[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5946-5947]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS AND PREVENTION MONTH AND NATIONAL DNA 
                                  DAY

  (Mr. PEARCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

[[Page 5947]]


  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, April is National Sexual Assault Awareness 
and Prevention Month. In fact, today is National DNA Day, where we 
commemorate the discovery of DNA's double helix and the subsequent 
scientific advancements.
  DNA has revolutionized public safety and criminal justice in this 
country. It helps solve unsolved crimes. Since its inception in 1994, 
the DNA database system has solved more than 200,000 cold cases that 
provided closure to over 200,000 families. It assists prosecutors in 
taking criminals off the streets. It also exonerates the innocent, 
having freed more than 300 convicted criminals.
  Katie Sepich was a 22-year-old graduate student at New Mexico State 
University in my district. In August of 2003, she was brutally raped, 
burned, strangled to death, and abandoned at a dumpsite. But Katie 
Sepich was a fighter, having the DNA of her offender under her 
fingernails. Through DNA, they were able to find and convict her 
offender and put him in jail.
  The bill, which was signed into law here in this Congress last year, 
helps the State collect evidence. DNA has transformed our justice 
system and provided closure for families.

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