51ºÚÁÏ

Two bills, co-sponsored by Schmitt and a Democratic senator, hinge upon advanced technology for their success.

In the bill introduced by Schmitt and U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, the Defense Department would be required to support 10 regional tech hubs — including, of course, locations in Missouri and Colorado — that focus on advancing technologies critical to national security.

Of local importance is another requirement of the bill, which would require using emerging defense technologies, such as the geospatial intelligence produced at the new $1.7 billion National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in downtown 51ºÚÁÏ.

The Schmitt-Hickenlooper bill also calls for an appropriation of $375 million over the next five years.

In another across-the-aisle effort, Schmitt has teamed with U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, to float a bill that would use artificial intelligence to uncover misuse of Medicare.

The bill would create a pilot program for testing a risk-scoring algorithm that would check payments for medical equipment and clinical diagnostic laboratory tests.

Any transaction which had an abnormally high risk score could then be further checked by human inspectors to determine if they are fraudulent.

Since Medicare beneficiaries would be able to choose whether to participate in the program, a person’s Medicare payment data would only be obtained by consent.

The bill also is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Montana.