[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 820 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 820

 To strengthen programs authorized under the Debbie Smith Act of 2004.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2019

 Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Blumenthal, 
   Ms. Ernst, Ms. McSally, Mr. Burr, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. 
  Blackburn, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Crapo, and Mr. Scott of South Carolina) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To strengthen programs authorized under the Debbie Smith Act of 2004.

    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 ``Debbie Smith Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. DNA BACKLOG GRANT PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT.

    Section 2 of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (34 
U.S.C. 40701) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``including'' and 
                inserting ``prioritizing, to the extent practicable 
                consistent with public safety considerations''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (8), by striking ``including'' and 
                inserting ``in particular,'';
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) provide assurances that the DNA section of the 
        laboratory to be used to conduct DNA analyses has a written 
        policy that prioritizes the analysis of, to the extent 
        practicable consistent with public safety considerations, 
        samples from homicides and sexual assaults.'';
            (3) in subsection (c)(3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``2014 through 
                2019'' and inserting ``2019 through 2024''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``2014 through 
                2019'' and inserting ``2019 through 2024'';
            (4) in subsection (g)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraph (1), (2), and (3) as 
                subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), and adjusting the 
                margins accordingly;
                    (B) by striking ``Not later'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(1) In general.--Not later''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Report on effectiveness of grant program.--Not later 
        than 180 days after the date on which the Comptroller General 
        of the United States issues the 2018 report on the DNA Capacity 
        Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Grant Program, or 180 days 
        after the date of enactment of the Debbie Smith Act of 2019, 
        whichever date is later, the Attorney General shall submit a 
        report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 
        Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 
        that--
                    ``(A) describes any action taken by the Department 
                of Justice since the release of the 2018 report on the 
                DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Grant 
                Program to improve the DNA Capacity Enhancement and 
                Backlog Reduction Grant Program based on the 
                recommendations of the Comptroller General; and
                    ``(B) includes recommendations for reforms that 
                could enhance the effectiveness of the program in 
                reducing the backlog of unanalyzed DNA evidence in 
                sexual assault cases.
            ``(3) GAO report.--Not later than 180 days after the end of 
        the third fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, and once every 3 fiscal years thereafter, the 
        Comptroller General of the United States shall issue a report 
        on the DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Grant 
        Program describing, by year--
                    ``(A) the total number of new DNA requests;
                    ``(B) the total number of cases, items, and 
                offender and arrestee samples analyzed;
                    ``(C) the total number of DNA profiles uploaded to 
                the national DNA index;
                    ``(D) the total number of matches and 
                investigations aided by matches made by the national 
                DNA index;
                    ``(E) changes in total laboratory capacity to 
                conduct DNA analyses as described in subsection (a)(3);
                    ``(F) the number of open DNA cases at the end of 
                each year and open DNA cases older than 30 days at the 
                end of the year;
                    ``(G) the number of sexual assault cases submitted 
                to the laboratory during the year and the number of 
                untested sexual assault cases older than 30 days at the 
                end of the year;
                    ``(H) whether the National Institute of Justice has 
                defined DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction 
                program-wide goals in clear, specific, and measurable 
                terms; and
                    ``(I) whether the Office of Justice Programs has 
                fully established all appropriate controls related to 
                lobbying.''; and
            (5) in subsection (j), by striking ``2015 through 2019'' 
        and inserting ``2019 through 2024''.

SEC. 3. TRAINING AND EDUCATION.

    Section 303(b) of the DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2004 (34 
U.S.C. 40722(b)) is amended by striking ``2015 through 2019'' and 
inserting ``2019 through 2024''.

SEC. 4. SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAM GRANTS.

    Section 304(d) of the DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2004 (34 
U.S.C. 40723(d)) is amended by striking ``2015 through 2019'' and 
inserting ``2019 through 2024''.
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