[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
HELP FIND THE MISSING ACT OR BILLY'S LAW
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM,
AND HOMELAND SECURITY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
H.R. 3695
__________
JANUARY 21, 2010
__________
Serial No. 111-99
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
Available via the World Wide Web: http://judiciary.house.gov
----------
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
54-535 PDF WASHINGTON : 2010
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Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
JOHN CONYERS, Jr., Michigan, Chairman
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California LAMAR SMITH, Texas
RICK BOUCHER, Virginia F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr.,
JERROLD NADLER, New York Wisconsin
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina
MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ZOE LOFGREN, California BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California
MAXINE WATERS, California DARRELL E. ISSA, California
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee STEVE KING, Iowa
HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr., TRENT FRANKS, Arizona
Georgia LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
PEDRO PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico JIM JORDAN, Ohio
MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois TED POE, Texas
JUDY CHU, California JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah
LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois TOM ROONEY, Florida
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin GREGG HARPER, Mississippi
CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas
ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California
DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida
DANIEL MAFFEI, New York
[Vacant]
Perry Apelbaum, Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Sean McLaughlin, Minority Chief of Staff and General Counsel
------
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman
PEDRO PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
JERROLD NADLER, New York TED POE, Texas
ZOE LOFGREN, California BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California
MAXINE WATERS, California J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee TOM ROONEY, Florida
ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York
DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida
MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois
Bobby Vassar, Chief Counsel
Caroline Lynch, Minority Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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JANUARY 21, 2010
Page
THE BILL
H.R. 3695, the ``Help Find the Missing Act'' or Billy's Law''.... 3
OPENING STATEMENTS
The Honorable Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Virginia, and Chairman, Subcommittee
on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security..................... 1
The Honorable Louie Gohmert, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Texas, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism, and Homeland Security............................... 26
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr., a Representative in Congress
from the State of Michigan, and Chairman, Committee on the
Judiciary...................................................... 27
WITNESSES
The Honorable Christopher S. Murphy, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Connecticut
Oral Testimony................................................. 28
Prepared Statement............................................. 29
The Honorable Ted Poe, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas
Oral Testimony................................................. 30
Prepared Statement............................................. 32
Ms. Janice Smolinski, Cheshire, CT
Oral Testimony................................................. 33
Prepared Statement............................................. 35
Ms. Kristina Rose, Acting Director, National Institute of
Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of
Justice, Washington, DC
Oral Testimony................................................. 36
Prepared Statement............................................. 39
Stephen L. Morris, Deputy Assistant Director, Criminal Justice
Information Services Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Washington, DC
Oral Testimony................................................. 43
Prepared Statement............................................. 46
APPENDIX
Material Submitted for the Hearing Record
Prepared Statement of the Honorable Maxine Waters, a
Representative in Congress from the State of California, and
Member, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security 56
Letter to the Honorable Bobby Scott, Chairman, Subcommittee on
Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, from Ronald Weich,
Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S.
Department of Justice, Washington, DC.......................... 60
HELP FIND THE MISSING ACT
OR BILLY'S LAW
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2010
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism,
and Homeland Security
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:04 a.m., in
room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, the Honorable Robert
C. ``Bobby'' Scott (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Scott, Conyers, Waters, Wasserman
Schultz, Quigley, Gohmert, and Poe.
Staff present: (Majority) Bobby Vassar, Subcommittee Chief
Counsel; Liliana Coronado (Fellow) Federal Public Defender
Office Detailee; Joe Graupensperger, Counsel; Veronica Eligan,
Professional Staff Member; (Minority) Caroline Lynch, Counsel;
and Justin Long, Counsel.
Mr. Scott. The Subcommittee will now come to order. And I
am pleased to welcome you today to the hearing before the
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security about
H.R. 3695, thr ``Help Find the Missing Act,'' also known as
``Billy's Law.''
Today we will discuss the problem of missing persons in
this country and mechanisms that have been established and
which can be strengthened so that not only law enforcement but
also private citizens can do more to find those who go missing.
Every year, tens of thousands of Americans go missing and
are never found by their loved ones. This is a staggering
statistic. But each of these statistics is more than a mere
number. They are real people with real problems, and each
unsolved missing case is a tragedy.
With us today to tell us about one such case is Janice
Smolinski, whose son Billy went missing in 2004 and who has not
been found. Her ordeal represents one of the many thousands and
gives us an idea of what a family goes through to find a
missing loved one.
Fortunately for us, she has used her experience to help
others by trying to make available more information about
missing persons to both law enforcement and to the families and
friends of those who are missing.
It is important that law enforcement have all of the
appropriate information about the missing person so they can do
their jobs to find them.
It is equally important that families be able to access
information about missing persons and unidentified remains of
persons so that they can search the information that may help
solve their own cases.
The FBI's NCIC has for many years contained databases for
missing persons and for identified remains of persons. These
databases contain information submitted to--submitted by
Federal, State and--and local law enforcement agencies.
The missing persons file is comprised of entries for
missing individuals listed various--listing various personal
characteristics such as name, gender, race and dental records.
The unidentified persons file mainly consists of
descriptive information about deceased and unidentified bodies
in various States ranging from the recently deceased to
skeletal and partial remains.
For years these databases were crucial to law enforcement
efforts to find missing persons and link some missing persons
with remains that were initially unidentified. But they were
not open to the public's use and assisting private efforts at
finding missing persons.
Because of this restriction, the Justice Department
National Institute of Justice established similar databases but
open to the public in 2007. This new system is called NamUs, N-
A-M, capital US, and similarly consists of two databases, one
for missing persons and one for unidentified remains.
Information in NamUs is available and searchable online by
anyone, most notably the families of missing persons. Under
some circumstances, the public may even contribute information
to the program to make it even more comprehensive.
Today we will discuss a bill that has been introduced to
reinforce these databases, and I look forward to hearing from
our two panels of witnesses on how H.R. 3695 will strengthen
these databases and encourage submission of more information to
them so that even more--so that they may be even more useful to
both law enforcement and members of the public.
Today we have two panels of witnesses who will discuss the
missing persons. We will hear from legislators and from others
involved.
And at this point I will yield to the gentleman from Texas,
the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, Judge Gohmert.
[The bill, H.R. 3695, follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
__________
Mr. Gohmert. Thank you, Chairman.
Reuniting a missing person with their family or identifying
the remains of a lost loved one are very important law
enforcement priorities.
I look forward to learning more about what can be done to
utilize the technology and funds to track missing persons and
identify unknown and unidentified remains.
Every year tens of thousands of Americans go missing, never
to be seen by their loved ones again. In 2009 there were more
than 100,000 missing persons records active in the FBI's
National Crime Information Center database.
