[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 829 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 829

 To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
     1968 to authorize funds received by States and units of local 
 government to be expended to improve the quality and availability of 
  DNA records; to authorize the establishment of a DNA identification 
                     index; and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 1993

  Mr. Edwards of California (for himself, Mr. Hyde, and Mr. Kopetski) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
     1968 to authorize funds received by States and units of local 
 government to be expended to improve the quality and availability of 
  DNA records; to authorize the establishment of a DNA identification 
                     index; and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``DNA Identification Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FUNDING TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY AND AVAILABILITY OF DNA ANALYSES 
              FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES.

    (a) Drug Control and System Improvement Grant Program.--Section 
501(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3751(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (20) by striking ``and'' at the end,
            (2) in paragraph (21) by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and'', and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(22) developing or improving in a forensic laboratory a 
        capability to analyze deoxyribonucleic acid (hereinafter in 
        this title referred to as `DNA') for identification 
        purposes.''.
    (b) State Applications.--Section 503(a) of title I of the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3753(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:
            ``(12) If any part of a grant made under this part is to be 
        used to develop or improve a DNA analysis capability in a 
        forensic laboratory, a certification that--
                    ``(A) DNA analyses performed at such laboratory 
                will satisfy or exceed then current standards for a 
                quality assurance program for DNA analysis, issued by 
                the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
                under section 3 of the DNA Identification Act of 1993;
                    ``(B) DNA samples obtained by, and DNA analyses 
                performed at, such laboratory will be accessible only--
                            ``(i) to criminal justice agencies for law 
                        enforcement identification purposes;
                            ``(ii) for criminal defense purposes, to a 
                        defendant, who shall have access to samples and 
                        analyses performed in connection with the case 
                        in which such defendant is charged; or
                            ``(iii) if personally identifiable 
                        information is removed, for a population 
                        statistics database, for identification 
                        research and protocol development purposes, or 
                        for quality control purposes; and
                    ``(C) such laboratory, and each analyst performing 
                DNA analyses at such laboratory, will undergo, at 
                regular intervals of not to exceed 180 days, external 
                proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing 
                program meeting the standards issued under section 3 of 
                the DNA Identification Act of 1993.''.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1001(a) of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)) 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the last 3 paragraphs sequentially as 
        paragraphs (7), (8), and (9); and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(10) There are authorized to be appropriated for each of 
        the fiscal years 1994 through 1998 $10,000,000 for grants to 
        the States for DNA analysis.''.

SEC. 3. QUALITY ASSURANCE AND PROFICIENCY TESTING STANDARDS.

    (a) Publication of Quality Assurance and Proficiency Testing 
Standards.--(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall 
appoint an advisory board on DNA quality assurance methods. The 
Director shall appoint members of the board from among nominations 
proposed by the head of the National Academy of Sciences and 
professional societies of crime laboratory officials. The advisory 
board shall include as members scientists from state and local forensic 
laboratories, molecular geneticists and population geneticists not 
affiliated with a forensic laboratory, and a representative from the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology. The advisory board 
shall develop, and if appropriate, periodically revise, recommended 
standards for quality assurance, including standards for testing the 
proficiency of forensic laboratories, and forensic analysts, in 
conducting analyses of DNA.
    (2) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after 
taking into consideration such recommended standards, shall issue (and 
revise from time to time) standards for quality assurance, including 
standards for testing the proficiency of forensic laboratories, and 
forensic analysts, in conducting analyses of DNA.
    (3) The standards described in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall specify 
criteria for quality assurance and proficiency tests to be applied to 
the various types of DNA analyses used by forensic laboratories. The 
standards shall also include a system for grading proficiency testing 
performance to determine whether a laboratory is performing acceptably.
    (4) Until such time as the advisory board has made recommendations 
to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director 
has acted upon those recommendations, the quality assurance guidelines 
adopted by the technical working group on DNA analysis methods shall be 
deemed the Director's standards for purposes of this section.
    (b) Administration of the Advisory Board.--For administrative 
purposes, the advisory board appointed under subsection (a) shall be 
considered an advisory board to the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation. Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) shall not apply with respect to the advisory board 
appointed under subsection (a). The board shall cease to exist on the 
date 5 years after the initial appointments are made to the board, 
unless the existence of the board is extended by the Director of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation.

