COVID Research Act of 2020

I ★ 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 con- cerned A BILL To provide for coordination of research and development for pandemic disease prediction, forecasting, and com- puting, 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 ‘‘COVID Research Act 4 of 2020’’ or the ‘‘Computing Opportunities to Vanquish 5 Infectious Diseases Research Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 6599 IH1S SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 2 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 3 means the Department of Energy. 4 (2) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na- 5 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given that term 6 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 7 U.S.C. 15801). 8 (3) NATIONAL ACADEMIES.—The term ‘‘Na- 9 tional Academies’’ means the National Academies of 10 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 11 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 12 the Secretary of Energy. 13 (5) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘Quali- 14 fying entity’’ means— 15 (A) an institution of higher education; 16 (B) an appropriate State or Federal entity, 17 including a federally funded research and devel- 18 opment center of the Department; 19 (C) a nonprofit research institution; 20 (D) a multi-institutional collaboration; or 21 (E) any other relevant entity the Secretary 22 determines appropriate. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 6599 IH1S SEC. 3. EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASE PREDICTION AND 1 FORECASTING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 2 INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 3 (a) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The Director of the 4 Office of Science and Technology Policy, acting through 5 the National Science and Technology Council, shall estab- 6 lish or designate an interagency working group to coordi- 7 nate Federal programs and activities for emerging infec- 8 tious disease data acquisition, analysis, situational aware- 9 ness, prediction and forecasting, and other related activi- 10 ties. 11 (b) CO-CHAIRS.—The interagency working group 12 shall be co-chaired by the Director of the Office of Science 13 and Technology Policy and, on an annual rotating basis, 14 a representative from the participants of the interagency 15 working group, as selected by the Director of the Office 16 of Science and Technology Policy. 17 (c) AGENCY PARTICIPATION.—The Committee shall 18 include representatives from— 19 (1) the Department of Health and Human 20 Services; 21 (2) the Department of Homeland Security; 22 (3) the Department of Agriculture; 23 (4) the Department of Commerce; 24 (5) the Department of Energy; 25 (6) the Department of the Interior; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 6599 IH1S (7) the Department of Defense; 1 (8) the National Science Foundation; 2 (9) the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 3 tion; 4 (10) the National Institutes of Health; 5 (11) the Department of State; 6 (12) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 7 (13) the Environmental Protection Agency; 8 (14) the Federal Emergency Management 9 Agency; 10 (15) the United States Agency for International 11 Development; 12 (16) the Smithsonian Institution; and 13 (17) any other Federal agency as considered 14 appropriate by the Director of the Office of Science 15 and Technology Policy. 16 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Interagency working 17 group shall— 18 (1) provide for interagency coordination of Fed- 19 eral research, technological development, and oper- 20 ational practice in the prediction of infectious dis- 21 ease outbreaks in humans, animals, or plants to 22 minimize their adverse health, economic, and secu- 23 rity impact; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 6599 IH1S (2) identify challenges in outbreak prediction 1 and modeling and develop a national strategic plan 2 for Federal actions to advance the development and 3 effective application of outbreak prediction capabili- 4 ties; 5 (3) hold workshops and seminars to engage re- 6 searchers and stakeholders from universities, indus- 7 try, public health organizations, and non-profit orga- 8 nization; and 9 (4) engage with international partners and stra- 10 tegic allies to share best practices and coordinate 11 prediction and modeling of infectious disease. 12 (e) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL ACADEMIES 13 STANDING COMMITTEE ON EMERGING INFECTIOUS DIS- 14 EASE AND 21ST CENTURY HEALTH THREATS.—The Di- 15 rector of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall 16 coordinate with the National Academies to ensure that at 17 least one member of the interagency working group is also 18 a member of the committee under section 4. 19 (f) BIENNIAL REPORTING.—One years after the date 20 of enactment of this Act, and at least every 2 years there- 21 after, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 22 Policy shall provide a summary report to Congress on the 23 activities of the working group. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 6599 IH1S SEC. 4. NATIONAL ACADEMIES STANDING COMMITTEE ON 1 EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND 21ST 2 CENTURY HEALTH THREATS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Science and Tech- 4 nology Policy, and other agencies as determined by the 5 Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, 6 shall enter into an agreement with the National Academies 7 to create a ‘‘Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious 8 Disease and 21st Century Health Threats’’ (hereinafter 9 in this section referred to as the ‘‘Standing Committee’’). 10 (b) PARTICIPANTS.—The Standing Committee shall 11 include members with expertise in emerging infectious dis- 12 eases, public health, public health preparedness and re- 13 sponse, biological sciences, clinical care and crisis stand- 14 ards of care, risk communication, and regulatory issues. 