[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S5267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3013. Mr. MORAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

       (a) In General.--Division E of the William M. (Mac) 
     Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
     2021 (Public Law 116-283; 134 Stat. 4523) is amended by 
     inserting after section 5303 the following new section:

     ``SEC. 5304. FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

       ``(a) In General.--The Director of the National Institute 
     of Standards and Technology shall--
       ``(1) develop standards and guidelines, including minimum 
     requirements, for artificial intelligence systems used or 
     operated by an agency or by a contractor of an agency or 
     other organization on behalf of an agency, other than 
     national security systems;
       ``(2) develop standards and guidelines, including minimum 
     requirements, for managing risks associated with artificial 
     intelligence systems for all agency operations and assets, 
     but such standards and guidelines shall not apply to national 
     security systems;
       ``(3) develop standards and guidelines, including minimum 
     requirements, for authenticating, tracking provenance, and 
     labeling synthetic content generated by an agency or by a 
     contractor of an agency or other organization on behalf of an 
     agency, other than national security systems; and
       ``(4) conduct research and analysis pursuant to section 
     5301 of this Act to inform the development of standards and 
     guidelines for activities described in this section.
       ``(b) Standards and Guidelines.--In developing standards 
     and guidelines required by subsections (a), the Director 
     shall--
       ``(1) provide standards and guidelines, practices, 
     profiles, and tools consistent with the framework, and 
     information on how agencies can leverage the framework to 
     reduce risks caused by agency implementation in the 
     development, procurement, and use of artificial intelligence 
     systems;
       ``(2) provide standards and guidelines that--
       ``(A) are consistent with the framework, successor 
     document, or technical standard that is functionally 
     equivalent to the framework;
       ``(B) are consistent with Circular A-119 of the Office of 
     Management and Budget, or successor circular; and
       ``(C) enable conformity assessment;
       ``(3) recommend training on standards and guidelines for 
     each agency responsible for procuring artificial 
     intelligence;
       ``(4) develop and periodically revise performance 
     indicators and measures for agency artificial intelligence 
     related standards and guidelines;
       ``(5) provide standards and guidelines, including minimum 
     requirements, for developing profiles for agency use of 
     artificial intelligence consistent with the framework;
       ``(6) develop profiles for framework use for an entity that 
     is a small business concern (as defined in section 3 of the 
     Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632));
       ``(7) evaluate artificial intelligence policies and 
     practices developed for national security systems to assess 
     potential application by agencies to strengthen risk 
     management of artificial intelligence systems; and
       ``(8) periodically assess the effectiveness of standards 
     and guidelines developed under this section and undertake 
     revisions as appropriate.
       ``(c) Readiness.--For standards and guidelines developed 
     pursuant to subsection (a) that are deemed by the Director to 
     be at a readiness level sufficient for standardization, the 
     Director--
       ``(1) shall submit standards and guidelines to the 
     Secretary of Commerce for promulgation under section 11331 of 
     title 40;
       ``(2) where practicable and appropriate, shall provide 
     technical review and assistance to agencies; and
       ``(3) shall evaluate the effectiveness and sufficiency of, 
     and challenges to, agencies' implementation of standards and 
     guidelines developed under this section and standards and 
     guidelines promulgated under section 11331 of title 40.
       ``(d) Testing and Evaluation of Artificial Intelligence 
     Acquisitions.--
       ``(1) Study.--Subject to the availability of 
     appropriations, the Director shall complete a study to review 
     the existing and forthcoming voluntary technical standards 
     for the test, evaluation, verification, and validation of 
     artificial intelligence acquisitions.
       ``(2) Testing and evaluation standards.--Not later than 90 
     days after the date of the completion of the study required 
     by paragraph (1), the Director shall--
       ``(A) convene relevant stakeholders to facilitate the 
     development of technical standards for the test, evaluation, 
     verification, and validation of artificial intelligence 
     acquisitions;
       ``(B) develop standards and guidelines for the conduct of 
     test, evaluation, verification, and validation of artificial 
     intelligence acquisitions pursuant to this section;
       ``(C) review and make recommendations to the head of each 
     agency on risk management policies and principles for 
     relevant artificial intelligence acquisitions; and
       ``(D) continuously update the standards and guidelines 
     described in this paragraph.
       ``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) The term `agency' means any department, independent 
     establishment, Government corporation, or other agency of the 
     executive branch of the Federal Government.
       ``(2) The term `artificial intelligence system' has the 
     meaning given such term in section 7223 of the Advancing 
     American AI Act (40 U.S.C. 11301 note).
       ``(3) The term `Director' means the Director of the 
     National Institute of Standards and Technology.
       ``(4) The term `framework' means the most recently updated 
     version of the framework developed and updated pursuant to 
     section 22A(c) of the National Institute of Standards and 
     Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h-1(c)).
       ``(5) The term `national security system' has the meaning 
     givne such term in section 3552(b)(6) of title 44, United 
     States Code.
       ``(6) The term `profile' means an implementation of the 
     artificial intelligence risk management functions, 
     categories, and subcategories for a specific setting or 
     application based on the requirements, risk tolerance, and 
     resources of the framework user.
       ``(7) The term `synthetic content' means information, such 
     as images, videos, audio clips, and text, that has been 
     significantly modified or generated by algorithms, including 
     by artificial intelligence.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 
     2(b) of such Act is amended by inserting after the item 
     relating to section 5303 the following new item:

``Sec. 5304. Federal standards for artificial intelligence.''.
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