II 
Calendar No. 344 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 617 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 24, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources 
DECEMBER 17, 2019 
Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, without amendment 
AN ACT 
To authorize the Department of Energy to conduct collabo-
rative research with the Department of Veterans Affairs 
in order to improve healthcare services for veterans in 
the United States, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Energy 
Veterans’ Health Initiative Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Energy. 
(2) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na-
tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given that 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. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are to advance Department 
of Energy expertise in artificial intelligence and high-per-
formance computing in order to improve health outcomes 
for veteran populations by— 
(1) supporting basic research through the appli-
cation of artificial intelligence, high-performance 
computing, modeling and simulation, machine learn-
ing, 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 advance-
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ment of artificial intelligence and high-performance 
computing capabilities of the Department of Energy; 
(3) promoting collaborative research through 
the establishment of partnerships to improve data 
sharing between Federal agencies, National Labora-
tories, institutions of higher education, and non-
profit 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 im-
prove artificial intelligence, high-performance com-
puting, and networking relevant to mission applica-
tions of the Department of Energy, including mod-
eling, simulation, machine learning, and advanced 
data analytics. 
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY VETERANS HEALTH RE-
SEARCH 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 vet-
eran’s healthcare, and to support the efforts of the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs to identify potential health 
risks and challenges utilizing data on long-term health-
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care, health risks, and genomic data collected from veteran 
populations. The Secretary shall carry out this program 
through a competitive, merit-reviewed process, and con-
sider 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 sim-
ulation, machine learning, large-scale data analytics, 
and predictive analysis in order to develop novel or 
optimized algorithms for prediction of disease treat-
ment 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 intel-
ligence, machine learning, data analytics, natural 
language processing, modeling and simulation, and 
develop new algorithms suitable for high-perform-
ance computing systems and large biomedical data 
sets; 
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(4) advance existing and construct new data en-
claves 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 be-
tween National Laboratories, research entities, and 
user facilities of the Department by providing the 
necessary access and secure data transfer capabili-
ties. 
(c) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the program re-
quired 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 vet-
erans’ 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 Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs, and that access to data is 
provided in accordance with relevant Department of 
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Veterans Affairs data access policies, including in-
formed consent. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than 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 Rep-
resentatives, 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 tech-
nical capabilities of the Department. 
(e) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 
this section $27,000,000 during the period of fiscal years 
2020 through 2024. 
SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 
carry out research, development, and demonstration activi-
ties to develop tools to apply to big data that enable Fed-
eral agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
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