[House Report 104-393]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



104th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 1st Session                                                    104-393
_______________________________________________________________________


 
           DNA IDENTIFICATION GRANTS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1995

                                _______


 December 11, 1995.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


   Mr. McCollum, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2418]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 2418) to improve the capability to analyze 
deoxyribonucleic acid, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill 
as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
The Amendment....................................................     1
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.....................     3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Estimate.............................     3
Inflationary Impact Statement....................................     4
Section-by-Section Analysis and Discussion.......................     4
Agency Views.....................................................     5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, As Reported............     5

    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``DNA Identification Grants 
Improvement Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2 DNA IDENTIFICATION GRANTS.

    Paragraph (22) of section 1001(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act is amended to read as follows:
    ``(22) There are authorized to appropriated to carry out part X--
          ``(A) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 1996;
          ``(B) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1997;
          ``(C) $14,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;
          ``(D) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1999; and
          ``(E) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.''.

SEC. 3. RESTRICTION ON GRANT USE.

    Section 210304 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 
of 1994 is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) DNA Profiles Prohibited.--In no event shall DNA 
identification records contained in this index be compiled or analyzed 
in order to formulate statistical profiles for use in predicting 
criminal behavior.''.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.

    Effective on the date of the enactment of the Violent Crime Control 
and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, section 210302(c)(3) of such Act is 
amended by inserting ``(a)'' after ``Section 1001'' and after ``3793''.

                          Purpose and Summary

    In 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994, which became Public Law 103-322. 
Subtitle C of Title XXI of that Act established as a new part X 
of Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 the DNA Identification Grants, which authorizes the 
appropriation of funds to the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
and to States and units of local government for the purposes of 
improving their ability to analyze samples of deoxyribonucleic 
acid, commonly known as DNA, in a forensic laboratory.
    H.R. 2418 amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 so that the funds to be made available to the 
States and local governments under the DNA grants program are 
available at a rate faster than was provided for in Public Law 
103-322. The total amount of funding authorized is unchanged.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    In 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994, which became Public Law 103-322 on 
September 13, 1994. Subtitle C of Title XXI of that law 
established the DNA Identification Grants. The Subtitle 
authorizes funds to be appropriated to the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation for the operation of its Combined DNA Index 
System (CODIS). The bill also authorized funds to be made 
available to the States and units of local government to enable 
them to develop and improve their ability to analyze DNA and to 
establish procedures to interface with the CODIS system.
    The FBI and the American Society of Crime Laboratory 
Directors, in testimony before the Subcommittee on Crime, have 
recommended that Congress modify the authorization for funding 
to the States and local governments so that larger grants are 
awarded sooner than provided for in Public Law 103-322. These 
witnesses recommended that this modification be made because of 
the significant start-up costs to States in creating DNA 
testing programs and databases. The total amount authorized to 
be made available to the States and local governments is 
unchanged.
    H.R. 2418 makes the following changes to the funding 
authorized in section 210302 of Public Law 103-322, which was 
enacted into law as paragraph (22) of section 1001(a) of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Pub. L. 103-                 
               Fiscal year                      322          Requested  
                                           authorization   authorization
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1996....................................      $1,000,000      $1,000,000
1997....................................       3,000,000      15,000,000
1998....................................       5,000,000      14,000,000
1999....................................      13,500,000       6,000,000
2000....................................      17,500,000       4,000,000
                                         -------------------------------
      Total.............................      40,000,000      40,000,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                Hearings

    The Committee's Subcommittee on Crime held one day of 
hearings on H.R. 2418 on September 28, 1995. Testimony was 
received from three witnesses: Kevin Di Gregory, Deputy 
Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice; Milton 
Aehlrich, Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation; 
and Richard L. Tanton, Past President of the American Society 
of Crime Laboratory Directors. No additional material was 
submitted to the Subcommittee.

                        Committee Consideration

    On October 19, 1995, the Subcommittee on Crime met in open 
session and ordered reported the bill H.R. 2418, by a voice 
vote, a quorum being present. On October 31, 1995, the 
Committee met in open session and ordered reported the bill 
H.R. 2418 without amendment by voice vote, a quorum being 
present.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(A) of rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports 
that the findings and recommendations of the Committee, based 
on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

         Committee on Government Reform and Oversight Findings

    No findings or recommendations of the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight were received as referred to in 
Clause 2(l)(3)(D) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 2(l)(3)(B) of House rule XI is inapplicable because 
this legislation does not provide new budgetary authority or 
increased tax expenditures.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(C)(3) of rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets 
forth, with respect to the bill, H.R. 2418, the following 
estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, November 7, 1995.
Hon. Henry J. Hyde,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2418, the DNA 
Identification Grants Improvement Act of 1995.
    Enacting H.R. 2418 would not affect direct spending on 
receipts. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply 
to the bill.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them.
            Sincerely,
                                              James L. Blum
                                   (For June E. O'Neill, Director).
    Enclosure.

