Title: Computing Opportunities to Vanquish Infectious Diseases Research Act of 2020
Policy area: Health

Summary:
COVID Research Act of 2020 or the Computing Opportunities to Vanquish Infectious Diseases Research Act of 2020
This bill requires the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to undertake specified actions related to forecasting emerging infectious diseases.
The OSTP, acting through the National Science and Technology Council, must establish an interagency working group to coordinate federal activities concerning infectious disease prediction and forecasting. Among other tasks, the working group must identify challenges in predicting outbreaks and develop a strategic plan to address them.
The bill also provides statutory authority for the Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The committee must provide expertise to the working group and otherwise facilitate science and policy discussions concerning emerging infectious diseases. The committee must issue public reports and brief Congress on its activities.
In coordination with specified entities, DOE shall carry out, and report to Congress on, a competitive research program for the National Laboratories and others to leverage analytical tools and computational and networking capabilities to prevent and respond to emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). DOE must also establish the Emerging Infectious Diseases High Performance Computing Research Consortium to support the research program.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6599 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6599

 To provide for coordination of research and development for pandemic 
disease prediction, forecasting, and computing, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 23, 2020

 Mr. Lucas (for himself, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Babin, Mr. Marshall, 
Mr. Posey, Mr. Olson, Mr. Gonzalez of Ohio, Mr. Rooney of Florida, and 
Mr. Murphy of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
  the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for coordination of research and development for pandemic 
disease prediction, forecasting, and computing, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``COVID Research Act of 2020'' or the 
``Computing Opportunities to Vanquish Infectious Diseases Research Act 
of 2020''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Energy.
            (2) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory'' 
        has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the Energy 
        Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
            (3) National academies.--The term ``National Academies'' 
        means the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 
        Medicine.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
            (5) Qualifying entity.--The term ``Qualifying entity'' 
        means--
                    (A) an institution of higher education;
                    (B) an appropriate State or Federal entity, 
                including a federally funded research and development 
                center of the Department;
                    (C) a nonprofit research institution;
                    (D) a multi-institutional collaboration; or
                    (E) any other relevant entity the Secretary 
                determines appropriate.

SEC. 3. EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASE PREDICTION AND FORECASTING SCIENCE 
              AND TECHNOLOGY INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.

    (a) Interagency Committee.--The Director of the Office of Science 
and Technology Policy, acting through the National Science and 
Technology Council, shall establish or designate an interagency working 
group to coordinate Federal programs and activities for emerging 
infectious disease data acquisition, analysis, situational awareness, 
prediction and forecasting, and other related activities.
    (b) Co-Chairs.--The interagency working group shall be co-chaired 
by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and, on 
an annual rotating basis, a representative from the participants of the 
interagency working group, as selected by the Director of the Office of 
Science and Technology Policy.
    (c) Agency Participation.--The Committee shall include 
representatives from--
            (1) the Department of Health and Human Services;
            (2) the Department of Homeland Security;
            (3) the Department of Agriculture;
            (4) the Department of Commerce;
            (5) the Department of Energy;
            (6) the Department of the Interior;
            (7) the Department of Defense;
            (8) the National Science Foundation;
            (9) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
            (10) the National Institutes of Health;
            (11) the Department of State;
            (12) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
            (13) the Environmental Protection Agency;
            (14) the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
            (15) the United States Agency for International 
        Development;
            (16) the Smithsonian Institution; and
            (17) any other Federal agency as considered appropriate by 
        the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
    (d) Responsibilities.--The Interagency working group shall--
            (1) provide for interagency coordination of Federal 
        research, technological development, and operational practice 
        in the prediction of infectious disease outbreaks in humans, 
        animals, or plants to minimize their adverse health, economic, 
        and security impact;
            (2) identify challenges in outbreak prediction and modeling 
        and develop a national strategic plan for Federal actions to 
        advance the development and effective application of outbreak 
        prediction capabilities;
            (3) hold workshops and seminars to engage researchers and 
        stakeholders from universities, industry, public health 
        organizations, and non-profit organization; and
            (4) engage with international partners and strategic allies 
        to share best practices and coordinate prediction and modeling 
        of infectious disease.
    (e) Coordination With National Academies Standing Committee on 
Emerging Infectious Disease and 21st Century Health Threats.--The 
Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall 
coordinate with the National Academies to ensure that at least one 
member of the interagency working group is also a member of the 
committee under section 4.
    (f) Biennial Reporting.--One years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, and at least every 2 years thereafter, the Director of the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy shall provide a summary report 
to Congress on the activities of the working group.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL ACADEMIES STANDING COMMITTEE ON EMERGING INFECTIOUS 
              DISEASE AND 21ST CENTURY HEALTH THREATS.