Simultaneously, medical examiners' and coroners' offices
across the country are holding tens of thousands of
unidentified remains. Estimates indicate that 40,000 sets of
unidentified remains are being held.
But as of January 2009, the FBI's NCIC database contains
only 7,000 records of unidentified remains. This means that
medical examiners' and coroners' offices are not recording in
the NCIC database many of the unidentified remains they hold.
And consequently, it is likely that many missing person
cases remain open for failure to connect missing person
profiles with unidentified remains being held.
Certainly, this disconnect between missing person cases and
unidentified remains should be resolved. Additionally, modern
technology and Internet should be utilized in State-Federal
efforts to track missing persons and identify previously
unidentified remains.
The ``Help Find the Missing Act,'' or ``Billy's Law,''
seeks to address these concerns by increasing funding for a
national online repository and reporting system called NamUs,
the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
The goal is to have coroners, medical examiners, law
enforcement agencies and even the public all reporting
information and getting information from one centralized Web
site, NamUs.
Presently, there are many Federal, State, local and
nonprofit databases designed to help, but these databases are
not sufficiently accessible, and they do not do a good job of
sharing information amongst each other.
There is a great need for coordination among these
databases and agencies. For this reason, NamUs was established
by the Department of Justice in 2007 pursuant to President
Bush's DNA initiative to provide two databases, one for missing
persons and one for unidentified remains.
NamUs enables the public to access, search and contribute
toward these databases. It also enables medical examiners and
coroners to link their information on unidentified remains with
Federal and State law enforcement information on missing
persons, so long as medical examiners, coroners and law
enforcement have enough funding and technology to regularly
utilize NamUs and share this information with the FBI's NCIC
database.
To encourage medical examiners, coroners and law
enforcement agencies to regularly use NamUs, ``Billy's Law''
provides the attorney generals incentive grant programs for
medical examiners and coroners.
Permissible uses of the funds include database training
according to best practice, the hiring of additional personnel,
purchase of new technology. It authorizes $2.4 million for each
of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014 in order to maintain the
NamUs databases and coordinate data-sharing between the NCIC
database and NamUs.
I am interested to learn whether the witnesses have
suggestions for efficient and effective reforms not proposed in
``Billy's Law.'' It does seem clear that we need to improve the
reporting, sharing and analyzing of information, but I want to
be careful and ensure that funds are used wisely.
Welcome the witnesses here today. Appreciate your being
here. Appreciate the testimony. We received written testimony.
I am going to have to leave the hearing early, but I have
been--I reviewed last night the written testimony, and I am
extremely interested as a former district judge, as my friend
Congressman Poe, Ted Poe from Texas.
And so we appreciate everybody's efforts to be here. We
know you are not here for the money you get for being a
witness, because there is none. You are here because of what is
in your heart, and we appreciate that very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Scott. Thank you, Mr. Gohmert.
The gentleman from Michigan, the Chairman of the full
Committee, Mr. Conyers?
Mr. Conyers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We welcome Mr. and Mrs. Smolinski here, and we want you to
just know how this function goes on in Judiciary Committee.
See, this is a special Subcommittee. You have got a veteran
trial lawyer as the Chairman, and you have got two judges just
in case we lawyers stray off.
And so between Poe and Gohmert, this is the perfect place
for this subject matter to come up. And the last thing you
ought to know is that procedurally we all describe the bill,
explain it, so that there is nothing for the authors to do.
By the time we finish, everybody has heard the bill
described repeatedly. And that makes their testimony,
hopefully, even briefer than it was going to have been.
So I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Scott. I thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it is a nice
try, but I am not sure they are going to accommodate us.
Our first panel will consist of two of our colleagues,
Congressman Chris Murphy and Congressman Ted Poe, who have
introduced H.R. 3695, the bill we are discussing today.
Congressman Murphy represents the 5th District of
Connecticut, the home of Billy Smolinski. He is in his second
term and is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and
Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Congressman Poe represents the 2nd District of Texas. He is
in his third term and a distinguished Member of the--of this
Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee as well as serving as a
Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
We will receive your testimony at this time, beginning with
Mr. Murphy.
TESTIMONY OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, A
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
Mr. Murphy. Thank you very much, Chairman Scott.
And that was a valiant attempt, Mr. Conyers. I will attempt
to keep this as short as possible.
First, I would like to thank the Subcommittee, Ranking
Member Gohmert and the full Committee and the leadership of
Chairman Conyers for their prompt attention to this matter. I
know how seriously you take this, and that is evidenced by the
fact that we are here today, not very long after the
introduction of this legislation.
The picture I have to paint for you today is admittedly
grim. As has been mentioned, every year thousands of Americans
go missing, often never to be seen by their loved ones again.
In fact, as we have heard, there are over 100,000 unsolved
missing persons cases open at any given time. And there are
approximately 4,400 unidentified human remains found on an
average year.
Now, those numbers are too high, but just as intolerable
are the roadblocks that family members are facing when trying
to help law enforcement find a missing love one.
This legislation is named after Billy Smolinski of
Waterbury, Connecticut. He went missing on, excuse me, August
24, 2004 at the age of 31. I will let Billy's mother, Jan,
share her family's experience with you today.
The Smolinskis' story is tragic, but their family's pursuit
of justice and their desire to change the system for the better
is nothing less than heroic.
You will hear their story straight from Jan, but I can tell
you this. No one should ever have to face the systematic
failures, the frustrations and the heartbreak that the
Smolinskis and thousands of other families have endured in
their search to find their loved ones.
H.R. 3695, which I am proud to introduce with, really,
Congress' leading champion on the issue of missing persons,
Congressman Ted Poe, tackles three major problems with our
Nation's missing persons system.
First, many law enforcement agencies, medical examiners and
coroners--they don't have the resources to report missing
adults and unidentified remains.
In fact, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics
census that they took of these officials, 80 percent of those
surveyed reported rarely or never using the existing
unidentified remains database.
Second, there really is no central database to report both
missing persons and unidentified remains. Instead, there are a
myriad of unconnected Federal, and State, and local and
nonprofit databases.
This means that a missing persons report may be entered
into one database, while a person's remains may be listed in
another, making it almost impossible for family members to try
to connect those missing pieces.
Third, many local law enforcement personnel just don't know
about these databases or how to best handle these cases when
they come in to law enforcement in the first place.
``Billy's Law'' addresses these three problems. First, the
legislation provides for the first time statutory authorization
for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System,
known, as Mr. Scott said, as NamUs, the Web-based database that
was created in July 2007 by the Department of Justice--the only
Federal missing persons and unidentified remains database that
the public can access and contribute to, and yet it is
currently not a congressionally authorized program.