                     Inflationary Impact Statement

    Pursuant to clause 2(l)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee estimates that H.R. 
2418 will have no significant inflationary impact on prices and 
costs in the national economy.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1. Short Title.--This section states the short 
title of the bill as the ``DNA Identification Grants 
Improvement Act of 1995.''
    Sec. 2 DNA Identification Grants.--This section modifies 
paragraph (22) of section 1001(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 in order to reorder the funding 
authorized as the DNA Identification Grants to be made 
available to the States and units of local government.
    Sec. 3. Restriction on Grant Use.--This section provides 
that the DNA records contained in any index created with the 
DNA Identification Grants authorized in Public Law 103-322 
cannot be used to formulate statistical profiles to be used to 
predict future criminal behavior by a specific person or groups 
of persons. At the hearing on H.R. 2415, FBI representatives 
testified that DNA records were not being used for this purpose 
nor were there plans to use DNA records in this manner in the 
future. This section makes it clear, however, that the DNA 
records compiled through the use of the DNA Identification 
Grants cannot be used for this purpose. The Committee does not 
intend that traditional law enforcement activities, such as 
determining crime suspects or proving criminal identity, should 
be affected by this restriction.
    Sec. 4. Technical Amendment.--This section makes a 
technical amendment to section 210302(c)(3) of Public Law 103-
322. Section 210302(c)(3) pertains to DNA Identification Grants 
that will be made available to the States and units of local 
government.

                              Agency Views

    The Committee received a letter from the U.S. Department of 
Justice providing Administration views on H.R. 1241, an earlier 
version of H.R. 2418. The letter addressed the issues presented 
in H.R. 2418, in pertinent part, as follows:

    The 1994 Crime Bill included the DNA Identification Act of 
1994, which contains a $40 million, five-year grant program for 
the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund (VCRTF) for state and 
local crime laboratories to establish or improve forensic DNA 
testing capabilities. The Act provides for only $1 million in 
FY 1996 and $31 million in the last two years, i.e., 1999 and 
2000. This flow of funds, if it is left unchanged, will work 
against the purpose of the grant program, which is to provide 
funds to jump start the DNA testing programs, thereby taking 
pressure off the FBI laboratory to provide these services to 
states.
    Early in 1995, you introduced H.R. 1241 to correct this 
flaw by shifting grant funding authorization forward in the 
five-year period covered by the Crime Bill. As introduced, the 
bill also restructured funding for the FBI to carry out 
responsibilities for operating a national DNA index system and 
administering the DNA Advisory Board.
    The Department of Justice does not support any changes to 
FBI funding levels under the Act, but still supports changing 
funding authorization for state grants that would have the 
effect of making significantly more funds available earlier in 
the five-year period.
    Because the House was unable to act on H.R. 1241 in time to 
affect the appropriations cycle for FY 1996, the grant levels 
in the bill for 1997-2000 should be adjusted to reflect the 
fact that only $1 million (and not $8 million as stated in the 
original draft) was appropriated from the VCRTF by the House 
for state DNA grants in FY 1996. Therefore, the Department 
recommends that the funding levels in H.R. 1241 be amended as 
follows:
    1. Delete Section 3 pertaining to FBI funding for the DNA 
Advisory Board and the national DNA index system.
    2. Revise the funding levels for state DNA grants as 
follows:
          $1,000,000 for fiscal year 1996
          $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1997
          $14,000,000 for fiscal year 1998
          $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1999
          $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.
    We understand that a substitute for H.R. 1241 making these 
modifications will be offered. For the foregoing reasons, we 
support this substitute.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

     SECTION 1001 OF THE OMNIBUS CRIME CONTROL AND SAFE STREETS ACT

                    authorization of appropriations

    Sec. 1001. (a)(1) * * *
          * * * * * * *
    [(22) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
part X--
          [(1) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 1996;
          [(2) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 1997;
          [(3) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;
          [(4) $13,500,000 for fiscal year 1999; and
          [(5) $17,500,000 for fiscal year 2000.]
    (22) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
part X--
          (A) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 1996;
          (B) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1997;
          (C) $14,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;
          (D) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1999; and
          (E) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.
          * * * * * * *

         VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 1994

          * * * * * * *

               TITLE XXI--STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

          * * * * * * *

                     Subtitle C--DNA Identification

SEC. 210302. FUNDING TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY AND AVAILABILITY OF DNA 
                    ANALYSES FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT IDENTIFICATION 
                    PURPOSES.

    (a) * * *
          * * * * * * *
    (c) DNA Identification Grants.--
          (1) * * *
          * * * * * * *
          (3) Authorization of appropriations.--Section 100 (a) 
        of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
        1968 (42 U.S.C. 379(a)), as amended by section 
        210201(c), is amended--
                  (A) * * *
          * * * * * * *

SEC. 210304. INDEX TO FACILITATE LAW ENFORCEMENT EXCHANGE OF DNA 
                    IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.

    (a) * * *
          * * * * * * *
    (d) DNA Profiles Prohibited.--In no event shall DNA 
identification records contained in this index be compiled or 
analyzed in order to formulate statistical profiles for use in 
predicting criminal behavior.
          * * * * * * *