    (a) In General.--The Office of Science and Technology Policy, and 
other agencies as determined by the Director of the Office of Science 
and Technology Policy, shall enter into an agreement with the National 
Academies to create a ``Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious 
Disease and 21st Century Health Threats'' (hereinafter in this section 
referred to as the ``Standing Committee'').
    (b) Participants.--The Standing Committee shall include members 
with expertise in emerging infectious diseases, public health, public 
health preparedness and response, biological sciences, clinical care 
and crisis standards of care, risk communication, and regulatory 
issues.
    (c) Purpose.--The purpose of the Standing Committee is to 
facilitate the exchange of ideas among Federal agencies, the private 
sector, and the academic community, as well as other relevant 
stakeholders, including--
            (1) responding on short notice to requests from the Federal 
        Government to assess and consider the science and policy 
        implications of an emerging infectious disease or significant 
        public health threat;
            (2) providing a venue to enable science and policy 
        discussions relevant to the Federal Government on emerging 
        issues, research, and activities through in-depth knowledge of 
        the sponsor's programs, goals, and objectives;
            (3) identifying opportunities to integrate science into 
        national preparedness and response decision making;
            (4) exploring lessons learned and best practices from 
        previous preparedness and response efforts, and identify 
        opportunities to disseminate that information to a variety of 
        stakeholders;
            (5) serving as a forum for national policy discussions by 
        experts and other leaders in the field;
            (6) identifying and discussing strategies for addressing 
        misinformation; and
            (7) responding to the needs of the Working Group 
        established under section 3 for continuing dialog related to 
        strategic planning and program development to address emerging 
        infectious diseases, biosecurity, and public health and medical 
        preparedness.
    (d) Report and Briefing.--The agreement under subsection (a) shall 
specify that--
            (1) the standing committee shall periodically organize 
        workshops and issue publicly available reports on the topics 
        described in subsection (c) and the activities of the Standing 
        Committee; and
            (2) not later than one year after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Academies shall provide a briefing to relevant 
        Committees of the House of Representatives and Senate on the 
        progress and activities of the Standing Committee.

SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, in coordination with the Director 
of the National Science Foundation and the Director of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration, shall carry out a research 
program to leverage the Federal Government's innovative analytical 
tools and advanced computational and networking capabilities in order 
to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emerging infectious diseases, 
including COVID-19. 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, industry partners and other appropriate 
entities.
    (b) Program Components.--In carrying out the program established 
under subsection (a), Secretary shall coordinate with relevant Federal 
agencies to determine a comprehensive set of technical milestones for 
these research activities and prioritize the following objectives--
            (1) supporting fundamental research and development in 
        advanced analytics and high-performance computing technologies 
        needed to characterize, model, simulate, and predict complex 
        phenomena related to emerging infectious diseases, including 
        COVID-19 mitigation challenges, including a focus on 
        bioinformatics, epidemiology, and molecular modeling;
            (2) using expertise from the private sector and 
        institutions of higher education, and the National Laboratories 
        to develop computational software and capabilities that 
        prospective users may accelerate emerging infectious diseases 
        research and development;
            (3) increasing the utility of the research infrastructure 
        of the Department, including scientific computing user 
        facilities and light source user facilities, by coordinating 
        with the Advanced Scientific Computing Research and Basic 
        Energy Sciences programs within the Office of Science;
            (4) leveraging experience from existing modeling and 
        simulation research and work sponsored by the Department and 
        promoting 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; and
            (5) ensuring that new experimental and computational tools 
        are accessible to relevant research communities, including 
        private sector entities engaged in technology development to 
        address emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19 
        challenges.
    (c) Coordination.--In carrying out these programs, the Secretary 
shall ensure coordination and consultation with member of the working 
group established in section 3. The Secretary shall ensure, to the 
maximum extent practicable, coordination of these activities with the 
Department of Energy National Laboratories, institutes of higher 
education, and the private sector.
    (d) Emerging Infectious Diseases High Performance Computing 
Research Consortium.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary in coordination with the 
        Director of the National Science Foundation and the Director of 
        the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall establish and 
        operate an Emerging Infectious Diseases High Performance 
        Computing Research Consortium (referred to in this section as 
        the ``Consortium''), in order to support the program under 
        subsection (a) by providing, to the extent practicable, a 
        centralized location for multidisciplinary, collaborative, 
        emerging infectious disease research and development through 
        high performance computing and advanced data analytics 
        technologies and processes.
            (2) Membership.--The members of such consortium shall be 
        representatives from relevant Federal agencies, the private 
        sector, institutes of higher education, which can each 
        contribute relevant compute time, capabilities, or other 
        resources.
            (3) Activities.--The Consortium shall--
                    (A) match applicants with available Federal and 
                private sector computing resources;
                    (B) consider supplemental awards for computing 
                partnerships with Consortium members to qualifying 
                entities on a competitive merit-review basis;
                    (C) encourage collaboration and communication among 
                member representatives of the consortium and awardees;
                    (D) make available the high-performance computing 
                capabilities, expertise, and user facilities of the 
                Department and the National Laboratories; and
                    (E) submit an annual report to the Secretary 
                summarizing the activities of the Consortium, 
                including--
                            (i) describing each project undertaken by 
                        the Consortium;
                            (ii) detailing organizational expenditures; 
                        and
                            (iii) evaluating contribution to the 
                        achievement of technical milestones as 
                        determined in subsection (a).
            (4) Coordination.--The Secretary shall ensure the 
        coordination of, and avoid unnecessary duplication of, the 
        activities of the Consortium with the activities of other 
        research entities of the Department, institutions of higher 
        education and the private sector.
    (e) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Science, 
Space, and Technology of the House, and the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources of the Senate, and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation 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) the collaborative research achievements of the program, 
        including the achievement of the technical milestones 
        determined under subsection (a); and
            (3) potential opportunities to expand the technical 
        capabilities of the Department.
    (f) Prohibition.--No funds allocated to the program described in 
subsection (a) may be obligated or expended for commercial application 
of technology.
    (g) Funding.--From within funds authorized to be appropriated for 
the Department's Office of Science, there shall be made available to 
the Secretary to carry out the activities under this section, 
$50,000,000 for fiscal years 2021 and 2022.
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