S.Amdt. 1905

SA 1905. Ms. ERNST submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
her to the bill S. 4049, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2021 for

[[Page S3405]]

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 in subtitle G of title X, insert
the following:

SEC. 1___. VETERANS' HEALTH INITIATIVE.

(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Energy.
(2) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory''
has the meaning given the 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.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are to advance
Department 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;
(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, including modeling, simulation, machine learning,
and advanced data analytics.
(c) Veterans Health Research and Development.--
(1) 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 large-scale data analytics and management 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.
(2) Program components.--In carrying out the program
established under paragraph (1), the Secretary may--
(A) 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;
(B) develop methods to accommodate large data sets with
variable quality and scale, and to provide insight and models
for complex systems;
(C) 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;
(D) 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
(E) 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.
(3) Coordination.--In carrying out the program established
under paragraph (1), the Secretary is authorized--
(A) to 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 research and development to
improve veterans' healthcare;
(B) to consult with the Department of Veterans Affairs and
other Federal agencies as appropriate; and
(C) to 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.
(4) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee
on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs of the House of Representatives, a report detailing
the effectiveness of--
(A) the interagency coordination between each Federal
agency involved in the research program carried out under
this subsection;
(B) collaborative research achievements of the program; and
(C) potential opportunities to expand the technical
capabilities of the Department.
(5) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out this subsection
$27,000,000 during the period of fiscal years 2021 through
2025.
(d) Interagency Collaboration.--
(1) 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.
(2) Activities.--In carrying out the research, development,
and demonstration activities authorized under paragraph (1),
the Secretary may--
(A) utilize all available mechanisms to prevent duplication
and coordinate research efforts across the Department;
(B) 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
(C) 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.
(3) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House
of Representatives a report evaluating the effectiveness of
the activities authorized under paragraph (1).
(4) Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
the Secretary to carry out this subsection $15,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.
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