[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 142 (Monday, September 24, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H10729-H10730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PROVIDING A VOICE 
    FOR VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES INVOLVED IN MISSING PERSONS AND 
                    UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN REMAINS CASES

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 340) expressing the sense of the House 
of Representatives of the importance of providing a voice for the many 
victims (and families of victims) involved in missing persons cases and 
unidentified human remains cases.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 340

       Whereas there are more than 100,000 active missing person 
     cases on any given day;
       Whereas every year tens of thousands of people vanish under 
     suspicious circumstances;
       Whereas there are more than 40,000 sets of human remains 
     held in the property rooms of medical examiners, coroners, 
     and police departments across the country that cannot be 
     identified by conventional means;
       Whereas of such 40,000 sets of human remains, only six 
     thousand sets of human remains have been entered into the 
     National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and fewer have been 
     entered into other Federal databases such as the Violent 
     Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCap) or the Integrated 
     Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), or the 
     National Missing Persons DNA Database;
       Whereas many cities and counties continue to bury or 
     cremate unidentified human remains without any attempt to 
     collect DNA and many laboratories are unable to perform 
     timely DNA analysis of human remains, especially when they 
     are old or are degraded;
       Whereas such victims and their families have been without a 
     voice for far too long: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
       (1) is committed to giving victims involved in missing 
     persons cases and unidentified human remains cases a voice;
       (2) supports that such voice should be heard by--
       (A) continuing Federal funding for DNA testing and the 
     Combined DNA Index System;
       (B) supporting greater cooperation between local, State, 
     and Federal law enforcement;
       (C) providing more comprehensive training and education for 
     the more than 17,000 law enforcement agencies involved in 
     missing persons cases and unidentified human remains cases;
       (D) providing medical examiners and coroners with greater 
     accessibility into Federal databases to upload and compare 
     evidence so that such victims ultimately may be located and 
     identified and returned to their loved ones where they 
     belong; and
       (E) working to raise awareness among victim service 
     providers and the general public about the use of DNA and the 
     Combined DNA Index System to identify the unidentified dead; 
     and
       (3) directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to 
     transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the Office 
     for Victims of Crime and the National Institute for Justice 
     in the Department of Justice.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of House Resolution 340 to 
express the commitment of the House of Representatives in giving 
victims involved in missing persons and unidentified human remains 
cases a voice through advancing DNA technology.
  The grief of loss of a loved one, particularly a parent's loss of a 
child, can only be surpassed by the endless torment of not knowing. 
When a loved one is missing, there is no finality, no way to begin the 
grieving process so that closure may eventually come and family and 
friends can begin healing. Going on, often hoping against hope, knowing 
the news they fear the most may come at any moment is a tormenting 
experience.
  But with today's DNA technology, much of this burden can be removed. 
Over 6,000 samples of DNA evidence have been used to identify remains 
of missing persons; and with continued and increased funding, we can 
bring more justice to victims and peace to the families and friends.
  Mr. Speaker, I further support the continued funding of DNA 
initiatives because of the incredible part DNA evidence has played both 
in determining guilt and protecting the innocent. Since 2002, over 200 
wrongly convicted persons have been exonerated through DNA evidence, 
including death row inmates. In fact, just this weekend two incredible 
stories arose in the Baltimore area. On Saturday, September 22, 
prosecutors dropped all charges against a Baltimore man who had been 
held in a rape and assault of a 59-year-old woman just last month. This 
morning the Baltimore Sun newspaper reports that Baltimore County has 
solved their 18th DNA-evidence case, a rape investigation open since 
1978. After 29 years, a victim will finally see justice.
  Mr. Speaker, we can and must continue to fund advancing DNA 
technology because, although there has been much success, there remains 
much to do. Over 40,000 samples of biological evidence related to 
missing persons are in laboratories around the country ready for entry 
into DNA databases with the potential of identifying almost 40 percent 
of our missing persons. And although DNA backlog reduction grants have 
cleared more than 60,000 criminal cases, exonerating the innocent and 
identifying the guilty, the backlog level remains almost unchanged. 
Police departments and prosecutors recognizing the benefits of DNA 
evidence have been trained in its collection and are using the 
technology more than ever before, which adds samples at the rate that 
the backlog is being cleared.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support continued DNA-evidence 
backlog reduction grants in identifying missing persons and to 
exonerate the innocent and to identify the guilty. We have seen what 
the technology can do, and we have the wherewithal to fund those 
activities. Justice demands that we view continued funding as a major 
responsibility.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I, first of all, would like to thank the gentleman from Virginia for 
his leadership on this very important issue. I know Mr. Scott has been 
one of those who has cared greatly about those families that have 
suffered the trauma of a lost person within their family. So I want to 
thank Mr. Scott on this. And I think this is another issue in which we 
have seen bipartisanship in this House. Sometimes you don't see a lot 
of instances of that, but I think this is one where we can work 
together in a bipartisan fashion, and I want to thank Mr. Scott for his 
leadership on this.
  Given that tomorrow is the first annual day of remembrance for murder 
victims, it is only fitting that we recognize and respond to a segment 
of the victim population that too often goes unrecognized: those 
victims who are missing and whose remains have yet to be identified. 
Unfortunately, it is far more common than one would think, just how 
many families are searching for some clue as to the location of the 
remains of their missing family members, and too often families are 
alone in their effort to locate their loved one.
  On any given day, there are more than 100,000 active missing-person 
cases in this country. Just think of that: over 100,000 active cases in 
this Nation. Every year tens of thousands of people vanish under 
suspicious circumstances. Equally disturbing is the knowledge that the 
skeletal remains of more than 40,000 individuals are being stored with 
coroners, medical examiners, and police departments around

