[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 136 (Tuesday, September 30, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12184-S12185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RAPE KITS AND DNA EVIDENCE BACKLOG ELIMINATION ACT OF 2003

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the Advancing 
Justice Through DNA Technology Act of 2003. This bill contains several 
important provisions. I am especially pleased with title I of the 
bill--the Rape Kits and DNA Evidence Backlog Elimination Act, which 
mirrors the bill of the same name that I introduced earlier this year. 
The purpose of this title and our original bill is to extend more 
Federal funding to States and localities to fight crime with DNA 
technology, expand our national database of DNA profiles from 
criminals, and train sexual assault examiners.
  While the overall violent crime rate has decreased in recent years, 
the occurrence of rape has only increased. Tragically, somewhere in 
America, a woman is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes. In other words, 
by the time I conclude my remarks, at least five women will have been 
assaulted. It has been estimated, as well, that 1 in 6 women and 1 in 
33 men in the United States have been the victim of a completed or 
attempted rape. These statistics are truly staggering, especially 
considering that rape is a chronically underreported crime. Experts 
contend that rape could be much more prevalent than even these 
statistics reflect.
  The majority of sexual assault victims who report their crimes do so 
in a hospital emergency room, where they frequently wait hours for 
treatment--in many cases, to see doctors or nurses who have not 
received specialized training in dealing with assault victims and who 
lack the proper forensic tools for evidence collection. As you can 
imagine, the collection of forensic evidence can be a very invasive 
process for a rape victim. But in many cases, this is where the 
investigation stops. In cities across the country, hundreds of 
thousands of rape kits are sitting untested in police department 
evidence rooms. While these kits contain vital DNA evidence that could 
lead to the arrest of rapists, many rape kits have gone untested for 
more than a decade due to a lack of funding.
  In my own home State of Ohio, officials estimated in May 2002 that at 
least 3,000 kits with rape evidence--and maybe even more--remained 
unanalyzed, despite recent strides in science that allow DNA evidence 
from rapes and other violent crimes to be compared against DNA profiles 
in the Combined DNA Index System, CODIS, our national DNA database. 
Laboratory researchers at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification 
and Investigation report that they have a high success rate in matching 
unknown DNA collected from crime scenes to either the DNA of offenders 
on file or to other crime scenes. That would mean that if all 3,000 
unexamined Ohio rape kits contained extractable DNA, several kits very 
likely could yield evidence leading to the identity of rapists.
  We now have both the technology to analyze DNA evidence and a growing 
database of DNA profiles with which to compare this evidence. This 
system works, and it catches criminals. Let me share an example of how 
evidence from rape kits has led to the arrest of a rapist in Ohio. Last 
year, a Hamilton, Ohio man was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in 
prison for an April 1998 attack on a woman in a grocery store parking 
lot. Although a DNA sample from this rape was sent to the State crime 
lab 3 days after the attack, it took until November 2001--nearly 3\1/2\ 
years later--for scientists to analyze the sample and add it to the 
State's DNA database. Once this sample was added, a positive match was 
made and this rapist was prosecuted and put behind bars. Unfortunately, 
this victim had to wait 3 years for justice, while her rapist remained 
on the street. While this is an excellent example of how DNA has been 
used successfully to catch rapists, it also shows the critical need to 
promptly analyze the kits we have on hand. The longer this evidence 
sits around unanalyzed, the longer sex offenders will remain free--and 
free to potentially harm more victims.

[[Page S12185]]

  The Rape Kits and DNA Evidence Backlog Elimination Act would help to 
address the issues I have just outlined, particularly those involving 
the collection and processing of DNA evidence. We owe it to rape 
victims, as well as to our society as a whole, to do all we can to 
apprehend and prosecute sex offenders. To this end, title I would do 
several important things. Specifically, and perhaps most importantly, 
this bill would extend the authorization for the DNA Analysis Backlog 
Elimination Act of 2000. This law, of which I was one of the chief 
Senate sponsors, aims to reduce the backlog of unanalyzed DNA samples 
in forensic laboratories across the United States. Unfortunately, the 
authorization for the grant programs established under the act will 
expire soon, but many States still have a long way to go to clear their 
DNA evidence backlogs. The Rape Kits and DNA Evidence Backlog 
Elimination Act would extend that authorization, while also increasing 
the funds authorized for grants under the Act. This would help States 
to further reduce their DNA evidence backlogs, processing crucial 
evidence that could bring criminals to justice.
  Furthermore, title I would expand CODIS, our national DNA database. 
The expansion of this database is important, since the larger the 
database, the more likely it is that State crime laboratories will be 
able to match DNA evidence to offenders. Under the Rape Kits and DNA 
Evidence Backlog Elimination Act, the FBI could accept for inclusion in 
CODIS any DNA sample submitted by the States for inclusion in the 
database, including DNA samples from all felons convicted of Federal 
crimes. Given the high rate of recidivism among sexual offenders, this 
last addition may prove very useful to law enforcement as they utilize 
CODIS. The U.S. Department of Justice has expressed support for 
expanding the DNA database in this manner.
  In addition to providing funds to help States and localities process 
evidence, we also must improve the way that DNA evidence is collected 
and used. To this end, title II of the Advancing Justice through DNA 
Technology Act also contains many components of the bill I introduced 
earlier this year involving important training programs. This title 
would provide Federal resources to support a new training program for 
Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners, known as SAFEs. This program is 
modeled on a separate bill that Senator Schumer and I introduced during 
the 107th Congress. As I discussed before, many rape victims first 
report their crimes in a hospital emergency room, where they are 
treated by inexperienced staff, many of whom have no training in the 
proper use of a rape evidence kit. SAFEs, by contrast, are well-trained 
in the collection of forensic evidence and are able to give competent 
and sensitive treatment to rape victims at a time when they are most 
vulnerable--immediately after their attack. Furthermore, the 
intervention of SAFEs in a sex crime case bolsters the odds of 
prosecution and conviction of offenders, as their expertise generally 
renders them better witnesses than most emergency room personnel during 
trials. While these programs have proven to be effective, only a few 
hundred SAFE programs currently exist in the United States, treating a 
minute number of sexual assault victims. These nurse examiners provide 
an important service, both to the victim and to justice system, and I 
strongly advocate funding more training programs for them.
  Finally, title II would make two changes in the criminal code to 
better protect victims of crimes in which DNA evidence is recovered. It 
would extend or ``toll'' the statute of limitations under Federal law 
for prosecuting many crimes in which DNA evidence is recovered, but the 
identity of the perpetrator is unknown. Also, this title would amend 
the Violence Against Women Act to include legal assistance for victims 
of dating violence.
  In closing, I strongly encourage my colleagues to support the 
Advancing Justice through DNA Technology Act of 2003. This bill is a 
good one, and one deserving of the Senate's support. It can do a great 
deal to help rape victims, as well as to prosecute sexual offenders.

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