[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 16, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H4204-H4205]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RAPID DNA ACT OF 2017
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 510) to establish a system for integration of Rapid DNA
instruments for use by law enforcement to reduce violent crime and
reduce the current DNA analysis backlog.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 510
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rapid DNA Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. RAPID DNA INSTRUMENTS.
(a) Standards.--Section 210303(a) of the DNA Identification
Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14131(a)) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(5)(A) In addition to issuing standards as provided in
paragraphs (1) through (4), the Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation shall issue standards and procedures
for the use of Rapid DNA instruments and resulting DNA
analyses.
``(B) In this Act, the term `Rapid DNA instruments' means
instrumentation that carries out a fully automated process to
derive a DNA analysis from a DNA sample.''.
(b) Index.--Paragraph (2) of section 210304(b) of the DNA
Identification Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14132(b)(2)) is amended
to read as follows:
``(2) prepared by--
``(A) laboratories that--
``(i) have been accredited by a nonprofit professional
association of persons actively involved in forensic science
that is nationally recognized within the forensic science
community; and
``(ii) undergo external audits, not less than once every 2
years, that demonstrate compliance with standards established
by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; or
``(B) criminal justice agencies using Rapid DNA instruments
approved by the Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in compliance with the standards and procedures
issued by the Director under section 210303(a)(5); and''.
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO COLLECTION OF DNA
IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.
(a) From Certain Federal Offenders.--Section 3 of the DNA
Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14135a)
is amended--
(1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
``The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation may
waive the requirements under this subsection if DNA samples
are analyzed by means of Rapid DNA instruments and the
results are included in CODIS.''; and
(2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
``(3) The term `Rapid DNA instruments' means
instrumentation that carries out a fully automated process to
derive a DNA analysis from a DNA sample.''.
(b) From Certain District of Columbia Offenders.--Section 4
of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (42
U.S.C. 14135b) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
``The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation may
waive the requirements under this subsection if DNA samples
are analyzed by means of Rapid DNA instruments and the
results are included in CODIS.''; and
(2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
``(3) The term `Rapid DNA instruments' means
instrumentation that carries out a fully automated process to
derive a DNA analysis from a DNA sample.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and to include extraneous materials on H.R. 510, currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
The House of Representatives works on many important issues, but few
are more important than making sure that innocent arrestees are
promptly released and that culpable suspects are not released to strike
again.
Rapid DNA technology has the potential to do both of those things
and, as such, can be an important tool for law enforcement and a key
component of this body's ongoing efforts on criminal justice reform.
I applaud the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) for
reintroducing H.R. 510, the Rapid DNA Act of 2017, in this session of
Congress.
With Rapid DNA technology, it is possible to test the DNA of
arrestees as soon as they are in custody and determine within hours
whether they match the DNA profile from a crime scene or from other
earlier crimes.
This technology would also enable police to check the Federal DNA
database to see if an arrestee matches the DNA profile from previous
crimes for which a DNA sample exists but no known suspect has been
identified.
Rather than waiting weeks for a DNA sample to be processed and risk
releasing a suspect back into the public to potentially reoffend,
creating new victims, police will be able to determine at initial
booking if the suspect is a person of interest in other crimes.
This bill will provide important tools for law enforcement. For
instance, it will inform decisions about pretrial release or detention
and their conditions. It will solve and prevent all crimes, including
violent crimes. By freeing up forensic analysts, it will prevent DNA
analysis backlogs.
I believe this is necessary, responsible legislation that will aid
law enforcement and protect American citizens by keeping offenders off
the streets. I again thank Congressman Sensenbrenner for sponsoring
this important legislation, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor
of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 510, the Rapid DNA Act of 2017. I
also want to salute Mr. Sensenbrenner for his hard work on it.
This bipartisan legislation would integrate Rapid DNA technology into
the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, popularly known as CODIS, to
enable law enforcement to perform valuable investigative functions
faster and more efficiently.
DNA technology is a valuable, dynamic, and rapidly unfolding element
of our criminal justice system. DNA technology helps us to identify
suspects, eliminate false suspects, exonerate the innocent, and
ultimately to convict responsible perpetrators of crime. My State of
Maryland is home to the first capital prisoner in the United States who
was exonerated while in prison for a homicide with DNA technology.
CODIS and the National DNA Index System play a critical role across
the country in criminal investigations by Federal, State, and local law
enforcement agencies. Rapid DNA involves a fully automated, hands-free
process designed to produce a DNA profile within minutes at the booking
stage outside of a crime lab.
Existing law does not provide for the inclusion of Rapid DNA analyses
into CODIS. H.R. 510 would bridge the gap between Rapid DNA technology
and CODIS by authorizing law enforcement to conduct Rapid DNA analyses
and upload the results to the national index, as long as the Rapid DNA
machines that are used are accredited. This adds a real-time layer to
CODIS and saves us all significant time and resources, improving
efficiency in the criminal justice process.
H.R. 510 has significant practical and positive consequences for law
enforcement and for public safety. For example, Detroit, as of this
April, has tested approximately 10,000 backlogged sexual assault kits.
As a result, there have been more than 2,600 DNA matches, including
CODIS hits; the identification of nearly 800 potential serial rapists;
92 convictions obtained by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office; and
DNA crimes linked to 40 other States and the District of Columbia.
The addition of Rapid DNA information to the CODIS database will help
identify serial rapists if matches are made to the lab analyses of the
sexual assault kit samples.