[[Page H10730]]

the country. And these may very well be the very persons that those 
families are trying to identify. They don't know what happened to their 
brother, their sister, their mother, their aunt, their uncle, whomever 
it might be. Many of these jurisdictions do not have the technology to 
identify these individuals. And even if they do, most States do not 
require these officials to obtain samples before burying or cremating 
the remains. Think of that. Your sister could be in the State right 
next door in the coroner's office or a police station and the remains 
may be cremated, and you may go the rest of your life and your family 
never knowing what happened to your sister.
  I know the impact of this ineffective model on families, because in 
my own State of Ohio, a very good friend, somebody that, unfortunately, 
I have gotten to know through a terrible tragedy in her own family, 
Deborah Culberson, the mother of a murder victim, Carrie Culberson, has 
been searching for the remains of her daughter for the last 11 years. 
While Carrie's murderer will, hopefully, spend the rest of his life in 
jail, her body has never been found. Moreover, speculation exists that 
Carrie's remains may be in the State of Kentucky, we really don't know, 
which does not mandate the same requirements for identifying human 
remains as my State, Ohio.
  Rapidly advancing DNA technology has proven to be a critical tool 
that law enforcement and families can access to locate and identify 
individuals and solve cold cases. Yet as Debbie Culberson's search 
demonstrates, the technology is not being utilized to its fullest. For 
example, many family members of the missing or unidentified do not know 
they can provide their own DNA to assist law enforcement. Some law 
enforcement officials do not know that this DNA technology can assist 
in solving cold cases. Even if law enforcement knows the technology 
exists, States may not mandate DNA testing for this segment of the 
victim population.
  We, as elected officials, have a responsibility to take the lead in 
ensuring, number one, that adequate funding and effective education and 
training for law enforcement and the public exists; and, two, that all 
available resources and tools are being used to their fullest ability.
  This resolution acknowledges Congress's commitment to these victims 
and to their families, that it will do everything within its authority 
to locate, identify, and return these sons, daughters, mothers, and 
fathers to those families who are still searching for their loved ones.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Texas, Judge Poe.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding me 
time and for offering this important piece of legislation.
  As a former judge and prosecutor and founder of the Victims' Rights 
Caucus, I certainly understand how crime victims may be distraught and 
scared and hopeless. Some die in this emotional nightmare and some of 
those who die are kids. But now they need not be voiceless. Congress 
can be a voice for crime victims, especially those who have been 
murdered.
  I am proud to cosponsor H.R. 340. This resolution provides a voice 
for victims and their families, those that are involved in missing-
person cases and unidentified human remains cases.
  Any given day in the United States, there are over 100,000 missing 
persons. There are over 40,000 remains in medical examiners' offices 
and coroners' offices that cannot be identified. Cities and counties 
bury or cremate the unidentified human remains without collecting DNA 
in many cases. So Congress must continue to fund DNA testing, train and 
educate law enforcement on these issues, and raise awareness about the 
use of this scientific phenomenon, DNA, so that it can be used to 
identify the unidentified.

                              {time}  1645

  We owe this to those silent who cannot speak for themselves.
  DNA identifies missing victims as well as convicts the guilty and 
frees the innocent. For all of these reasons, this resolution should be 
adopted. So I totally support this resolution.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume just to thank the gentleman from Ohio for his leadership in 
introducing this resolution. I urge the House to adopt it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sires). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 340.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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