Second, the bill connects this database, the public
database, NamUs, with the FBI's existing database that is
accessible just to law enforcement. This will create a more
comprehensive database and streamline the reporting processes.
Third, it creates a competitive grants program to
incentivize reporting to this new connected database. Funds
could be used to develop and implement training on how to best
use the databases and respond to these cases.
And finally, the legislation requires the Department of
Justice to issue information about the databases and best
practices for responding to these cases.
As you will hear from the Smolinskis, part of the problem
is that many local law enforcement agencies don't really know
how to best interact with families coming forward with these
potential missing persons cases.
``Billy's Law'' is supported by 21 bipartisan co-sponsors
and a host of organizations, including the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children, the National Organization of
Police Associations and the National Association of Medical
Examiners.
Most important, it is supported by countless families
throughout the country who have hit brick wall after brick wall
in attempting to locate a missing loved one.
I am so grateful to you, Chairman Scott, Chairman Conyers,
for your prompt and enthusiastic response to the introduction
of this legislation. Its passage will fulfill the wishes of the
Smolinskis and thousands of other families who want to make
sure that their personal nightmares are never repeated.
I thank you and I look forward to answering any questions
that you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Murphy follows:]
Prepared Statement of the Honorable Christopher S. Murphy,
a Representative in Congress from the State of Connecticut
Thank you Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Gohmert, as well as the
Members of the Subcommittee, for holding today's hearing on H.R. 3695,
the ``Help Find the Missing Act, or Billy's Law.''
The picture I have to paint for you today is admittedly grim. Every
year thousands of Americans go missing, often never to be seen by their
loved ones again. In fact, according to the Bureau of Justice
Statistics, there are over 100,000 unsolved missing persons cases open
at any given time. Approximately 4,400 unidentified human remains are
also found in an average year. Those numbers are too high, but just as
intolerable are the roadblocks that family members face when trying to
help law enforcement find a missing love one.
This legislation is named after Billy Smolinski of Waterbury,
Connecticut. He went missing on August 24, 2004 at the age of 31. I
will let Billy's mother, Jan, share her family's experience with you
today. The Smolinskis story is tragic, but this family's pursuit of
justice, and desire to change the system for the better, is nothing
less than heroic. You'll hear their story straight from Jan, but I can
tell you this: no one should ever have to face the systematic failures,
frustrations, and heartbreak that the Smolinskis have endured in their
search to find Billy.
H.R. 3695, which I was proud to introduce with a great champion of
the issue of missing persons, Congressman Ted Poe, tackles three major
problems with our nation's missing persons system.
First, many local law enforcement agencies, medical examiners, and
coroners don't have the resources to report missing adults and
unidentified remains. In fact, according to a Bureau of Justice
Statistics census of medical examiner and coroners' offices, 80 percent
of those surveyed reported rarely or never using the FBI's unidentified
remains database.
Second, there is no central database to report missing persons or
unidentified remains. Instead, there is a myriad of unconnected
federal, state, local, and non-profit databases. This means that a
missing persons report may be entered into one database, while the
person's remains may be listed in another.
Third, many local law enforcement personnel do not know about the
federal missing persons databases or how to best handle these cases.
Billy's Law addresses these three problems.
First, the legislation for the first time provides statutory
authorization for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Also known as NamUs, the web-based database was created in July 2007 by
the Department of Justice. It is the only federal missing persons and
unidentified remains database that the public can access and contribute
to and yet it is currently not a Congressionally authorized program.
Second, the bill connects NamUs with the FBI's database. This will
create a more comprehensive database and streamline the reporting
process for law enforcement.
Third, it creates a competitive grants program to incentivize
reporting to the connected FBI/ NamUs databases. Funds could be used to
develop and implement training on how to use the databases and respond
to these cases.
Finally, the legislation requires the Department of Justice to
issue information about the databases and best practices for responding
to these cases.
Billy's Law is supported by 19 bipartisan cosponsors and a host of
organizations including the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, the National Organization of Police Associations, and the
National Association of Medical Examiners. Most important, it is
supported by countless families throughout the country who have hit
brick wall after brick wall in attempting to locate a missing loved
one.
I am so grateful to you, Chairman Scott, for your prompt and
enthusiastic response to the introduction of this legislation. Its
passage will fulfill the wishes of the Smolinskis' and thousands of
other families who want to make sure that their personal nightmares are
never repeated.
Thank you and I look forward to answering any questions you may
have.
__________
Mr. Scott. Thank you.
Judge Poe?
TESTIMONY OF THE HONORABLE TED POE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS
Mr. Poe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Gohmert,
Chairman Conyers. It is my pleasure to testify in support of
this common-sense piece of legislation.
First, I want to thank my colleague, Congressman Chris
Murphy from Connecticut, for taking up this cause and asking me
to work with him, but also would like to thank the Smolinskis
for being here and sharing this story and moving forward to
this legislation so that it will be presented before Congress.
We should always remember that in the criminal justice
system when a victim is--becomes a victim of a crime, the
system sometimes continues to victimize the families of that
victim. One such way is the fact that many times victims have
no idea what has happened--or the victims' families have no
idea what has happened to their loved one, and that causes
frustration and quite a bit of heartache in just not knowing.
So our system, our justice system, must seek justice not
only for defendants of crime but for victims and their families
as well to have the scales of justice totally balanced.
This legislation authorizes funding for the National
Missing and Unidentified Persons System which will serve as a
unique database that can be searched and cross-referenced.
The database was created by the Department of Justice in
2007 and loved ones of the missing can add information to
profiles in that database, making those databases stronger.
This system will allow Federal, State and local law enforcement
officers to more quickly locate information about missing
persons and enable them to also solve crimes much faster.
Having served as a chief felony prosecutor in Houston,
Texas for 8 years and a felony court judge for 22 years, I know
firsthand the toll that violent crime puts on family members
and friends. They go through a lot of stress and heartache.
And a person that has lost a loved one to a violent crime
is forced to bear a terrible burden. This burden is made worse
when the family is not able to determine exactly what has
happened to the loved one.
Often, families have to wait for many months or years, or
forever, until they can find final disclosure. Brave men and
women of our local police forces do everything they can within
their power. This legislation, however, will make their ability
to work together with the victims' families much easier.
Shortly after I was elected to Congress, I started the
Victims' Rights Caucus, and this caucus supports legislation
for policies that will help victims of crime in the United
States.
This legislation is such a bill, and the members of the
Victims' Rights Caucus will support this legislation.
We must remember, however, that violent crime is not the
only reason an adult might go missing. A physical or
developmental disability such as Alzheimer's disease or
dementia may cause an adult to go missing.