SEC. 4. INDEX TO FACILITATE LAW ENFORCEMENT EXCHANGE OF DNA 
              IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION

    (a) In General.--The Director of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation may establish an index of--
            (1) DNA identification records of persons convicted of 
        crimes;
            (2) analyses of DNA samples recovered from crime scenes; 
        and
            (3) analyses of DNA samples recovered from unidentified 
        human remains.
    (b) Content of Index.--Such index may include only information on 
DNA identification records and DNA analyses that are--
            (1) based on analyses performed in accordance with publicly 
        available standards that satisfy or exceed the guidelines for a 
        quality assurance program for DNA analysis, issued by the 
        Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under section 3 
        of the DNA Identification Act of 1993;
            (2) prepared by laboratories, and DNA analysts, that 
        undergo, at regular intervals of not to exceed 180 days, 
        external proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing 
        program meeting the standards issued under section 3 of the DNA 
        Identification Act of 1993; and
            (3) maintained by Federal, State, and local criminal 
        justice agencies pursuant to rules that allow disclosure of 
        stored DNA samples and DNA analyses only--
                    (A) to criminal justice agencies for law 
                enforcement identification purposes;
                    (B) for criminal defense purposes, to a defendant, 
                who shall have access to samples and analyses performed 
                in connection with the case in which such defendant is 
                charged; or
                    (C) if personally identifiable information is 
                removed, for a population statistics database, for 
                identification research and protocol development 
                purposes, or for quality control purposes.
    (c) The exchange of records authorized by this section is subject 
to cancellation if the quality control and privacy requirements 
described in subsection (b) of this section are not met.

SEC. 5. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

    (a) Proficiency Testing Requirements.--
            (1) Generally.--Personnel at the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation who perform DNA analyses shall undergo, at 
        regular intervals of not to exceed 180 days, external 
        proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing program 
        meeting the standards issued under section 3(b). Within one 
        year of the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 
        Federal Bureau of Investigation shall arrange for periodic 
        blind external tests to determine the proficiency of DNA 
        analysis performed at the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
        laboratory. As used in this paragraph, the term ``blind 
        external test'' means a test that is presented to the 
        laboratory through a second agency and appears to the analysts 
        to involve routine evidence.
            (2) Report.--For five years after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
        shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House 
        and Senate an annual report on the results of each of the tests 
        referred to in paragraph (1).
    (b) Privacy Protection Standards.--
            (1) Generally.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        results of DNA tests performed for a Federal law enforcement 
        agency for law enforcement purposes may be disclosed only--
                    (A) to criminal justice agencies for law 
                enforcement identification purposes; or
                    (B) for criminal defense purposes, to a defendant, 
                who shall have access to samples and analyses performed 
                in connection with the case in which such defendant is 
                charged.
            (2) Exception.--If personally identifiable information is 
        removed, test results may be disclosed for a population 
        statistics database, for identification research and protocol 
        development purposes, or for quality control purposes.
    (c) Criminal Penalty.--(1) Whoever--
            (A) by virtue of employment or official position, has 
        possession of, or access to, individually identifiable DNA 
        information indexed in a database created or maintained by any 
        Federal law enforcement agency; and
            (B) willfully discloses such information in any manner to 
        any person or agency not entitled to receive it;
shall be fined not more than $100,000.
    (2) Whoever, without authorization, willfully obtains DNA samples 
or individually identifiable DNA information indexed in a database 
created or maintained by any Federal law enforcement agency shall be 
fined not more than $100,000.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1994 through 1998 to 
carry out sections 3, 4, and 5 of this Act.

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