[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 150 (Thursday, December 7, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H12031-H12032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              DNA ANALYSIS BACKLOG ELIMINATION ACT OF 2000

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 4640) to make grants to States for 
carrying out DNA analyses for use in the Combined DNA Index System of 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to provide for the collection and 
analysis of DNA samples from certain violent and sexual offenders for 
use in such system, and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment 
thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The Clerk read the Senate amendment as follows:

       Senate amendment:
       Page 26, after line 6, insert:

     SEC. 11. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE OBLIGATION OF 
                   GRANTEE STATES TO ENSURE ACCESS TO POST-
                   CONVICTION DNA TESTING AND COMPETENT COUNSEL IN 
                   CAPITAL CASES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) over the past decade, deoxyribo-nucleic acid testing 
     (referred to in this section as ``DNA testing'') has emerged 
     as the most reliable forensic technique for identifying 
     criminals when biological material is left at a crime scene;
       (2) because of its scientific precision, DNA testing can, 
     in some cases, conclusively establish the guilt or innocence 
     of a criminal defendant;
       (3) in other cases, DNA testing may not conclusively 
     establish guilt or innocence, but may have significant 
     probative value to a finder of fact;
       (4) DNA testing was not widely available in cases tried 
     prior to 1994;
       (5) new forensic DNA testing procedures have made it 
     possible to get results from minute samples that could not 
     previously be tested, and to obtain more informative and 
     accurate results than earlier forms of forensic DNA testing 
     could produce, resulting in some cases of convicted inmates 
     being exonerated by new DNA tests after earlier tests had 
     failed to produce definitive results;
       (6) DNA testing can and has resulted in the post-conviction 
     exoneration of more than 75 innocent men and women, including 
     some under sentence of death;
       (7) in more than a dozen cases, post-conviction DNA testing 
     that has exonerated an innocent person has also enhanced 
     public safety by providing evidence that led to the 
     apprehension of the actual perpetrator;
       (8) experience has shown that it is not unduly burdensome 
     to make DNA testing available to inmates in appropriate 
     cases;
       (9) under current Federal and State law, it is difficult to 
     obtain post-conviction DNA testing because of time limits on 
     introducing newly discovered evidence;
       (10) the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence, 
     a Federal panel established by the Department of Justice and 
     comprised of law enforcement, judicial, and scientific 
     experts, has urged that post-conviction DNA testing be 
     permitted in the relatively small number of cases in which it 
     is appropriate, notwithstanding procedural rules that could 
     be invoked to preclude such testing, and notwithstanding the 
     inability of an inmate to pay for the testing;
       (11) only a few States have adopted post-conviction DNA 
     testing procedures;
       (12) States have received millions of dollars in DNA-
     related grants, and more funding is needed to improve State 
     forensic facilities and to reduce the nationwide backlog of 
     DNA samples from convicted offenders and crime scenes that 
     need to be tested or retested using upgraded methods;
       (13) States that accept such financial assistance should 
     not deny the promise of truth and justice for both sides of 
     our adversarial system that DNA testing offers;
       (14) post-conviction DNA testing and other post-conviction 
     investigative techniques have shown that innocent people have 
     been sentenced to death in the United States;
       (15) a constitutional error in capital cases is incompetent 
     defense lawyers who fail to present important evidence that 
     the defendant may have been innocent or does not deserve to 
     be sentenced to death; and
       (16) providing quality representation to defendants facing 
     the loss of liberty or life is essential to fundamental due 
     process and the speedy final resolution of judicial 
     proceedings.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) Congress should condition forensic science-related 
     grants to a State or State forensic facility on the State's 
     agreement to ensure post-conviction DNA testing in 
     appropriate cases; and

[[Page H12032]]

       (2) Congress should work with the States to improve the 
     quality of legal representation in capital cases through the 
     establishment of standards that will assure the timely 
     appointment of competent counsel with adequate resources to 
     represent defendants in capital cases at each stage of those 
     proceedings.

