[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 497 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 497

 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 3, 1993

   Mr. Simon introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               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. DNA IDENTIFICATION.

    (a) Funding To Improve the Quality and Availability of DNA Analyses 
for Law Enforcement Identification Purposes.--
            (1) 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--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph 
                (20);
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (21) and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(23) developing or improving in a forensic laboratory a 
        capability to analyze deoxyribonucleic acid (referred to in 
        this title as `DNA') for identification purposes.''.
            (2) 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 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 the 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 2(b) of the DNA Identification Act of 1993;
                    ``(B) DNA samples obtained by and DNA analyses 
                performed at the laboratory will be made available 
                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 the defendant is charged; and
                            ``(iii) to others, 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) the laboratory and each analyst performing 
                DNA analyses at the laboratory will undergo, at regular 
                intervals not exceeding 180 days, external proficiency 
                testing by a DNA proficiency testing program meeting 
                the standards issued under section 2(b) of the DNA 
                Identification Act of 1993.''.
            (3) Authorization of appropriations.--For each of fiscal 
        years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 there are authorized to 
        be appropriated $10,000,000 for grants to the States for DNA 
        analysis.
    (b) Quality Assurance and Proficiency Testing Standards.--
            (1) Publication of quality assurance and proficiency 
        testing standards.--(A) Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of 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.
            (B) 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.
            (C) The standards described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) 
        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.
            (D) 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.
            (2) Administration of the advisory board.--For 
        administrative purposes, the advisory board appointed under 
        paragraph (1) shall be considered to be 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 that 
        is 5 years after the date on which initial appointments are 
        made to the board, unless the existence of the board is 
        extended by the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation.
    (c) Index To Facilitate Law Enforcement Exchange of DNA 
Identification Information.--
            (1) In general.--The Director of the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation may establish an index of--
                    (A) DNA identification records of persons convicted 
                of crimes;
                    (B) analyses of DNA samples recovered from crime 
                scenes; and
                    (C) analyses of DNA samples recovered from 
                unidentified human remains.
            (2) Contents.--The index established under paragraph (1) 
        shall include only information on DNA identification records 
        and DNA analyses that are--
                    (A) 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 subsection (b);
                    (B) prepared by laboratories and DNA analysts that 
                undergo, at regular intervals not exceeding 180 days, 
                external proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency 
                testing program meeting the standards issued under 
                subsection (b); and
                    (C) maintained by Federal, State, and local 
                criminal justice agencies pursuant to rules that allow 
                disclosure of stored DNA samples and DNA analyses 
                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 the defendant is charged; or
                            (iii) to others, if personally identifiable 
                        information is removed, for a population 
                        statistics database, for identification 
                        research and protocol development purposes, or 
                        for quality control purposes.
            (3) Failure to meet requirements.--The exchange of records 
        authorized by this subsection is subject to cancellation if the 
        quality control and privacy requirements described in paragraph 
        (2) are not met.
    (d) Federal Bureau of Investigation.--
            (1) Proficiency testing requirements.--(A) Personnel at the 
        Federal Bureau of Investigation who perform DNA analyses shall 
        undergo, at regular intervals not exceeding 180 days, external 
        proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing program 
        meeting the standards issued under subsection (b). Not later 
        than 1 year after 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 subparagraph, 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.
            (B) For each of the 5 years following the date of enactment 
        of this Act, the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of 
        the House of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary 
        of the Senate an annual report on the results of each of the 
        tests described in subparagraph (A).
            (2) Privacy protection standards.--(A) Except as provided 
        in subparagraph (B), the results of DNA tests performed for a 
        Federal law enforcement agency for law enforcement purposes may 
        be disclosed only--
                    (i) to criminal justice agencies for law 
                enforcement identification purposes; or
                    (ii) for criminal defense purposes, to a defendant, 
                who shall have access to samples and analyses performed 
                in connection with the case in which the defendant is 
                charged.
            (B) 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.
            (3) Criminal penalties.--(A) Whoever--
                    (i) 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
                    (ii) 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.
            (B) 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.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Federal Bureau of Investigation $2,000,000 for each 
of fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 to carry out 
subsections (b), (c), and (d).

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