[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 7 (Thursday, January 17, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E45]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF ``THE DEBBIE SMITH REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2008''

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                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 17, 2008

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, Along with Representatives 
John Conyers and Lamar Smith, I am introducing ``The Debbie Smith 
Reauthorization Act of 2008.'' I have been working on the issue of DNA 
technology since 2001 when I, along with former Representative Steve 
Horn, held a hearing in the Government Reform Committee where we heard 
from a courageous rape survivor, Debbie Smith. Debbie recounted her 
horrifying story . . . how on a Friday afternoon in March 1989, she was 
in the kitchen of her home in Virginia, when a masked intruder broke in 
and blindfolded and robbed her. He then took her to the woods nearby 
and savagely raped her. Years later, Debbie learned that DNA processing 
techniques had produced a ``cold hit'' identifying her assailant, who 
had been jailed 6 months after her assault for another crime. He was 
charged with Debbie's rape in 1995, freeing Debbie from a life of fear.
  It was for Debbie, and the thousands of rape survivors like her, that 
I authored a bill to provide Federal funding to process the 
unconscionable backlog of DNA evidence. Originally introduced in 2001, 
``The Debbie Smith Act'' was signed into law in 2004 as part of ``The 
Justice for All Act,'' comprehensive legislation that ensured that DNA 
evidence could be used to convict the guilty and free the innocent.
  Since 2004, millions of dollars in funding have been appropriated 
under the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program to process thousands 
of unprocessed DNA evidence kits across the country. Because this 
groundbreaking program's authorization expires at the end of FY2009, 
``The Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2008'' extends the program 
through FY2014.
  According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, every 2 
minutes someone is sexually assaulted somewhere in the United States. 
DNA evidence does not forget and it cannot be intimidated. By 
processing this evidence, we can prevent rapists from attacking more 
innocent victims and ensure that the survivors and their families 
receive justice.

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