  Mr. McCOLLUM (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent that the Senate amendment be considered as read and printed in 
the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the original request 
of the gentleman from Florida?
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I yield to the 
gentleman from Florida to explain the purpose of his request.
  Mr. McCOLLUM. I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I introduced the bill, H.R. 4640, which is the subject 
of this request, the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act, together 
with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) as the ranking minority 
member, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Weiner), and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) to 
address a very important problem, the massive backlog of biological 
samples awaiting DNA analysis in the States. This bill will authorize 
the appropriation of Federal funds to be awarded to States in order to 
clear this backlog. It also gives the Federal Government much needed 
authority to take DNA samples from certain Federal offenders and 
include them in the FBI's national database of convicted offender 
samples that matches known offenders to crimes where the perpetrator is 
yet to be discovered.
  The bill was first passed by the House by voice vote on October 2. 
The other body passed the bill by unanimous consent yesterday. In the 
other body, the bill was slightly amended in one regard: It added a 
sense of the Congress concerning the use of DNA evidence in certain 
cases. The sense of the Congress is identical to that contained in S. 
3045, the bill just passed by the House. So I see no problem with it at 
all. I think it is a very important bill that the gentleman and I have 
worked on for some time. I would urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, this is the bill we passed, and the Senate 
amendment improved the bill.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my gratitude to 
Chairman McCollum for his dedication and diligence in bringing H.R. 
4640, the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act, to the floor today, and 
am pleased that this legislation reflects many of the provisions 
outlined in my measure, H.R. 3375, the Convicted Offender DNA Index 
System Support Act. I've had the pleasure of working closely with him, 
Ranking Member Scott, and Representatives Ramstad, Stupak, Kennedy, 
Weiner, and Chabot, in developing this legislation, which will meet the 
needs of prosecutors, law enforcement, and victims throughout our 
Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1994, the Congress passed the DNA Identification Act, 
which authorized the construction of the combined DNA index system, or 
CODIS, to assist our Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies 
in fighting violent crime throughout the Nation. CODIS is a master 
database for all law enforcement agencies to submit and retrieve DNA 
samples of convicted violent offenders. Since beginning its operation 
in 1998, the system has worked extremely well in assisting law 
enforcement by matching DNA evidence with possible suspects and has 
accounted for the capture of over 200 suspects in unsolved violent 
crimes.
  However, because of the high volume of convicted offender samples 
needed to be analyzed, a nationwide backlog of approximately 600,000 
unanalyzed convicted offender DNA samples has formed. Furthermore, 
because the program has been so vital in assisting crime fighting and 
prevention efforts, our States are expanding their collection efforts. 
Recently, New York State Governor George Pataki enacted legislation to 
expand the State's collection of DNA samples to require all violent 
felons and a number of non-violent felony offenders, and, earlier this 
year, the use of the expanded system resulted in charges being filed in 
a 20-year-old Westchester County murder.
  State forensic laboratories have also accumulated a backlog of 
evidence for cases for which there are no suspects. These are evidence 
``kits'' for unsolved violent crimes which are stored away because our 
State forensic laboratories do not have the support necessary to 
analyze them and compare the evidence to our nationwide data bank. 
Presently, there are approximately 12,000 rape cases in New York City 
alone, and, it is estimated, approximately 180,000 rape cases 
nationwide, which are unsolved and unanalyzed. This number represents a 
dismal future for the success of CODIS and reflects the growing problem 
facing our law enforcement community. The DNA Analysis Backlog 
Elimination Act will provide States with the support necessary to 
combat these growing backlogs. The successful elimination of both the 
convicted violent offender backlog and the unsolved casework backlog 
will play a major role in the future of our State's crime prevention 
and law enforcement efforts.
  The DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act will also provide funding to 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation to eliminate their unsolved 
casework backlog and close a loophole created by the original 
legislation. Although all 50 States require DNA collection from 
designated convicted offenders, for some inexplicable reason, convicted 
Federal, District of Columbia and military offenders are exempt, H.R. 
4640 closes that loophole by requiring the collection of samples from 
any Federal, Military, or D.C. offender convicted of a violent crime.
  Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, our Nation's fight against crime is 
never over. Everyday, the use of DNA evidence is becoming a more 
important tool to our Nation's law enforcement in solving crimes, 
convicting the guilty and exonerating the innocent. The Justice 
Department estimates that erasing the convicted offender backlog 
nationwide could resolve at least 600 cases. The true amount of 
unsolved cases, both State and Federal, which may be concluded through 
the elimination of both backlogs is unknown. However, if one more case 
is solved and one more violent offender is detained because of our 
efforts, we have succeeded.
  In conclusion, we must ensure that our Nation's law enforcement has 
the equipment and support necessary to fight violent crime and protect 
our communities. The DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act will assist 
our local, State and Federal law enforcement personnel by ensuring that 
crucial resources are provided to our DNA data-banks and crime 
laboratories.
  Accordingly, I urge full support for the measure.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the original request 
of the gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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