[Senate Report 116-225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 456
  
116th Congress  }                                            {   Report
                                SENATE                          
2d Session      }                                            {   116-225
_______________________________________________________________________                                     

                                                       


                      AI IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 2019

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 1363

           TO AUTHORIZE AN AI CENTER OF EXCELLENCE WITHIN THE
        GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
        
        

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]




                  June 1, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
                  
                  
                  
                            ______                      


             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
99-010               WASHINGTON : 2020            


                  
                  
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                    RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky                  THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah                    KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida                  KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming             JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Staff Director
                   Joseph C. Folio III, Chief Counsel
       Patrick J. Bailey, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs
               Andrew J. Timm, Professional Staff Member
               David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
               Zachary I. Schram, Minority Chief Counsel
              Michelle M. Benecke, Minority Senior Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     

                                                       Calendar No. 456
                                                       
                                                       
116th Congress    }                                           {   Report
                                 SENATE                                                                 
 2d Session       }                                           {   116-225

======================================================================



 
                      AI IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 2019

                                _______
                                

                  June 1, 2020.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1363]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1363) to authorize 
an AI Center of Excellence within the General Services 
Administration, and for other purposes, having considered the 
same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute and recommends that the bill, as amended, do 
pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................4
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................4
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................5
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................6
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............7

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    S. 1363, the AI in Government Act of 2019, creates a new 
office in the General Services Administration (GSA), called the 
``AI Center of Excellence,'' to promote adoption, use, 
competency, and cohesion of Federal Government applications of 
artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance productivity and 
efficiency of government operations for the public benefit.
    The bill also requires the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance for agency use of 
AI, requires agencies to develop Governance Plans based on 
OMB's guidance, and requires agencies to make publicly 
available their respective Governance Plans on their agency 
websites.
    Additionally, the bill requires the Director of the Office 
of Personnel Management (OPM) to identify skills and 
competencies necessary for Federal AI occupations, establish or 
update an existing occupational series for Federal AI 
occupations, estimate the current number of the Federal AI 
workforce, and prepare a three-year and ten-year forecast for 
Federal AI hiring needs.