Also, after catastrophic disasters in our country many
people go missing. Such occurred in Hurricane Rita in my
congressional district, where many families were separated, and
it took days, weeks and sometimes months to find family members
because of the database problem that we currently face.
So today we have a mixture of Federal, State and local and
nonprofit databases that can be used to help identify remains.
However, we must go to each one of these, or a family must go
to each one of these, entities to find all of the information.
So it is important that we make it much easier to have one
simple database, and this legislation authorizes that one
central database in NamUs, and I would like to submit the rest
of my statement for the record.
And once again, I want to thank Congressman Chris Murphy
from Connecticut and the Smolinskis for pushing this
legislation, and the Chairman for bringing such a quick hearing
to this Subcommittee.
And I will yield back the remainder of my time. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Poe follows:]
Prepared Statement of the Honorable Ted Poe,
a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas
It is my pleasure today to testify in support of a common sense
piece of legislation that should have been passed years ago. First, I
would like to thank my colleague, Congressman Murphy for taking up this
worthy cause, and for asking me to work with him on this legislation.
Also, I would like to thank Janice Smolinski for being here and sharing
with us the story of her son Billy. As we analyze this piece of
legislation, it is imperative for us to remember how important this
bill is to people like Janice Smolinski.
H.R. 3695 authorizes funding for the National Missing and
Unidentified Persons System which will serve as a unique database that
can be searched and cross-referenced. This database was created by the
Department of Justice in 2007. Loved ones of the missing can add
information to profiles in the database, making them stronger. It is my
belief that this new system will allow federal, state, and local law
enforcement officers to quickly locate information about missing
persons enabling them to solve crimes faster.
Having served as a chief felony prosecutor in Harris County, Texas
for 8 years, as well as a felony court judge for over 22 years, I know
firsthand the toll that violent crime puts on our communities. The
friends and family of the victims go through tremendous stress and
heartache. A family that has lost a loved one to violent crime is
forced to bear a terrible burden. This burden is made even worse when
the family is not able to determine what exactly happened to their
loved one. Often, families have to wait for many months, or years,
until they can finally find closure. The brave men and women of our
local police forces do everything within their power to solve all
violent crimes, and their work should be commended. However, crimes
cross state lines. A victim may be taken far from home by his or her
kidnappers. H.R. 3695 will give our law enforcement officials the tools
they need to quickly solve crimes that cross state lines and bring
closure to families and swift justice to criminals.
Shortly after I was elected to Congress, I started the Victims'
Rights Caucus. This Caucus supports legislation and advocates for
policies that will help victims of crime in the United States. H.R.
3695 is such a bill. I am proud to be a part of this bill, and I urge
all members of this subcommittee to support it, and I will urge all
members of the Victims Rights Caucus to support it as well.
However, we must remember, violent crime is not the only reason an
adult might go missing. A physical or developmental disability such as
Alzheimer's disease or dementia may cause an adult to go missing. A
large scale disaster such as Hurricane Katrina may cause large numbers
of adults to be reported missing. Many children and adults in my
congressional district were reported missing in the confusion following
the evacuation before Hurricane Rita. In situations like these, quick
access to national databases is the key to finding these missing
persons.
Today, we have a mixture of many federal, state, local, and non-
profit databases that can be used to help identify remains. However,
these systems are not fully connected to each other. Information that
is contained in one database might not be contained in another. Most of
these databases do not allow the public to search or add information.
We need a unified, national, system that can collect and gather
information from multiple sources and allow this information to be
easily searched by law enforcement across the country. Social media and
sites like Wikipedia have shown us how much information can be shared
and compiled in one place, by multiple individuals, if it is managed
properly. It is my belief that the NamUS database can be just such a
clearinghouse for information about missing adults and children.
H.R. 3695 would authorize $2.4 million dollars a year for the
Attorney General to maintain the National Missing and Unidentified
Persons System (NamUS). Additionally, H.R. 3695 would require the
Attorney General to share all of the information on missing persons and
unidentified human remains that currently is found in NCIC to be shared
with the NamUS database. H.R.3695 contains protections to ensure that
sensitive information is not shared with NamUS as it will be a public
database. Then, from this point forward, we will have one database
which is easily searchable by both law enforcement and the public, to
serve as a nationwide information clearing house on the missing.
Every year in this country, tens of thousands of Americans go
missing. In 2004, there were an estimated 40,000 sets of human remains
being held by medical examiners or coroner offices across the country.
According to the National Institute of Justice, only 6,000 of such
cases have been entered into the National Crime Information Center's
Unidentified Person File of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. To
address this problem, H.R. 3695 creates incentives for state and local
law enforcement officials to report information about the missing to
NCIC, NamUS, and the National DNA Index System.
Clearly, a unified, easily accessible, national database is needed
to allow information to be more easily shared and help law enforcement
find missing adults and children as fast as possible. H.R. 3695 is a
common sense piece of legislation that should be supported by the
members of this subcommittee.
__________
Mr. Scott. Thank you.
Are there questions, Mr. Gohmert?
Ms. Wasserman Schultz, do you have any questions? Thank
you.
Thank you very much. We will now have our second panel.
Appreciate the testimony from our colleagues.
As our next panel is coming forward, they will be
introduced. Our first witness in the second panel will be
Janice Smolinski. She lives in Cheshire, Connecticut, in Mr.
Murphy's district. She and her husband of 39 years, William
Sr., raised two children, Billy and Paula, on a small farm.
On August 24th, 2004 her life changed forever when Billy
went missing at the age of 31. In her search for her son, she
encountered many problems with the missing persons system, and
she has dedicated her life not only to finding her son but also
helping others in similar situations.
Our second witness will be Kristina Rose, acting director
of the National Institute of Justice. She oversees research,
development and evaluation of the Department of Justice. She is
also responsible for agency-wide special projects and
initiatives that cut across both social and physical sciences.
She was the senior--previously the senior advisor to the
director of the NIJ, providing advice and guidance on criminal
justice policy and management.
Our final witness will be the FBI deputy assistant
director, Stephen Morris. He has been with the FBI for more
than 21 years, working in field offices in El Paso, Dayton and
Houston. As the chief of programs, support section, he was
assigned to the Criminal Justice Information Services Division
and managed the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting and Law
Enforcement Online programs.
In 2008 he was appointed deputy assistant director of the
Policy Administrative and Liaison Branch.
So we will begin with Ms. Smolinski. Ms. Smolinski, can--is
your microphone on? Thank you.
