supporting artificial intelligence techniques that 
     are critical to United States artificial intelligence 
     leadership, including by exploring novel techniques that 
     leverage smaller data sets to train artificial intelligence 
     systems and making more efficient use of computing resources.
       (4) Artificial intelligence advances are enabled by Federal 
     research and development

[[Page H7025]]

     investments in other technology sectors because United States 
     economic competitiveness and national security will depend on 
     strong capabilities across a range of technologies.
       (5) Computing power is essential to progress in artificial 
     intelligence development, and the amount of computing power 
     required for artificial intelligence training runs is 
     increasing exponentially.
       (6) A new wave of technological advances could be fostered 
     by combining and increasing access to government-owned and 
     government-funded computing and data resources.
       (7) Expanding access to digital infrastructure, such as 
     broadband, will be essential to creating new job 
     opportunities and stimulating the growth of new technology 
     and innovation clusters to support United States leadership 
     in artificial intelligence.
       (8) Incentivizing research and development across the 
     private sector, particularly from smaller companies, will 
     further strengthen the United States innovation ecosystem.
       (9) The United States is an attractive research and 
     development partner because it is home to world-class 
     universities, research institutes, and corporations.
       (10) Decades of experience show that joint work with 
     foreign researchers can be done with great benefit and little 
     detriment to United States economic and national security 
     with the implementation of proper safeguards.
       (11) Artificial intelligence standards and measurement are 
     essential to fostering artificial intelligence technologies 
     that are safe, secure, reliable, and comport with the norms 
     and values of the United States.
       (12) Metrics are how the artificial intelligence research 
     community guides itself and prioritizes research.
       (13) Benchmark tests are necessary to understand the 
     performance of an artificial intelligence system.
       (14) Current tests for measuring artificial intelligence 
     range from vague and conceptual to well-defined and mature.
       (15) Artificial intelligence measurement methodologies are 
     not static and will require periodic reexaminations and 
     updates of testing methodologies to ensure that artificial 
     intelligence systems are functioning according to best-known 
     practices.
       (16) United States leadership in global artificial 
     intelligence standards-setting will help ensure that 
     artificial intelligence implementations are in accordance 
     with United States strengths and comport with the interests 
     and values of the United States.
       (17) Public engagement is necessary for developing 
     voluntary consensus standards, guidelines, and frameworks to 
     ensure diverse perspectives are considered.
       (b) Matters to Consider.--
       (1) Federal funding.--It is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that the Federal Government should increase 
     investments in artificial intelligence research and 
     development and related fields.
       (2) Collaboration with other entities.--It is the sense of 
     the House of Representatives that departments and agencies of 
     the Federal Government should collaborate--
       (A) with the private sector, civil society, and academia--
       (i) to ensure that the United States innovation ecosystem 
     leads the world in artificial intelligence research and 
     development; and
       (ii) to develop voluntary consensus standards, guidelines, 
     and frameworks that will help create shared conceptual 
     foundations, terminology, and best practices for artificial 
     intelligence fairness and bias mitigation; and
       (B) with science funding organizations in like-minded 
     countries to establish multilateral teams of artificial 
     intelligence researchers from the public and private sectors 
     to promote additional talent development and foster 
     partnerships on artificial intelligence research and 
     development.
       (3) Expanding digital access.--It is the sense of the House 
     of Representatives that the Federal Government should--
       (A) expand access to broadband in rural and underserved 
     areas;
       (B) expand the availability of affordable graphics 
     processing units and high-performance computers in rural and 
     underserved areas;
       (C) improve digital infrastructure in the United States; 
     and
       (D) make data created by federally-funded scientific and 
     technical research publicly available with appropriate 
     privacy protections to provide artificial intelligence 
     researchers with new data sets to train their systems.
       (4) National computing and data resource.--It is the sense 
     of the House of Representatives that Congress should consider 
     establishing a national computing and data resource.
       (5) Access to national laboratories.--It is the sense of 
     the House of Representatives that the existing supercomputing 
     labs at the national laboratories and technology centers of 
     the Department of Energy should expand opportunities for 
     academics and researchers to access such labs for artificial 
     intelligence research and research related to artificial 
     intelligence.
       (6) Tax incentives.--It is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that Congress should examine whether targeted 
     incentives and reforms to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
     would increase private sector research and development, 
     particularly with respect to small cap corporations.

     SEC. 6. ETHICS, REDUCED BIAS, FAIRNESS, AND PRIVACY.

       (a) Findings.--The House of Representatives finds the 
     following:
       (1) The rise of artificial intelligence has great potential 
     to improve quality of life for individuals in the United 
     States, provided it is developed and used in a manner that is 
     ethical, reduces bias, promotes fairness, and protects 
     privacy.
       (2) A diverse artificial intelligence workforce is 
     important for mitigating bias.
       (3) The United States is uniquely positioned to leverage 
     its diverse workforce to lead in artificial intelligence.
       (4) The starting point for Federal oversight of artificial 
     intelligence should be to review existing regulatory 
     frameworks.
       (5) Regulatory sandboxes, in general, refer to regulatory 
     structures where a participant obtains limited or temporary 
     access to a market in exchange for reduced regulatory 
     uncertainty, and can be used to test a product designed to 
     mitigate unintended bias or promote fairness in a small-scale 
     environment and under the supervision of regulators.
       (6) Federal programs should have necessary safeguards and 
     oversight processes.
       (7) Artificial intelligence regulatory approaches should 
     consider the level of risk associated with different 
     artificial intelligence applications.
       (b) Matters to Consider.--
       (1) Bias mitigation.--It is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that departments and agencies of the Federal 
     Government should--
       (A) support technical and non-technical research and 
     development to address potential bias, fairness, and privacy 
     issues in artificial intelligence;
       (B) improve access to a broad range of non-sensitive 
     government data assets to help train artificial intelligence 
     systems;
       (C) implement title II of the Foundations for Evidence-
     Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-435; 132 Stat. 
     5529);
       (D) develop policies to identify the data used to train 
     artificial intelligence algorithms as well as data analyzed 
     by artificial intelligence algorithms and systems in use by 
     departments and agencies; and
       (E) further develop and release to the public available 
     benchmark data assets with the proper safeguards to protect 
     privacy, mitigate bias, and promote inclusivity.
       (2) Regulation and legislation review.--It is the sense of 
     the House of Representatives that congressional committees 
     should--
       (A) review the range of existing Federal regulations and 
     laws that potentially apply to artificial intelligence;
       (B) determine which laws apply to artificial intelligence;
       (C) determine if any gaps in appropriate legislation and 
     regulation exist and how such gaps could be addressed;
       (D) advance Federal privacy reforms that build trust, 
     prevent harm, and maintain United States global leadership in 
     artificial intelligence; and
       (E) conduct regular oversight of artificial intelligence 
     policies in the executive branch within their jurisdiction.
       (3) Federal funding.--It is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that Congress should support funding for 
     departments and agencies of the Federal Government interested 
     in adopting programs, including regulatory sandboxes, for the 
     purposes of testing artificial intelligence tools in limited 
     markets.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________