--- kind: "diff" citation: "H.R. 617" bill: "116-hr-617" heading: "Department of Energy Veterans’ Health Initiative Act" from: "ih" from_label: "Introduced in House" to: "eh" to_label: "Engrossed in House" sections_amended: 2 sections_added: 0 sections_removed: 0 url: "https://uscodex.org/bills/116/hr/617/changes/eh" --- # H.R. 617 — what changed H.R. 617, Department of Energy Veterans’ Health Initiative Act — 2 sections amended between Introduced in House and Engrossed in House. Edits are marked `struck` and `inserted`. ## 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 2 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 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall allocate up to carry out this section $27,000,000 during the period of fiscal years 2019 2020 through 2023 to carry out this section, subject to the availability of appropriations.2024. ## Sec. 5 Interagency collaboration - (a) In general— The Secretary shall is authorized to carry out a pilot program research, development, and demonstration activities to develop tools for to apply to big data analytics by utilizing data sets generated by that enable Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, and industry in order to advance artificial intelligence technologies better leverage the capabilities of the Department to solve complex, big data challenges. The Secretary shall carry out this program 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. - (b) Program components—Activities— In carrying out the pilot program established research, development, and demonstration activities authorized under subsection (a), the Secretary may— - (1) establish a cross-cutting research initiative utilize all available mechanisms 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 establish multiple user facilities to develop novel or optimized predictive algorithms suitable for high-performance computing systems and large biomedical serve as data sets;enclaves capable of securely storing data sets created by Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, or industry at National Laboratories; and - (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 - (3) [was (3)(7)] 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 2 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 activities authorized 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.(a). - (d) Funding— The There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy shall allocate up to $26,000,000 carry out subsection (a) $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2019 and 2020 to carry out this section, subject to the availability of appropriations.through 2023.