AI in Government Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 456 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1363 [Report No. 116–225] To authorize an AI Center of Excellence within the General Services Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 8, 2019 Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. HARRIS, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs JUNE 1, 2020 Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To authorize an AI Center of Excellence within the General Services Administration, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AI in Government Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1363 RS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act— 2 (1) the term ‘‘Administration’’ means the Gen- 3 eral Services Administration; 4 (2) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad- 5 ministrator of General Services; 6 (3) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 7 the term in section 3502 of title 44, United States 8 Code; 9 (4) the term ‘‘AI CoE’’ means the AI Center of 10 Excellence described in section 3; 11 (5) the term ‘‘artificial intelligence’’ means any 12 method implemented on a computer, including any 13 method that is drawn from machine learning, data 14 science, or statistics, to enable the computer to carry 15 out a task or behavior that would require intel- 16 ligence if performed by a human; 17 (6) the term ‘‘Board’’ means the advisory board 18 established under section 5(a); 19 (7) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 20 the Office of Management and Budget; 21 (8) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 22 has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the 23 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002); 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1363 RS (9) the term ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an 1 organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the 2 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from 3 taxation under section 501(a) of that Code. 4 SEC. 3. AI CENTER OF EXCELLENCE. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 6 Administration an office to be known as the ‘‘AI Center 7 of Excellence’’, which shall— 8 (1) advise and promote the efforts of the Fed- 9 eral Government in developing innovative uses of ar- 10 tificial intelligence by the Federal Government to the 11 benefit of the public; and 12 (2) improve cohesion and competency in the use 13 of artificial intelligence. 14 (b) DUTIES.—The duties of the AI CoE shall in- 15 clude— 16 (1) regularly convening individuals from agen- 17 cies, industry, Federal laboratories, nonprofit organi- 18 zations, institutions of higher education, and other 19 entities to discuss recent developments in artificial 20 intelligence, including the dissemination of informa- 21 tion regarding programs, pilots, and other initiatives 22 at agencies, as well as recent trends and relevant in- 23 formation on artificial intelligence; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1363 RS (2) advising Federal Government acquisition 1 and use of artificial intelligence through technical in- 2 sight and expertise, as needed; 3 (3) assisting agencies in applying the manage- 4 ment and use of data in applications of artificial in- 5 telligence; 6 (4) identifying and disseminating information 7 regarding educational and workforce development 8 opportunities for agency employees relative to artifi- 9 cial intelligence topics, and leading those opportuni- 10 ties, as needed; 11 (5) studying economic, policy, legal, and ethical 12 challenges and implications related to the use of ar- 13 tificial intelligence by the Federal Government, in- 14 cluding how the privacy, civil liberties, and civil 15 rights of individuals are or will be affected by the 16 use of artificial intelligence by the Federal Govern- 17 ment; 18 (6) encouraging and assisting joint initiatives 19 with State or local governments, regional organiza- 20 tions, private businesses, institutions of higher edu- 21 cation, nonprofit organizations, and Federal labora- 22 tories to advance the innovative use of artificial in- 23 telligence in government; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1363 RS (7) assisting relevant agencies in developing 1 and maintaining plans for the governance of agency 2 artificial intelligence systems. 3 (c) STAFF.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall pro- 5 vide necessary staff, resources, and administrative 6 support for the AI CoE. 7 (2) TEMPORARY OR TERM APPOINTMENTS.— 8 The Administrator may hire temporary or term em- 9 ployees in accordance with part 316 of title 5, Code 10 of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, 11 to serve as AI CoE employees. 12 (3) FELLOWS.—The Administrator may, to the 13 maximum extent practicable, appoint fellows to par- 14 ticipate in the AI CoE from nonprofit organizations, 15 think tanks, institutions of higher education, and in- 16 dustry. 17 (4) DETAILS.—When appropriate, and to the 18 maximum extent practicable, the Administrator may 19 detail AI CoE employees to agencies on a reimburs- 20 able or non-reimbursable basis in accordance with 21 section 3341 of title 5, United States Code. 22 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator shall 23 submit to Congress an annual report on the AI CoE, 24 which shall include, for the preceding year— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1363 RS (1) a summary of the activity of the AI CoE, 1 including a description of specific projects worked on 2 in partnership with agencies; 3 (2) recommendations on ways in which agencies 4 can better support the development and deployment 5 of artificial intelligence, including initiatives de- 6 signed to promote knowledge of those technologies 7 among the Federal workforce; and 8 (3) an identification of joint initiatives encour- 9 aged or assisted under subsection (b)(6). 10 (e) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—All functions of the 11 Emerging Citizen Technology Office of the Administra- 12 tion, including the personnel, assets, and obligations of the 13 Emerging Citizen Technology Office, as in existence before 14 the date of enactment of this Act, shall be transferred to 15 the AI CoE. 16 (f) DEEMING OF NAME.—Any reference in law, regu- 17 lation, document, paper, or other record of the United 18 States to the Emerging Citizen Technology Office of the 19 Administration shall be deemed a reference to the AI CoE. 20 SEC. 4. AGENCY GOVERNANCE PLANS FOR ARTIFICIAL IN- 21 TELLIGENCE SYSTEMS. 22 (a) GUIDANCE.