Lamar Smith: “First of all, let me thank the gentleman from South Carolina, Congressman Ralph Norman, for yielding me this time to…”

“First of all, let me thank the gentleman from South Carolina, Congressman Ralph Norman, for yielding me this time to speak in support of his bill, H.R. 6398, the Department of Energy Veterans' Health Initiative Act. I also want to say, I appreciate his serving as vice chairman of the Environment Subcommittee on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. This important legislation was approved unanimously by the Science, Space, and Technology Committee and is cosponsored by 15 members of the committee. H.R. 6398 authorizes the Department of Energy to conduct collaborative research with the Department of Veterans Affairs to address complex challenges in veterans' healthcare by using advanced computational tools. Currently, DOE and the VA collaborate through the MVP-CHAMPION initiative. The VA collects genomic and healthcare data from veterans who have volunteered for the program and then securely transfers it to DOE, where it is stored and analyzed in a secure site at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This partnership and exchange of data benefits both DOE and the VA and provides valuable services to our veterans. DOE is the Nation's largest Federal supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. It funds programs in applied mathematics and computer and computational science. Under this program, authorized by Mr.…”