              II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    When used by the Federal Government, AI has the potential 
to solve complex problems, reduce administrative burdens, and 
optimize resource allocations.\1\ Estimates show automating 
routine tasks alone could allow Federal agencies to deliver 
better, faster services; utilize up to 1.2 billion Federal 
employee labor hours for more critical tasks; and, potentially 
save the Federal Government up to $41.1 billion annually.\2\ 
Currently, over 120 Federal agencies use some form of AI to 
improve their citizen services and public sector demand for AI 
solutions will continue to grow.\3\ According to one study, 
``over two-thirds of U.S. federal agencies plan to make 
investments in AI technologies in the next year'' and ``82% of 
federal executives'' agree their agency will integrate AI 
within the next two years.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Hila Mehr, Artificial Intelligence for Citizen Services and 
Government, Harvard Kennedy School: Ash Center for Democratic 
Governance and Innovation (Aug. 2017), https://ash.harvard.edu/files/
ash/files/artificial_intelligence_for_citizen_services.pdf.
    \2\William D. Eggers, et. al, AI-Augmented Government: Using 
Cognitive Technologies to Redesign Public Sector Work, Deloitte 
University Press (2017), https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/
insights/us/articles/3832_AI-augmented-government/DUP_AI-augmented-
government.pdf.
    \3\David Freeman Engstrom, et. al., Government by Algorithm: AI Use 
by Federal Agencies (February 3, 2020), https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=SnGUWHgLP-Q.
    \4\Dominic Delmolino, Technology Advances. Federal Impacts. 
Intelligent Enterprise Unleashed: Accenture Technology Vision 2018. 
Accenture (2018), https://www.accenture.com/_ACNMEDIA/PDF-78/ACCENTURE-
FEDERAL-SERVICES-TECHVISION-2018.PDF#ZOOM=50.
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    Notwithstanding AI's potential benefits for Federal 
agencies, some have raised concerns about the technology's 
susceptibility to developing or perpetuating bias, lack of 
transparency and ability to explain decisions, and the adequacy 
of AI talent to meet current and future demand.\5\ To promote 
innovative uses of AI in the public sector while mitigating 
against potential risks and barriers to adoption, the AI in 
Government Act of 2019 codifies and expands existing Federal 
initiatives established in relation to the American AI 
Initiative ensuring continuity and sustained progress in public 
sector use of AI.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\Digital Decision-Making: The Building Blocks of Machine Learning 
and Artificial Intelligence: Hearing Before the S. Subcommittee on 
Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet of the Comm. 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 115th Cong. 33 (2017) 
(statement of Edward W. Felton, Robert E. Kahn Professor of Computer 
Science and Public Affairs, Princeton University).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In September 2019, the White House Office of Science and 
Technology Policy held The Summit on Artificial Intelligence in 
Government, attended by 175 leaders from the Federal 
Government, industry, and institutions of higher education, to 
discuss how the Federal Government can promote the adoption of 
AI for the public benefit.\6\ The Summit focused on the 
strategic objectives of the American AI Initiative initiated by 
President Trump through an executive order on February 14, 
2019.\7\ The key findings of the Summit included: ``leveraging 
experiences and best practices across government, industry, and 
academia . . . to accelerate AI use in government;'' Center of 
Excellence models ``can be an important mechanism for agencies 
to share AI expertise and best practices;'' and increased 
adoption of AI in the Federal Government will require a skilled 
workforce.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\Office of Science and Technology Policy, The White House, 
Summary of the 2019 White House Summit on Artificial Intelligence in 
Government (Sept. 9, 2019), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/
uploads/2019/09/Summary-of-White-House-Summit-on-AI-in-Government-
September-2019.pdf.
    \7\Exec. Order No. 13,859, 84 Fed. Reg. 3,967 (Feb. 14, 2019).
    \8\Office of Science and Technology Policy, The White House, 
Summary of the 2019 White House Summit on Artificial Intelligence in 
Government (Sept. 9, 2019), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/
uploads/2019/09/Summary-of-White-House-Summit-on-AI-in-Government-
September-2019.pdf.
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    In response to this legislation, in October 2019, the GSA 
created the AI Center of Excellence to assist Federal agencies 
in realizing the benefits of AI and act upon the findings of 
the Summit.\9\ The AI in Government Act of 2019 codifies GSA's 
AI Center of Excellence and mandates several responsibilities 
building on the findings of the Summit. To better leverage 
experience and best practices across sectors, the bill would 
require the AI Center of Excellence regularly convene 
stakeholders from agencies, industry, Federal laboratories, 
nonprofits, academia, and other entities facilitating cross-
sector awareness of innovative AI applications, use cases, and 
other relevant information related to AI.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\Jack Corrigan, GSA Offers More Details on Artificial 
Intelligence Center of Excellence, Nextgov (Oct. 8, 2019), https://
www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/10/gsa-offers-more-details-
artificial-intelligence-center-excellence/160452/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Additionally, to develop a better understanding of how 
Federal agencies currently deliver benefits to citizens through 
AI and plan to adhere to the principles outlined in the 
American AI Initiative, the bill requires the OMB Director to 
issue guidance to inform agencies' adoption and governance of 
AI. Agencies would be required to submit their Governance Plans 
to the OMB Director to address agencies' respective strategies 
for advancing innovative uses and reducing barriers to adoption 
while mitigating risks to civil liberties, privacy, civil 
rights, or other unintended consequences. The bill requires 
agencies to publicly post their Governance Plans on their 
respective agency websites, and requires the GSA Administrator 
to create and maintain a publicly available online repository 
for all the plans.
    While official government AI workforce data does not exist, 
reports indicate a current shortage of AI experts.\10\ The AI 
in Government Act of 2019 requires the OPM Director to identify 
skills and competencies related to Federal AI occupations, 
forecast three-year and ten-year hiring needs of the Federal AI 
workforce, and create a new occupational category or update an 
existing category to ensure that Federal agencies hire 
appropriately skilled workers. Additionally, to improve 
cohesion and competence of AI's use in Federal agencies, the 
bill ensures the AI Center of Excellence and Federal agencies 
have adequate AI talent to carry out their goals. The bill 
allows the GSA Administrator to make temporary or term 
appointments, appoint fellows from nonprofits, think tanks, 
academia, and industry, and detail AI Center of Excellence 
employees to other agencies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\Executive Office of the President of the United States, Select 
Committee on Artificial Intelligence, National Science & Technology 
Council, The National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development 
Strategic Plan: 2019 Update (June 2019), https://www.nitrd.gov/pubs/
National-AI-RD-Strategy-2019.pdf.
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                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced S. 1363, the AI in 
Government Act of 2019, on May 8, 2019, with Senator Rob 
Portman (R-OH), Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Senator Kamala 
Harris (D-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
    The Committee considered S. 1363 at a business meeting on 
November 6, 2019. During the business meeting, a substitute 
amendment was offered by Senator Portman and Ranking Member 
Gary Peters (D-MI). The amendment was adopted by voice vote. 
The bill, as amended, was reported favorably by voice vote en 
bloc. Senators present for the vote were Johnson, Portman, 
Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, Enzi, Hawley, Peters, Carper, 
Hassan, Sinema, and Rosen.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section names the bill the ``AI in Government Act of 
2019.''

