[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 108 (Thursday, September 14, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8585-S8586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SESSIONS (for himself, Mr. Cleland, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. 
        Miller, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frist, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Lott, Mr. L. 
        Chafee, Mr. Mack, Mr. Helms, Mr. Specter, Mr. Santorum, Mr. 
        Nickles, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Hutchinson, 
        Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Thomas, Mr. 
        Shelby, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Harkin, Mr. McConnell, Mr. 
        Bunning, and Mr. Grams):
  S. 3045. A bill to improve the quality, timeliness, and credibility 
of forensic science services for criminal justice purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.


   paul coverdell national forensic sciences improvement act of 2000

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, on June 9, 1999, the late Senator Paul 
Coverdell introduced legislation aimed at addressing one of the most 
pressing problems facing law enforcement today: the critical backlogs 
in our state crime labs. Senator Coverdell's National Forensic Sciences 
Improvement Act of 1999 (S. 1196) attracted broad bipartisan support in 
Congress, as well as the enforcement of national law enforcement 
groups. Unfortunately, before Senator Coverdell's bill could move 
through Congress, he passed away.
  As a fitting, substantive tribute to Senator Coverdell, I am today 
introducing the Paul Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Improvement 
Act of 2000 to eliminate the crisis in forensics labs across the 
country. This was an issue he cared a great deal about, and I am 
honored to have the opportunity to carry on his efforts to address this 
problem.
  The crisis in our forensics labs is acute. According to a report 
issued in February by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, as of December 
1997, 69 percent of state crime labs reported DNA backlogs in 6,800 
cases and 287,000 convicted offender samples. The backlogs are having a 
crippling effect on the fair and speedy administration of justice.
  For example, the Seattle Times reported on April 23 of this year that 
police are being forced to pay private labs to do critical forensics 
work so that their active investigations do not have to wait for tests 
to be completed. ``As Spokane authorities closed in on a suspected 
serial killer, they were eager to nail enough evidence to make their 
case stick. So they skipped over the backlogged Washington State Patrol 
crime lab and shipped some evidence to a private laboratory, paying a 
premium for quicker results. [A] chronic backlog at the State Patrol's 
seven crime labs, which analyze criminal evidence from police 
throughout Washington state, has grown so acute that Spokane 
investigators feared their manhunt would be stalled.''
  As a former prosecutor, I know how dependent the criminal justice 
system is on fast, accurate, dependable forensics testing. With 
backlogs in the labs, district attorneys are forced to wait months and 
years to pursue cases. This is not simply a matter of expediting 
convictions of the guilty. Suspects are held in jail for months before 
trial, waiting for the forensic evidence to be completed. Thus, 
potentially innocent persons stay in jail, potentially guilty persons 
stay out of jail, and victims of crime do not receive closure.
  As an Alabama newspaper, the Decatur Daily, reported on November 28, 
1999, ``[The] backlog of cases is so bad that final autopsy results and 
other forensic testing sometimes take up to a year to complete. It's a 
frustrating wait for police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and 
even suspects. It means delayed justice for the families of crime 
victims.'' Justice delayed is justice denied for prosecutors, 
defendants, judges, police, and, most importantly, for victims. This is 
unacceptable.
  Given the tremendous amount of work to be done by crime labs, 
scientists and technicians must sacrifice accuracy, reliability, or 
time in order to complete their work. Sacrificing accuracy or 
reliability would destroy the justice system, so it is time that is 
sacrificed. But with the tremendous pressures to complete lab work, it 
is perhaps inevitable that there will be problems other than delays. 
Everyone from police to detectives to evidence technicians to lab 
technicians to forensic scientists to prosecutors must be well-trained 
in the preservation, collection, and preparation of forensic evidence.
  The JonBenet Ramsey case is perhaps the most well-known example of a 
case where forensics work is critical to convicting the perpetrator of 
a crime. As the Rocky Mountain News reported on February 2, 1997, ``To 
solve the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, Boulder police must rely to a 
great extent on the