TESTIMONY OF JANICE SMOLINSKI, CHESHIRE, CT
Ms. Smolinski. Thank you for having the courage to tackle
the tragic disconnect in our country's effort to find missing
Americans. The Help Find the Missing Act has been named
``Billy's Law'' in honor of our son who went missing 5 years
ago.
It is my husband Bill and my greatest effort--hope that the
legislation, so well crafted by Representatives Murphy and Poe,
will be signed into law in order to help bring answers and
peace to the thousands of families wrestling with the horror of
having a loved one go missing.
We hope that sharing our family's story can shed light on
this national nightmare and illustrate the urgent need to pass
``Billy's Law.'' With over 100,000 people missing in this
country, our family's story is not a unique one.
Our son's name is William Smolinski Jr., and his whole life
we called him Billy. He was funny and a bit of a goofball,
always trying to surprise us with a joke or a trick.
Billy was a hard worker who drove a tow truck, owned a
small house in the south end of Waterbury and loved his 3-year-
old German shepherd, Harley.
Everything changed on August 24th, 2004 when Billy vanished
at the age of 31. In our search to find our son, we encountered
a Pandora's Box, and when we opened it, we unleashed the
nightmare plaguing the world of the missing and the
unidentified dead.
Our nightmare began when a neighbor called to say that
Billy had left his dog unfed and locked inside his house.
Billy's truck was parked oddly in the driveway, in a spot he
had never used before.
We are a very close family and we knew something had
happened. We called the police, and they told us to wait 3 days
to see if Billy showed up and, if he didn't, to file a missing
persons report.
After waiting the 3 days, we filed the report and expected
the police to launch an aggressive investigation. When the
police did nothing, we organized our own search with friends
and family. We even hired a private investigator.
As the days passed, we knew something terrible had happened
to our son. Yet we still couldn't get the attention of the
local police department. They dismissed Billy as a walkaway
case.
The police were not only slow to respond but they also
didn't report--properly report the case. It took 4 years for a
report to be correctly filed with the National Crime
Information Center.
Moreover, not only did they lose seven separate DNA
samples, but they also didn't know about the National DNA Index
System. In fact, it wasn't until the FBI took over the
investigation, 2 years after Billy vanished, that the proper
reports and DNA samples were collected and filed.
Eventually, we uncovered information that led us to believe
Billy had been murdered in Woodbridge and buried in Seymour.
The only person who has ever been arrested in this case is me.
When we tried to hang missing person flyers on telephone poles
in Woodbridge, the police arrested me. The charge was later
dropped.
Though much time has passed, we still haven't been able to
find justice for our Billy. We have tried to change the system
so no family would have to endure the anguish that we have
lived through.
Reform has begun in Waterbury and in many other police
departments in Connecticut. With H.R. 3695, we have the
opportunity to make changes nationwide.
With the incentive grants program created in the bill,
police training can finally catch up to modern technology while
emphasizing sensitivity protocols. Police want to have better
resources to solve missing persons cases, and ``Billy's Law''
will help them with that.
Authorizing NamUs will help empower family members to
search for their missing loved ones. As you can tell, looking
for your missing loved one becomes a full time job. It consumes
you. You have to continually hound the police, knock on doors,
make phone calls, visit the media, make fliers, create Web
sites, network, speak up, and check on information entered into
databases to make sure it was created correctly.
NamUs makes this process easier as you can both enter
information yourself and search the database. Moreover, the
connected NCIC-NamUs database that the legislation creates
increases the chances of finding answers.
Uncertainty is a cancer that crushes the spirit of loved
ones left behind, destroys marriages and tears at the tissue of
family bonds. The stress of having a missing loved turns some
to substance abuse, creates health problems and drives people
into bankruptcy.
Unless there is some form of resolution, the heartache
never truly goes away. This legislation is long overdue, and
the missing community applauds his efforts.
This act is named after my son, but it is not for him or
the Smolinski family. This act is for every American, and it is
the ultimate act in homeland security.
Thank you again.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Smolinski follows:]
Prepared Statement of Janice Smolinski
Good morning and thank you Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Gohmert,
and Members of the Subcommittee for having the courage to tackle the
tragic disconnect in our country's effort to find missing Americans.
The Help Find the Missing Act has been named ``Billy's Law'' in
honor of our son who went missing from Waterbury, Connecticut five
years ago. It is my husband Bill and my greatest hope that the
legislation, so well crafted by Congressman Murphy and Congressman Poe,
will be signed into law in order to help bring answers and peace to the
thousands of families wrestling with the horror of having a loved one
go missing.
My husband and I are uncomfortable in the spotlight, but we hope
that sharing our family's story can shed light on this national
nightmare and illustrate the urgent need to pass Billy's Law. With over
100,000 people missing in this country, our family's story is not a
unique one.
Our son's name is William Smolinski Jr., and his whole life we
called him Billy. He was funny, and a bit of a goof ball, always trying
to surprise us with a joke or a trick.
Billy was a hard worker who drove a tow truck, owned a small house
in the South End of Waterbury, and loved his three-year-old German
Sheppard, Harley.
Everything changed on August 24, 2004 when Billy vanished at the
age of 31. In our search to find our son we encountered a Pandora's
Box, and when we opened it, we unleashed the nightmare plaguing the
world of the missing and the unidentified dead.
Our nightmare began with a phone call. A neighbor called to say
that Billy had left his dog unfed and locked inside his house. Billy's
truck was parked oddly in the driveway, in a spot he had never used
before. We are a very close family and immediately knew something
extraordinary had happened. We called the police and they told us to
wait three days to see if Billy showed up, and if he didn't, to file a
missing persons report.
After waiting the three days, we filed the report, and expected the
police to launch an aggressive investigation. When the police did
nothing we organized our own search with family and friends. We even
hired a private investigator. As the days passed we knew something
terrible had happened to our son.
Yet we still couldn't get the attention of the local police
department. They dismissed Billy as a voluntary runaway case.
The police were not only slow to respond, but they also didn't
properly report the case. It took four years for a report to be
correctly filed with the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
Moreover, not only did they lose seven separate DNA samples, but they
also didn't know about the National DNA Index System (NDIS). In fact,
it wasn't until the FBI took over the investigation--two years after
Billy vanished--that the proper reports and DNA samples were collected
and filed.
Eventually we uncovered information that led us to believe Billy
had been murdered in Woodbridge, Connecticut, and buried in Seymour.
In fact, according to international homicide expert Bill Hagmaier,
a great leader in fighting for reform, a majority of the missing aren't
just missing, they have been murdered.
However, to this day, the only person who has been arrested in this
case is me. When we tried to hang missing person flyers on telephone
poles in Woodbridge, the police arrested me. The charge was later
dropped.
