[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18374-18375]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       AMENDING THE DNA ANALYSIS BACKLOG ELIMINATION ACT OF 2000

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 3250, 
and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 3250) to amend the DNA Analysis Backlog 
     Elimination Act of 2000 to provide for Debbie Smith grants 
     for auditing sexual assault evidence backlogs and to 
     establish a Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry, and 
     for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.


                  On Passage of S. 3250, the SAFER Act

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am glad that the Senate today will pass 
the SAFER Act with important amendments I requested to ensure that law 
enforcement gets the support and funding it needs to make real progress 
in processing rape kits.
  The Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Reduction Program, which was a key part 
of the bipartisan Justice for All Act that passed in 2004, has been 
instrumental in reducing the number of untested rape kits in crime 
laboratories around the country. However, large numbers of additional 
untested kits have come to light in police departments, many of which 
never make their way to crime labs at all. It is unacceptable to let 
victims of these terrible crimes live in fear while evidence languishes 
in storage and criminals remain on our streets.
  I have made fixing this significant problem a priority. I included 
important new provisions addressing backlogs of rape kits in law 
enforcement offices in my Justice for All Reauthorization Act, which 
the Judiciary Committee reported with bipartisan support earlier this 
year. My bill would provide law enforcement with access to funding to 
actually reduce their backlogs, along with best practices, training, 
and technical assistance they have requested to help them do so.
  Senator Cornyn and others have attempted to address this same problem 
through the SAFER Act. The audit provisions included in the SAFER Act 
can help shed light on the problem, but I believe it is crucial that 
funding and assistance actually reach law enforcement agencies to help 
them address their backlogs and get kits tested. That is why it is so 
important that the provisions from the Justice for All Reauthorization 
Act doing just that were incorporated into the SAFER Act. I thank 
Senator Cornyn for working with me and agreeing to this amendment to 
ensure that this legislation will result in more kits being processed. 
I also thank Senator Grassley for helping to facilitate this agreement 
and for adding important accountability measures.
  I want to thank Debbie Smith, the courageous survivor after whom the 
grant program we modify today is named, and her husband Rob, for their 
continuing tireless work to ensure that others need not experience the 
ordeal Debbie went through. Their efforts have made a real difference 
to countless victims all over the country.
  The Justice for All Reauthorization Act includes many other 
significant measures to make the criminal justice system work better 
for all Americans. I am disappointed that it will not pass this year. I 
appreciate Senator Grassley's support for the bill when it was reported 
from committee, and I look forward to working with him and with Senator 
Cornyn and others to pass the full bill next year.
  I am glad we take an important step to help achieve justice for 
victims of rape and sexual assault. I hope we will go still further and 
beyond next year.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent that the Cornyn substitute at the 
desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and 
passed, the

[[Page 18375]]

motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements related 
to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 3445) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments''.)
  The bill (S. 3250), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.

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