[[Page S8586]]

results of forensic tests being conducted in crime laboratories. [T]he 
looming problem for police and prosecutors, according to forensics 
experts, is whether the evidence is in good condition. Or whether lax 
procedures . . . resulted in key evidence being hopelessly 
contaminated.''
  We need to help our labs train investigators and police. We need to 
help our labs reduce the backlog so that the innocent may be exonerated 
and the guilty convicted. We need to help our labs give closure to 
victims of crime.
  The bill I am introducing today is essentially a reintroduction of 
Senator Coverdell's National Forensic Sciences Improvement Act of 1999 
(S. 1196). The bill expands permitted uses of Byrne grants to include 
improving the quality, timeliness, and credibility of forensic science 
services, including DNA, blood and ballistics tests. It requires States 
to develop a plan outlining the manner in which the grants will be used 
to improve forensic science services and requires States to use these 
funds only to improve forensic sciences, and limits administrative 
expenditures to 10 percent of the grant amount.
  This new bill adds a reporting requirement so that the backlog 
reduction can be documented and tracked. Additionally, the funding is 
adjusted to begin authorizations in Fiscal Year 2001, rather than FY 
2000, as S. 1196 did. Otherwise, this is the exact same bill Senator 
Coverdell introduced and that I and many of my colleagues supported.
  This bill has the support of many of my colleagues from both sides of 
the aisle, including Senators Cleland and Miller from Georgia, Senators 
Lott, Nickles, Hatch, Stevens, Thurmond, Shelby, Cochran, Kyl, 
Wellstone, Dodd, Grams, Durbin, Frist, Helms, Specter, Santorum, 
Jeffords, Abraham, L. Chafee, Mack, Bunning, Ashcroft, Harkin, and 
others. I also appreciate the strong support of Representative Sanford 
Bishop of Georgia, the primary sponsor of Senator Coverdell's bill in 
the House.
  I spoke with Attorney General Reno last night, and she told me that 
she ``supports our efforts to improve forensic science capabilities.'' 
She also told me that this bill ``is consistent with the Department of 
Justice's approach to helping State and local law enforcement.''
  Moreover, numerous law enforcement organizations, including the 
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, American Academy of 
Forensic Sciences, Southern Association of Forensic Sciences, the 
National Association of Medical Examiners, the International 
Association of Police Chiefs, the Fraternal Order of Police, the 
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Georgia 
Bureau of Investigation, the National Association of Attorneys General, 
and the National Association of Counties.
  These Members of Congress and these organizations understand, as I 
do, that crime is not political. Our labs need help, and after 15 years 
as a prosecutor, I am convinced that there is nothing that the Congress 
can do to help the criminal justice system more than to pass this bill 
and fund our crime labs. To properly complete tests for DNA, blood, and 
ballistic samples, our crime labs need better equipment, training, 
staffing, and accreditation. This bill will help clear the crippling 
backlogs in the forensics labs. This, in turn, will help exonerate the 
innocent, convict the guilty, and restore confidence in our criminal 
justice system. I hope my colleagues will join me in passing the Paul 
Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Improvement Act of 2000 in the 
short time we have remaining in this Session.
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Paul 
Coverdell National Forensic Sciences Improvement Act of 2000. I am 
proud to be an original cosponsor of this important and necessary 
legislation and commend my friends, Senator Sessions and the late 
Senator Coverdell, for all of their hard work and leadership they have 
shown in this matter.
  To justify the need for this legislation, I point to the situation 
that the Arkansas State Crime Lab is experiencing as a direct result of 
the exponential increase in the production, use, and distribution of 
methamphetamine. Simply put, with 16,000 test requests this year--
resulting in a backlog of over 6,000 cases--the Arkansas State Crime 
Lab is at the breaking point. Accordingly, it now takes five to six 
months from the receipt of a sample to complete the analysis necessary 
for prosecution. I commend and thank Senator Gregg for his assistance 
in the procurement of funding to hire three additional chemists. 
However, I recognize that Arkansas is not alone in its great need and 
that Congress must authorize more federal funding to fight the ever-
increasing proliferation in the production, use, and distribution of 
illicit substances in our nation.
  The Act would provide an additional $768 million over the next six 
years in the form of block grants by the Attorney General to states to 
improve the quality, timeliness, and credibility of forensic science 
services to the law enforcement community. It would do this by allowing 
states the flexibility to use these monies for facilities, personnel, 
computerization, equipment, supplies, accreditation and certification, 
education, and training. The Act's merit is further made manifest by 
the fact that it is supported by such groups as the American Academy of 
Forensic Sciences, the National Association of Medical Examiners, the 
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, the Southern 
Association of Forensic Sciences, the International Association of 
Chiefs of Police, the National Association of Counties, and the 
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. Thus, I ask 
my colleagues to join me in helping Senator Sessions in his efforts to 
enact that this important legislation.
                                 ______