Section 2. Definitions

    This section includes definitions of the terms 
``Administrator,'' ``agency,'' ``artificial intelligence,'' 
``Director,'' ``institute of higher education,'' and 
``nonprofit organization.''

Section 3. AI Center of Excellence

    This section establishes an office within the GSA called 
the ``AI Center of Excellence'' to enhance productivity and 
efficiency of the use of AI by the Federal Government.
    This section outlines the AI Center of Excellence's duties 
and requires it to regularly convene stakeholders from 
agencies, industry, Federal laboratories, academia, and others 
to discuss developments and trends in AI technology and 
disseminate information to agencies and on a publicly available 
website. The AI Center of Excellence is required to advise and 
provide technical expertise to the Federal Government on the 
acquisition and procurement of AI and assist agencies in 
applying management and use of data in AI applications. The AI 
Center of Excellence is required to consult with other Federal 
entities currently operating programs, creating standards and 
guidelines, and funding internal projects to coordinate between 
the public and private sector. This section also requires the 
AI Center of Excellence to advise the Director of OMB on the 
development of policy related to the use of AI technology by 
agencies and the Director of Office of Science and Technology 
Policy (OSTP) on policy related to research and national 
investment in artificial intelligence.
    Under this section, the GSA Administrator would be required 
to provide necessary staff, resources, and administrative 
support to the AI Center of Excellence through the appointment 
of temporary or term employees and fellows from nonprofits, 
think tanks, academia, and industry, and also would allow the 
Administrator to detail AI Center of Excellence employees to 
agencies on a reimbursable or non-reimbursable basis.
    The GSA Administrator is required to provide an annual 
briefing to Congress on the AI Center of Excellence's 
activities for the preceding year, including a summary and 
description of specific projects undertaken; recommendations 
for agencies to support the development and deployment of AI to 
promote knowledge of AI among the Federal workforce; and any 
other information deemed relevant by the Administrator.
    This section would sunset ten years after the date of the 
enactment of the legislation.

Section 4. Guidance for agency use of artificial intelligence

    This section would require the OMB Director, in 
coordination with the OSTP Director, and in consultation with 
the GSA Administrator and any other agencies or stakeholders as 
determined by the Director, to issue a memorandum not later 
than 270 days after the date of enactment of this bill to the 
head of each agency related to the development of agency 
policies for AI.
    This section also mandates OMB's guidance provide direction 
on the development of policies related to the acquisition and 
use of AI technologies at Federal agencies, recommendations to 
remove barriers to innovation and the adoption of AI at Federal 
agencies while protecting civil liberties, privacy, civil 
rights, and economic and national security, and best practices 
for identifying, assessing, and mitigating unintended 
consequences related to the use of AI by the Federal 
Government.
    This section would also require OMB to issue draft guidance 
subject to public comment not later than 180 days after the 
enactment of this legislation. Upon OMB's issuance of final 
guidance, this section requires the heads of each agency using 
or anticipating the use of AI at their respective agencies 
submit to the Director and post publicly online the agency's 
plan to achieve consistency with OMB guidance. The section 
requires the Director to update guidance every two years.

Section 5. Update of occupational series for artificial intelligence

    Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this 
bill, the OPM Director must identify skills needed for 
positions in AI, establish a new or update an existing 
occupational series relating to Federal AI positions, estimate 
the current number of Federal positions related to AI, and 
prepare a three-year and ten-year forecast of the hiring needs 
of the Federal AI workforce. Additionally, this section 
requires the Director submit a comprehensive plan and timeline 
to complete this inquiry within 120 days after the enactment of 
this legislation to the Senate Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs and House Committee on Oversight and 
Reform.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, January 6, 2020.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1363, the AI in 
Government Act of 2019.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 
Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    S. 1363 would establish an Artificial Intelligence Center 
of Excellence within the General Services Administration (GSA) 
to promote federal efforts to develop artificial intelligence 
(AI) and apply it to government agencies. AI allows computer 
systems to perform tasks that normally require human 
intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, 
decisionmaking, and translating between languages. The bill 
also would require the Office of Science and Technology Policy 
to issues guidance to federal agencies on AI acquisition and 
best practices. Finally, the Office of Personnel Management 
would establish an AI jobs series.
    Using information from GSA and other agencies about current 
efforts to use AI and the scope of S. 1363, CBO estimates that 
implementing S. 1363 would cost around $2 million annually, 
primarily for about four to five full-time new employees to 
manage the proposed new center and about $1 million to run the 
website.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law 
are made by S. 1363 as ordered reported.