Though much time has passed, we still haven't been able to find
justice for our Billy. We have tried to change the system so no family
would have to endure the anguish that we have lived through these past
five years. Reform has begun in Waterbury and in many other police
departments around Connecticut.
With H.R. 3695, we have the opportunity to make changes nationwide.
With the incentive grants program created in the bill, police training
can finally catch up to modern science and technology, while
emphasizing sensitivity protocols. Police want to have better resources
to solve missing persons cases and Billy's Law will help them with
that.
Authorizing the Department of Justice's National Missing and
Unidentified persons System (NamUs) will help empower family members to
search for their missing loved ones. As you can tell, looking for your
missing loved one becomes a full time job. It consumes you. You have to
continually hound the police, knock on doors, make phone calls, visit
the media, make fliers, create websites, network, speak up and check on
information entered into databases to make sure it was created
correctly. NamUs makes this process easier as you can both enter
information yourself and search the database. Moreover, the connected
NCIC/NamUs database that the legislation creates increases the chances
of finding answers.
Uncertainty is a cancer that crushes the spirit of loved ones left
behind, destroys marriages and tears at the tissue of family bonds. The
stress of having a missing loved turns some to substance abuse, creates
health problems and drives people into bankruptcy. Unless there is some
form of resolution, the heartache never truly goes away.
Congressman Murphy's effort gives families like mine hope for a
better, more certain tomorrow. This legislation is long overdue, and
the missing community applauds his effort. This act is named after my
son, but it's not for him, or the Smolinski family.
This act is for every American, and is an ultimate act in Homeland
Security.
Thank you again for holding this hearing today. I look forward to
answering any questions you may have.
__________
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Smolinski, and thank
you for dedicating yourself to use your case to help others.
Ms. Smolinski. Thank you.
Mr. Scott. Ms. Rose?
TESTIMONY OF KRISTINA ROSE, ACTING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE
OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE, WASHINGTON, DC
Ms. Rose. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Gohmert and Members
of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to have this opportunity to
discuss the Department of Justice's Missing and Unidentified
Persons System, otherwise known as NamUs, and to affirm our
strong support for H.R. 3695, or ``Billy's Law.''
We commend Congressman Murphy and Congressman Poe for
sponsoring ``Billy's Law,'' and thank the Subcommittee for
their interest in NamUs.
I am especially grateful to Janice Smolinski for her
courageous efforts to raise an awareness of the need to report
and share information about missing persons.
My name is Kristina Rose, and I am the acting director of
the National Institute of Justice. I am proud to be here with
Stephen Morris. He and his colleagues at the FBI have been
valuable partners in supporting State and local efforts to find
and share information about missing and unidentified persons.
We established NamUs to respond to an overwhelming need for
a central reporting system for unidentified human remains.
Our Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that, as of 2004,
more than half of the Nation's medical examiners' offices had
no policy for retaining records, such as x-rays, DNA or
fingerprints, on unidentified human remains. In addition, it is
estimated that on any given day there are 100,000 active
missing persons cases.
NamUs is the first national system for solving missing
persons cases and unidentified dead that was developed by and
for those who use it--by law enforcement, medical examiners,
coroners and the public.
The creation of NamUs has provided unparalleled
opportunities for true partnerships among these groups,
especially with the families of the missing and unidentified
dead.
NamUs engages the public to work alongside State and local
agencies to help resolve cases, increase public safety and
provide resolution for families and for loved ones.
NamUs also serves as a central online repository for other
missing persons' Web sites, for State clearinghouses, for
contact information, legislation and other resources from
around the country.
So now, instead of having to search newspapers or call
morgues around the country to find information about
unidentified persons, families and loved ones can turn to
NamUs.
NamUs was implemented in three stages. In June of 2007, we
launched the first database, for unidentified dead. And then in
January of 2009, we completed the second phase, for a database
on missing persons' information. In July of last year, the
third phase of NamUs became active, and that was the cross
matching.
The system now automatically searches for similarities
between the unidentified dead cases and the missing person
cases every time a new case is published to the system or when
a new case is opened. The system alerts NamUs case managers
when potential matches are found so that they can follow up.
And in just a short period of time, NamUs has become an
extremely valuable tool. All 50 States have missing person case
reports in NamUs. Law enforcement officers in 50 States are
registered, and medical examiners in 48 States, Puerto Rico and
the District of Columbia are also using the system.
And NamUs has already made a difference in people's lives.
Last year, NamUs was used to identify the remains of a man
recently found dead as those of a boy that was reported missing
in Virginia in 1995.
Another example is a man who disappeared in Connecticut
last April. His aunt entered information about him in NamUs,
and the following month a body was found. And using the
information entered by the aunt, the body was identified as
that man who disappeared in April.
And while the information uncovered by NamUs unfortunately
confirms deaths, it brings much needed resolution to families
and friends.
Now, while we are very, very proud of what NamUs has
accomplished so far, we are also striving every day to make it
better. And that is why we enthusiastically support ``Billy's
Law.''
This legislation would specifically authorize NamUs as well
as lead to substantial improvements in how information is
shared between NamUs and the NCIC.
We are also hopeful that the bill will provide a strong
incentive, through the proposed grant program, for States to
provide critical information to NCIC and NamUs shortly after a
case is reported.
Please be assured that the department will continue to
expand and improve its efforts to help law enforcement, medical
examiners, coroners and the public find missing persons and
identify human remains.
We look forward to working with the Subcommittee on
``Billy's Law.'' And this concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I am happy
to answer any questions that you have.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Rose follows:]
Prepared Statement of Kristina Rose
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
__________
Mr. Scott. Thank you.
I would like to recognize the fact that Ms. Waters had come
in, and Mr. Quigley has joined us.
Mr. Morris?
TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN L. MORRIS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR,
CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION, FEDERAL BUREAU
OF INVESTIGATION, WASHINGTON, DC
Mr. Morris. Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman--Ranking Member Gohmert, I see,
has left briefly--and distinguished Members of the
Subcommittee. My name is Stephen L. Morris, and I am a deputy
assistant director at the FBI's Criminal Justice Information
Services Division, otherwise known as CJIS, located in
Clarksburg, West Virginia.
It is my pleasure to join my colleague, Kristina Rose, from
the National Institute of Justice, and especially Bill and
Janice Smolinski, in thanking you for this opportunity to
appear before the Subcommittee to discuss the ``Help Find the
Missing Act,'' or ``Billy's Law.''
It is indeed my honor to provide testimony today regarding
the FBI's National Crime Information Center and its
relationship to the Department of Justice's National Missing
and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs.
