[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 820 Referred in House (RFH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 820


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 20, 2019

               Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 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) Implementation of program improvements.--Not later 
        than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Debbie Smith Act 
        of 2019--
                    ``(A) the Director of the National Institute of 
                Justice shall--
                            ``(i) define DNA Capacity Enhancement and 
                        Backlog Reduction program-wide goals in clear, 
                        specific, and measurable terms;
                            ``(ii) consistently document the goals 
                        defined under clause (i); and
                            ``(iii) use performance measures for each 
                        goal defined under clause (i) that fully 
                        reflect the appropriate attributes of 
                        successful performance measures according to 
                        recommendations made by the Government 
                        Accountability Office in the report entitled, 
                        `DNA Evidence: DOJ Should Improve Performance 
                        Measurement and Properly Design controls for 
                        Nationwide Grant Program' (GAO-19-216); and
                    ``(B) the Assistant Attorney General for the Office 
                of Justice Programs shall fully establish all 
                appropriate controls relating to conflicts of interest 
                and to lobbying as reported by the Government 
                Accountability Office in the report entitled, `DNA 
                Evidence: DOJ Should Improve Performance Measurement 
                and Properly Design controls for Nationwide Grant 
                Program' (GAO-19-216).
            ``(3) 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.''.
            ``(4) GAO report.--Not later than 180 days after the end of 
        the third fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of 
        the Debbie Smith Act of 2019, and once every 3 fiscal years 
        thereafter through fiscal year 2025, the Comptroller General of 
        the United States shall issue a report on the DNA analysis 
        workloads at laboratories that participate in the Combined DNA 
        Index System using data available from the DNA Capacity 
        Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Grant Program or other 
        sources that--
                    ``(A) describes, by year--
                            ``(i) the total number of new crime scene 
                        DNA analysis requests submitted to 
                        laboratories;
                            ``(ii) the total number of crime scene DNA 
                        analysis requests analyzed including, to the 
                        extent practicable and reported separately--
                                    ``(I) the number analyzed at 
                                laboratories participating in Combined 
                                DNA Index System; and
                                    ``(II) the number of requests 
                                outsourced and analyzed at private 
                                laboratories;
                            ``(iii) the total number of DNA profiles 
                        from crime scene evidence uploaded to the 
                        Combined DNA Index System;
                            ``(iv) the total number of Combined DNA 
                        Index System hits and investigations aided 
                        resulting from DNA profiles recovered from 
                        crime scene evidence;
                            ``(v) the number of outstanding crime scene 
                        DNA analysis requests at the end of each year 
                        and the number of such outstanding requests 
                        that are older than 30 days at the end of the 
                        year; and
                            ``(vi) to the extent practicable, the 
                        number of requests associated with sexual 
                        assault cases submitted to laboratories during 
                        the year and the number of such requests that 
                        are older than 30 days at the end of the year; 
                        and
                    ``(B) includes a determination as to--
                            ``(i) whether the National Institute of 
                        Justice has defined DNA Capacity Enhancement 
                        and Backlog Reduction program-wide goals as 
                        required under paragraph (2)(A); and
                            ``(ii) whether the Office of Justice 
                        Programs has fully established all appropriate 
                        controls relating to conflicts of interest and 
                        to lobbying as required under paragraph 
                        (2)(B).''; 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''.

            Passed the Senate May 16, 2019.

            Attest:

                                                JULIE E. ADAMS,

                                                             Secretary.