DEBBIE SMITH REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2014
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4323, the Debbie Smith Act, which was originally enacted in 2004. During Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we have the opportunity to take an important step in continuing a program that helps address the problem of sexual assault.
The Debbie Smith Act has helped State and local law enforcement reduce the Nation's large backlog of untested DNA samples. Grants are used to hire personnel and to purchase supplies for processing samples and for including them in the Combined DNA Index System.
Grants have also been directed to DNA training and technical assistance for law enforcement and courts and to sexual assault nurse examiner programs. Crime laboratories have almost unanimously reported that the DNA Backlog Grant Program is essential to their capacity to process samples, but the backlog still remains.
Hundreds of thousands of DNA samples, each representing an unsolved crime, remains untested. Regrettably, over 200 untested samples remain in Los Angeles alone that have outlasted the statute of limitations for prosecuting cases, so we have to do everything we can to process these samples.
We must also do everything we can to strengthen the nationwide database and reduce the DNA backlog, so that cases of sexual assault can be solved and prosecuted without delay. Reauthorizing the Debbie Smith Act will bring perpetrators of sexual assault to justice before they can attack more victims.
I am proud to acknowledge that Debbie Smith is a constituent of mine. She lives in Charles City County, Virginia. She waited more than 6 years for the DNA from her rape kit to be processed and checked against the national database in order to identify her attacker.
Her attacker was identified, but unfortunately, during those 6 years, he attacked at least two other women--crimes that would not have happened if his DNA had been tested in a more timely manner.
Debbie has spent her time and effort over the last few years with her organization, HEART, which stands for Hope Exists After Rape Trauma. She has been advocating for a reduction in the DNA backlog and has been offering assistance to victims of sexual assault.
I commend my colleague from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and the ranking member, Mr. Conyers, for working together to expedite the consideration of this bill.
I also want to acknowledge the original author of the Debbie Smith Act, the gen tle lady from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), for her hard work and continued advocacy on behalf of sexual assault victims.
I urge my colleagues to join me in further honoring the work of Debbie Smith's by voting for this bill--to reauthorize the bill that bears her name.