I hope that the use of Rapid DNA will allow other DNA labs to focus
more of their resources on reducing the backlog
[[Page H4205]]
of untested sexual assault kits across the country. My home State of
Maryland has 3,700 untested rape kits right now, according to a report
done last year.
Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to join the chairman and those of
us in the minority in supporting this important legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), the former chairman
of the House Judiciary Committee and the chief author of this
legislation.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia
(Mr. Goodlatte) for yielding me this time.
Rapid DNA is a promising new technology that allows for the almost
immediate DNA analysis of an arrestee. Unlike standard DNA practices,
which require sending DNA samples from arrestees out to labs with a
result taking weeks to ascertain, Rapid DNA results take only a few
hours and can be done right at the booking station. Like
fingerprinting, photographing, and other booking procedures which at
the time were novel but now have become routine, Rapid DNA will soon be
standard procedure in police stations throughout the country.
There is only one problem with Rapid DNA technology: Federal law. Our
law, written in 1994 when DNA technology was still in its infancy,
prohibits the use of Rapid DNA technology in booking stations. This is
not because of any limitation in Rapid DNA technology, but simply
because at that time Rapid DNA technology was not even contemplated.
Similar to the transformation of musical devices--records leading to
cassette tapes, cassette tapes leading to CDs, CDs leading to MP3, and
now iPods and online music hosting services--technology moves quicker
than we can legislate. Now is the time to change the law to permit
Rapid DNA technology.
Rapid DNA machines are compact, approximately the size of copy
machines, and can provide a DNA analysis from a cheek swab sample of an
arrestee within 2 hours. This has two profound implications. First,
arrestees may be exonerated of crimes in 2 hours rather than waiting
for up to 72 hours for release, or months for more standard DNA
testing. Second, those arrested for a crime can quickly be matched to
other unsolved crimes where there was forensic evidence left at the
crime scene but for which there was no identified suspect.
The Rapid DNA Act updates the current law to allow DNA samples to be
processed using Rapid DNA instruments located in booking stations and
other approved locations. The bill will require the FBI to issue
standards and procedures for the use of such instruments and their
resulting DNA analyses to ensure the integrity of such instruments and
the accuracy of the results. It will permit those results to be
included in the DNA index if criminal justice agencies taking the
samples comply with the standards and procedures that the FBI approves.
In this way, the bill would permit this new category of DNA samples to
be uploaded into the index with the same protections and quality
standards as current DNA samples.
Not only does Rapid DNA have the potential to reduce crime, help
expeditiously exonerate the innocent, but also to positively impact the
current backlogs for rape kits and other DNA sample analysis.
This committee has spent a great deal of time and significant work to
try to reduce the forensic DNA backlog, especially in rape kits. Rapid
DNA could not at this time be used for rape kits, but the
implementation of Rapid DNA will allow forensic labs to focus on
forensic samples, not on identification samples which can easily be
handled by Rapid DNA machines. I hope this will reduce the rape kit
backlog, which will also prevent future rapes from happening.
I am pleased that the House is taking a significant step in
furthering the use of this technology. I urge my colleagues to support
this legislation.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Raskin for his kind words and his
work on this. I particularly thank Mr. Sensenbrenner for his work. He
has been the sponsor of this since it was introduced. I was an original
sponsor since it was introduced as well. It makes a lot of sense for us
to do this and get DNA evidence and use science to the advantage of the
American people, and particularly in law enforcement where we have
problems in identifying suspects and proving guilt on occasion, and
also exonerating the innocent. DNA is a perfect tool as it exonerates
the wrongfully accused and gets the person who has committed the crime.
I am honored to be a part of this. This bill, while a small part in
the big picture, shows that Democrats and Republicans can work together
to get some things done. I appreciate the honor to be able to sponsor,
and I appreciate Mr. Sensenbrenner's work.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I don't have any additional speakers, and
I reserve the balance of my time to close.
Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
The Rapid DNA Act is strongly supported by several organizations
which know that the expanded use and availability of Rapid DNA will
enhance public safety by reducing the DNA backlog, reducing violent
crime, and allowing law enforcement to investigate crimes and identify
suspects with greater efficiency and accuracy. The organizations
include the National Center for Victims of Crime; the Police
Foundation, which works to improve policing through innovation and
science; and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
{time} 1615
Mr. Speaker, in the case that I referred to before, the Bloodsworth
case from Maryland, this was a gentleman who was convicted of a grisly
rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl. He swore he hadn't done it. He
was convicted. In court he swore every day that he was the wrong guy.
When DNA technology was first unveiled, he read about it. He begged
his lawyer who is now the chief judge on the D.C. Superior Court, Judge
Morin, to get the DNA test done. That lawyer took $5,000 out of his own
pocket to do the DNA test, and it came back with greater than 99
percent certainty it could not have been Bloodsworth.
Then the DNA evidence provided an exact match to a prisoner who was a
floor below Bloodsworth at the time. So they found the right guy, and
he was about to get out of prison a few months later.
The DNA evidence establishes an extraordinary new era that we are in
in terms of criminal justice, and I am proud to be supporting this
legislation that Mr. Sensenbrenner has brought forward, which I think
will improve accuracy and efficiency all around. I applaud his efforts
and the efforts of our chairman to ensure the integrity and the quality
of the analysis that will be used in the criminal justice system.
I urge all of our colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 510 today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. It is a bipartisan
bill. I thank Members on both sides of the aisle for their
contributions to this effort. I again commend the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) for reintroducing this bill. I urge my
colleagues to support the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 510.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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