—In order to develop a clear and com- 23 prehensive understanding of how artificial intelligence can 24 be used to deliver benefits to citizens of the United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1363 RS while mitigating risks, the Director, in coordination with 1 the Administrator, the head of any relevant agency as de- 2 termined by the Director, and key stakeholders, shall issue 3 a memorandum to the head of each agency that shall— 4 (1) inform the development of artificial intel- 5 ligence governance approaches by those agencies re- 6 garding technologies and applications that— 7 (A) are empowered or enabled by the use 8 of artificial intelligence within that agency; and 9 (B) advance the innovative use of artificial 10 intelligence for the benefit of the public while 11 upholding civil liberties, privacy, and civil 12 rights; 13 (2) consider ways to reduce barriers to the use 14 of artificial intelligence in order to promote innova- 15 tive application of those technologies for the benefit 16 of the public, while protecting civil liberties, privacy, 17 and civil rights; 18 (3) establish best practices for identifying, as- 19 sessing, and mitigating any bias on the basis of any 20 classification protected under Federal nondiscrimina- 21 tion laws or other negative unintended consequence 22 stemming from the use of artificial intelligence sys- 23 tems; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1363 RS (4) provide a template of the required contents 1 of the agency Governance Plans described in sub- 2 section (b). 3 (b) AGENCY GOVERNANCE PLANS.—Not later than 4 180 days after the date on which the memorandum is 5 issued under subsection (a), the head of each agency 6 shall— 7 (1) review the applications of artificial intel- 8 ligence at the agency; 9 (2) identify and prioritize applications of artifi- 10 cial intelligence that would significantly benefit the 11 public while upholding civil liberties, privacy, and 12 civil rights; and 13 (3) submit to the Director and the Adminis- 14 trator a Governance Plan to achieve consistency with 15 the memorandum. 16 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each agency described 17 in subsection (b) shall— 18 (1) not later than 1 year after the date on 19 which the head of the agency submits the Govern- 20 ance Plan of the agency under subsection (b), and 21 each year thereafter, update the Governance Plan 22 pursuant to any change in the factors described in 23 (a)(1); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1363 RS (2) solicit public feedback during the develop- 1 ment of the Governance Plan in the form of public 2 hearings and online submission of comments; and 3 (3) make available each Governance Plan cen- 4 trally available in a machine-readable format at a 5 publicly available online portal on the website of the 6 agency. 7 (d) CENTRAL ONLINE GOVERNANCE PLANS POR- 8 TAL.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 10 maintain a single public interface online to compile 11 published agency Governance Plans in accordance 12 with subsection (c). 13 (2) SUBMISSION OF LINKS.—The Administrator 14 and the Director shall ensure that agencies can sub- 15 mit links, with appropriate descriptive metadata, to 16 the public Governance Plans for publication and 17 public availability on the interface described in para- 18 graph (1). 19 SEC. 5. ADVISORY BOARD. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 21 an advisory board to advise the Administrator on issues 22 that are relevant to the mission and duties of the AI CoE 23 and to inform the priorities and projects worked on by 24 the AI CoE. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1363 RS (b) COMPOSITION.— 1 (1) CHAIR.—The Director shall serve as Chair 2 of the Board. 3 (2) OTHER MEMBERS.—The Board shall be 4 composed of the following members: 5 (A) One designee from each of the fol- 6 lowing: 7 (i) The Office of Science and Tech- 8 nology Policy. 9 (ii) The Department of Commerce. 10 (B) Six designees from agencies not listed 11 in subparagraph (A), who shall be designated 12 by the Chair of the Board once every 12 13 months. 14 (C) Eight members designated by the 15 Chair of the Board once every 6 months, of 16 whom— 17 (i) four shall be representatives of rel- 18 evant industries; 19 (ii) two shall be representatives of in- 20 stitutions of higher education; and 21 (iii) two shall be representatives of 22 public interest groups representing civil lib- 23 erties, privacy, and civil rights issues. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1363 RS (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member of the 1 Board designated under subparagraph (B) or (C) of 2 paragraph (2) shall have demonstrated experience 3 and expertise in the field of artificial intelligence. 4 (c) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet not less fre- 5 quently than once every 12 months. 6 (d) ANNUAL LIST.—Each year, the Board shall pub- 7 lish on a publicly available website a list of areas of im- 8 provement within the Federal Government that would ben- 9 efit from additional technical or technical policy expertise. 10 (e) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Board shall 11 serve on the Board without compensation, except that 12 members of the Board may be allowed travel expenses, in- 13 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized 14 for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 15 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their 16 homes or regular places of business in the performance 17 of services for the Board. 18 (f) DURATION.—Section 14 of the Federal Advisory 19 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the 20 Board. 21 SEC. 6. UPDATE OF OCCUPATIONAL SERIES FOR ARTIFI- 22 CIAL INTELLIGENCE. 23 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 24 of this Act, and in accordance with chapter 51 of title 5, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1363.RS S1363 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1363 RS United States Code, the Director of the Office of Per- 1 sonnel Management shall— 2 (1) identify key skills and competencies needed 3 for positions related to artificial intelligence; and 4 (2) establish an occupational series, or update 5 and improve an existing occupational job series, to 6 include positions the primary duties of which relate 7 to artificial intelligence. 8 SEC. 7. SUNSET. 9 Sections 3 and 5 of this Act shall cease to be effective 10 on the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment 11 of this Act. 12 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 13 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AI in Government Act 14 of 2019’’. 15 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act— 17 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Admin- 18 istrator of General Services; 19 (2) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given the 20 term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code; 21 (3) the term ‘‘AI CoE’’ means the AI Center of [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]