15 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Standing Com- 16 mittee is to facilitate the exchange of ideas among Federal 17 agencies, the private sector, and the academic community, 18 as well as other relevant stakeholders, including— 19 (1) responding on short notice to requests from 20 the Federal Government to assess and consider the 21 science and policy implications of an emerging infec- 22 tious disease or significant public health threat; 23 (2) providing a venue to enable science and pol- 24 icy discussions relevant to the Federal Government 25 on emerging issues, research, and activities through 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 6599 IH1S in-depth knowledge of the sponsor’s programs, goals, 1 and objectives; 2 (3) identifying opportunities to integrate science 3 into national preparedness and response decision 4 making; 5 (4) exploring lessons learned and best practices 6 from previous preparedness and response efforts, 7 and identify opportunities to disseminate that infor- 8 mation to a variety of stakeholders; 9 (5) serving as a forum for national policy dis- 10 cussions by experts and other leaders in the field; 11 (6) identifying and discussing strategies for ad- 12 dressing misinformation; and 13 (7) responding to the needs of the Working 14 Group established under section 3 for continuing di- 15 alog related to strategic planning and program de- 16 velopment to address emerging infectious diseases, 17 biosecurity, and public health and medical prepared- 18 ness. 19 (d) REPORT AND BRIEFING.—The agreement under 20 subsection (a) shall specify that— 21 (1) the standing committee shall periodically or- 22 ganize workshops and issue publicly available reports 23 on the topics described in subsection (c) and the ac- 24 tivities of the Standing Committee; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 6599 IH1S (2) not later than one year after the date of en- 1 actment of this Act, the Academies shall provide a 2 briefing to relevant Committees of the House of 3 Representatives and Senate on the progress and ac- 4 tivities of the Standing Committee. 5 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY EMERGING INFECTIOUS 6 DISEASE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 8 with the Director of the National Science Foundation and 9 the Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad- 10 ministration, shall carry out a research program to lever- 11 age the Federal Government’s innovative analytical tools 12 and advanced computational and networking capabilities 13 in order to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emerging 14 infectious diseases, including COVID–19. The Secretary 15 shall carry out this program through a competitive, merit- 16 reviewed process, and consider applications from National 17 Laboratories, institutions of higher education, multi-insti- 18 tutional collaborations, industry partners and other appro- 19 priate entities. 20 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—In carrying out the 21 program established under subsection (a), Secretary shall 22 coordinate with relevant Federal agencies to determine a 23 comprehensive set of technical milestones for these re- 24 search activities and prioritize the following objectives— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 6599 IH1S (1) supporting fundamental research and devel- 1 opment in advanced analytics and high-performance 2 computing technologies needed to characterize, 3 model, simulate, and predict complex phenomena re- 4 lated to emerging infectious diseases, including 5 COVID–19 mitigation challenges, including a focus 6 on bioinformatics, epidemiology, and molecular mod- 7 eling; 8 (2) using expertise from the private sector and 9 institutions of higher education, and the National 10 Laboratories to develop computational software and 11 capabilities that prospective users may accelerate 12 emerging infectious diseases research and develop- 13 ment; 14 (3) increasing the utility of the research infra- 15 structure of the Department, including scientific 16 computing user facilities and light source user facili- 17 ties, by coordinating with the Advanced Scientific 18 Computing Research and Basic Energy Sciences 19 programs within the Office of Science; 20 (4) leveraging experience from existing mod- 21 eling and simulation research and work sponsored by 22 the Department and promoting collaboration and 23 data sharing between National Laboratories, re- 24 search entities, and user facilities of the Department 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 6599 IH1S by providing the necessary access and secure data 1 transfer capabilities; and 2 (5) ensuring that new experimental and com- 3 putational tools are accessible to relevant research 4 communities, including private sector entities en- 5 gaged in technology development to address emerg- 6 ing infectious diseases, including COVID–19 chal- 7 lenges. 8 (c) COORDINATION.—In carrying out these programs, 9 the Secretary shall ensure coordination and consultation 10 with member of the working group established in section 11 3. The Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum extent 12 practicable, coordination of these activities with the De- 13 partment of Energy National Laboratories, institutes of 14 higher education, and the private sector. 15 (d) EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIGH PER- 16 FORMANCE COMPUTING RESEARCH CONSORTIUM.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary in coordina- 18 tion with the Director of the National Science Foun- 19 dation and the Director of the Office of Science and 20 Technology Policy shall establish and operate an 21 Emerging Infectious Diseases High Performance 22 Computing Research Consortium (referred to in this 23 section as the ‘‘Consortium’’), in order to support 24 the program under subsection (a) by providing, to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 6599 IH1S the extent practicable, a centralized location for mul- 1 tidisciplinary, collaborative, emerging infectious dis- 2 ease research and development through high per- 3 formance computing and advanced data analytics 4 technologies and processes. 5 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of such con- 6 sortium shall be representatives from relevant Fed- 7 eral agencies, the private sector, institutes of higher 8 education, which can each contribute relevant com- 9 pute time, capabilities, or other resources. 10 (3) ACTIVITIES.—The Consortium shall— 11 (A) match applicants with available Fed- 12 eral and private sector computing resources; 13 (B) consider supplemental awards for com- 14 puting partnerships with Consortium members 15 to qualifying entities on a competitive merit-re- 16 view basis; 17 (C) encourage collaboration and commu- 18 nication among member representatives of the 19 consortium and awardees; 20 (D) make available the high-performance 21 computing capabilities, expertise, and user fa- 22 cilities of the Department and the National 23 Laboratories; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6599.IH H6599 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 HR 6599 IH1S (E) submit an annual report to the Sec- 1 retary summarizing the activities o [Text truncated for display. 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