Both of these systems play a vital role in locating and
identifying missing and unidentified persons. As you know, the
National Crime Information Center, commonly known as NCIC, has
a computerized database of criminal justice information
available to virtually every law enforcement agency nationwide,
24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Established in 1967 primarily to assist law enforcement in
apprehending fugitives and locating stolen property, the NCIC's
role has clearly expanded over the last 42 years.
Currently, the NCIC database consists of 19 files,
comprised of seven property files and 12 person files. All
these files contain more than 10 million records.
Of the 12 person files within the NCIC, there are two that
are impacted by ``Billy's Law''--one, the missing person file,
and two, the unidentified person file.
The missing person file, which was created in 1975,
contains approximately 98,000 records, and the unidentified
person file, which was established in 1983, contains
approximately 7,000 records.
Since its inception, NCIC, like all other CJIS information-
sharing programs, has operated under a shared management
concept known as the CJIS Advisory Policy Board, or APB, as we
refer to it.
This board represents the interests of more than 17,000
local, State, Federal and tribal law enforcement agencies
accessing CJIS systems throughout the United States. Through
various Subcommittees, working groups and a voting board, the
CJIS APB enables CJIS systems users to make recommendations to
the FBI director regarding policy and operational enhancements
to those CJIS systems.
Essentially, the CJIS division serves as a custodian of
NCIC records and is a steward of NCIC information for more than
100,000 law enforcement and other authorized users of the NCIC.
Currently the NCIC averages more than 7 million transactions
per day.
Needless to say, the FBI and the CJIS APB recognize the
significant role the NCIC has played in the location and
identification of missing persons. According to one benefit
survey conducted by the CJIS Division, an estimated 50,000
missing persons were located as a direct result of information
obtained through the NCIC in a single year.
Throughout its collaborative effort with the APB, the CJIS
Division years ago developed a cross-matching capability that
automatically compares records within the NCIC missing person,
unidentified person and wanted person file any time a record
within these files is entered or modified by an agency.
The comparison is performed on a daily basis and generates
a list of potential candidates which is then provided to the
agency entering or modifying a record and to the agency who may
own a record in the NCIC.
For example, in 2007 a California police department entered
a missing person record into NCIC and received an automatic
response from the NCIC identifying several candidates from the
unidentified deceased records.
No identification was made from those candidates. However,
approximately 30 days later the police department updated their
original record with some dental information. That information
generated additional candidates and ultimately resulted in the
positive identification of a missing person.
In 2008, based upon unidentified person information entered
by a police department in Georgia, the NCIC generated an
automatic response to the Georgia police department and a
police department in Tennessee identifying a possible match.
As a result of that notification, the Georgia and Tennessee
agencies positively identified the person as a missing person
from the State of Tennessee dating back more than 10 years.
Despite these successes, the FBI and the CJIS APB remain
steadfastly committed to further enhancing and leveraging the
NCIC to locate and identify missing persons.
We understand the interest among the Federal Government,
law enforcement and the medical examiner and coroner
communities to further leverage the NCIC by sharing missing and
unidentified person information in a Web-based environment.
However, we are also mindful of the rights to privacy and
civil liberties which we must preserve as we explore the
possibility of sharing law enforcement sensitive information in
a publicly accessible environment.
It is this very tenet that underscores the significant role
the CJIS APB plays in coordinating this national effort. In
fact, in 2007, the FBI began participating in several NamUs
working groups and advisory committees.
And throughout the CJIS APB--or through the CJIS APB we
started working with the National Institute of Justice in
developing an interim process for sharing NCIC data with NamUs.
Although this effort has resulted in several States
directly providing data extracts from the NCIC to the NamUs,
the FBI and the National Institute of Justice recognize the
deficiencies and ineffectiveness of this process. We are
committed to exploring a more reliable and efficient long-term
solution.
In closing, I would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman and
Members of the Subcommittee, for providing the FBI an
opportunity to contribute to this worthwhile endeavor.
The FBI looks forward to working with the Members of this
Subcommittee, the National Institute of Justice, and our local,
State, Federal and tribal law enforcement partners in
furthering the development and operation of NamUs.
I look forward to your questions and comments. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Morris follows:]
Prepared Statement of Stephen L. Morris
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
__________
Mr. Scott. Thank you very much.
We would like to thank all of our witnesses for their
testimony. I just have a couple of questions.
Mr. Morris, you kind of alluded to this. Does the bill
appropriately limit the kind of information that can be put in
to make sure that confidential law enforcement or private
information is not accessible?
Mr. Morris. I think the legislation addresses the
discretion that law enforcement agencies have in what data
should be entered into the system.
I think it sufficiently addresses and acknowledges that
there are some privacy concerns there by allowing the agencies
to basically determine what information it wants to share. I
think that is the beauty of our advisory policy board process.
Through that forum, we were able to--that board is made up
of approximately 32 officials, representatives throughout the
country that represent the multiple jurisdictions that have law
enforcement data in NCIC.
And as we raise issues to them, much like what we are
talking about today, we are able to present those issues and
concerns to the board and, for lack of a better word, vet that
information out through the--through the law enforcement
community and get their input back, and hopefully develop a
standard, universal--I guess universal standards that we--that
allow them to abide by their local laws but also meeting the
objectives of what we are trying to do here in sharing the
information in a national system.
Mr. Scott. Within the system, is there an appropriate
protocol for preserving DNA evidence? If you have unidentified
remains, how do you--is there a protocol for preserving the DNA
evidence?
Mr. Morris. I don't believe that we have specifically
discussed DNA to the level we have the other information. Our
laboratory division is--actually manages the FBI's CODIS and--
national CODIS system, the national DNA system. We work and
collaborate, obviously, with our laboratory division in
leveraging the CODIS system with our IAFIS system and the
different biometric systems we have.
That clearly is something that we will be working with our
laboratory division on to see what we will be able to do.
Again, the CODIS system and the national DNA system is governed
and managed by a different set of standards that our laboratory
is actually the owner of, so I think----
Mr. Scott. Well, if you have an unidentified remains, what
happens? Can you get DNA evidence into the system?
Mr. Morris. Into the CODIS system, sir?
Mr. Scott. Well, into the missing persons system so if you
have a missing person or unidentified remains, they could be
identified, could they not, by DNA?
Mr. Morris. Right. The NCIC system currently today does not
house DNA information.
Mr. Scott. Is that anticipated, Ms. Rose, in this
legislation?
Ms. Rose. Actually, the way that it works now is that if--
we offer free DNA analysis services to persons who enter
information about the missing person or to the medical
examiners and coroners who enter information on unidentified
remains.
That DNA is uploaded into CODIS, into the missing persons
part of CODIS, and then there is an indication in the NamUs
system as to whether DNA is available. So it is separate from
the NamUs system, but the indicators are in the system as to
whether DNA is available.
Mr. Scott. And if someone is missing, could you put in DNA
from relatives if you don't have the----
Ms. Rose. Yes, you can.
Mr. Scott.--DNA from the person, so that you could
calculate a hit?
Ms. Rose. Absolutely. That is a very important part of
this, that reference samples be taken from family members if
they don't have a DNA sample from the missing person. Yes.
Mr. Scott. And there is obviously a backlog of information
to be input. Is there a provision to input all of the
backlogged information?
Ms. Rose. Well, I think that the grant program that is
outlined in the legislation will go a long way toward doing
that. One of the issues that law enforcement and medical
examiner communities face right now are a lack of resources or
capacity to be able to enter that information into the system.
Providing grant funds to help them do that will
exponentially help provide that information to the NamUs system
and help solve additional cases.
Mr. Scott. Is there a mechanism to download or make
available photographs or other tangible information into the
system?
Ms. Rose. Yes, sir, there is. You are able to do that
through NamUs. You can generate missing persons posters. There
are photographs--where they are available, you can put in
multiple photographs if you would like.
Mr. Scott. Is there anything we haven't done in the bill
that needs to be done?
Ms. Rose. Actually, I commend the work that has been done
by Congressman Poe and Congressman Murphy on this bill.
We are very supportive and very excited about authorizing
NamUs, providing funds to help populate the NamUs system, and
especially working with our colleagues at the FBI to be able to
share more information between NCIC and NamUs to make it a
better system.
Mr. Scott. Ms. Smolinski, we are well on our way to helping
solve the problem for others.
Ms. Smolinski. Thank you.
Mr. Scott. So I think the questions and responses we have
had have been very encouraging. Thank you.
Ms. Smolinski. Thank you.
Mr. Scott. Judge Poe?
Mr. Poe. Once again, I want to thank you, all three of you,
for being here, and my friend Mr. Murphy for sponsoring this
legislation.
It seems to me over my 30 years in the justice system that
the number one concern that victims and victims' family have is
information. They want to know what is taking place, even
sometimes more importantly than what happens to the offender.
They want to know about the case, the information. And we
are an information society now. We have the best geeks in the
world right here in the United States.
And I appreciate the fact, Ms. Smolinski, that you and your
family have persevered, getting arrested--that is awful. And
you did, like the old saying, call your Congressman, and he
responded. He has moved this legislation.
The Committee is moving the legislation, with thanks to
Chairman Scott. So the system is working to that extent. I
think it is a piece of--this is a very good piece of
legislation.
I have a question for you. Myself and Mr. Murphy both are
concerned about--you said that you had other such families that
you have met and networked with. Describe the relationship with
those families in a similar situation, your relationship with
those people.
Ms. Smolinski. I am on the phone with families, three, four
different families a day. This goes back to--when Billy first
went missing, I met my first mother whose son went missing.
I think it was the networking, reaching out on the
telephone, and learning the process, because when my son went
missing, I didn't know that there was a disconnect between
medical examiners and law enforcement.
I called our medical examiner to see if he knew if a John
Doe--if a John Doe came in, it may be my son, and if I knew--if
he knew that he was missing, and he said no. So I had to fax
him, reaching out through the Internet, and getting my own Web
site, and--with Facebook and MySpace and all the other
different sites, and telephone calls.
I met families, had very similar situations, but yet they
couldn't reach out. They were devastated. And sometimes we have
to go out and fight for them.
I have the Quilt of Hope in front of me right now, and
these are some of the families that I am working with. And each
square was dedicated to them, and they were able to make the
square the way they wanted to.
I think that having the faces out there helps with the
families to give them psychological encouragement, and they
need hope. And with NamUs, that is tremendous hope for them,
even with the psychological--they will be able to work with
NamUs and be able to watch their case. And if there is
something on there, they could correct it right away.
I know with one family recently I have been working with,
they thought the DNA was in the system, and we checked on it
and the DNA was not in the system. So we need some kind of
centralized--you know, so the families will be able to breathe
a little bit and have some rest. This could happen to anyone.
You know, if it happened to my 31-year-old son who weighs
200 pounds, six feet tall--and he was the one that we always
thought he could defend himself. And in this case, he didn't,
so--thank you.
Mr. Poe. Thanks.
Just a couple more questions, Ms. Rose and Mr. Morris.
There is a difference, I think, in our system between
information about offenders, defendants, potential offenders
and all of their privacy issues, and victims of crime who
disappear. I see a difference in how we should treat both of
those.
Do you agree with that or disagree with that philosophy? In
other words, we should have that information about people who
go missing much more readily available to the community than,
maybe, these other issues about offenders and all of that
stuff. We just have a few--a minute left, so, Ms. Rose and Mr.
Morris?
Ms. Rose. Well, I think that you make an interesting point,
and I think the beauty of NamUs here is that we have been able
to provide information that has not been available typically to
the general public.
We all know that nobody is going to fight as hard or stay
up as late into the night looking for missing persons as the
families are. So being able to make NamUs available to the
public and provide that unique heart of this database has
really been the beauty of the system.
And I think what makes it different, what makes it
successful--and it has enabled us to get the buy-in not only
from the law enforcement community, because they have
benefitted very much from the involvement of the public--many
of our success cases are because families, advocates, private
citizens have stayed up late into the night searching NamUs and
have discovered similarities between missing and unidentified
dead.
So I would say that being able to provide that information
where we never have been able to do that before has been a huge
benefit for this country.
Mr. Poe. All right.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Scott. Thank you.
Mr. Quigley?
Mr. Quigley. Mr. Chairman, my questions were asked and
answered, but I, too, want to thank Mr. Murphy and Mr. Poe for
their efforts here, and the panel, and everyone in this room
for their efforts in this extraordinary legislation. Thank you
so much.
Mr. Scott. Thank you.
I would like to thank all of the witnesses for their
testimony today. Members may have additional written questions
which we will forward to you and ask to be--that you would
answer them promptly so that the answers can be made part of
the record.
We received a letter from the Department of Justice about
H.R. 3695 and I, without objection, will place that in the
record.
The record will remain open for 1 week for the submission
of additional material.
And again, Ms. Smolinski, we would like to thank you
particularly for your testimony. This bill would not have taken
place without your advocacy. Thank you very much.
And without objection, the Subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:55 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Material Submitted for the Hearing Record
Prepared Statement of the Honorable Maxine Waters, a Representative in
Congress from the State of California, and Member, Subcommittee on
Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
Letter to the Honorable Bobby Scott, Chairman, Subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism, and Homeland Security, from Ronald Weich, Assistant Attorney
General, Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice,
Washington, DC
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]