good morning committee we will come to order we have one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven measures to take up today will begin with five zero three zero and pursuant to notice i call it up it's a private bill for the relief of for purposes of america and i asked the clerk to report the bill please h r five zero three zero a bill for the relief  nineteen ninety she came to the united states legally her fiance had been in an accident and was rendered a quadriplegic as well as a as a result of his accident she took care of him for many years he was on a ventilator twenty four hours a day the ins allowed her to stay for ten years on an annual basis she married in one nine six and her husband morin became a lawful permanent resident filed with the titian for his wife who because of the backlog in that category her visa did not come through so he was going to become a u s citizen which when then have allowed his wife to immediately become a legal permanent resident in order to naturalize you need to take fingerprints and since he was a quadriplegic he couldn't leave to go to the ins office to have his fingerprints taken i would say a comedy of errors but it wasn't very funny the immigration service kept asking him to come to the office and cancelling the ask promising to send someone then not sending them then cancelling appointments finally he died he died before he was able to complete his naturalization so his wife who's lived here for many years was going to be deported if except for the mistakes made by our government she would have been a legal permanent resident so this bill has been through the subcommittee it was adopted by voice vote we have received the report from the department of homeland security indicating th nothing they have no objection to and i recommend that we may verbally upon it and i thank the gentleman yield back but i thank the chair of immigration and turn to the ranking member of the committee the mary smith thank  chairman i support this private bill and i also agree with the description that was just been offered by the chairman of the immigration subcommittee this is clearly an instance where the federal government was at fault and we certainly shouldn't penalize an individual because of that and that's why relief is warranted in this case now you'll be a balance of my time to the ranking member of the immigration subcommittee of the gentleman from iowa mr keene thank you mr smith i appreciate your healing and i also support this private bill for the relief of karena  match and i agree with the description that's been laid out by the chair of the subcommittee on immigration lofgren this is a humanitarian issue as well as mistakes made by our federal government and i would point out that kareena was the primary caregiver for her now deceased husband and she stepped into that knowingly and willfully stepped up to take care of him and because of his quadriplegia and the difficulty and confusion between our government scheduling is a reason that she is not today a citizen the united states is a right thing for the people and on this judiciary committee to do the right thing for congress to doing the right thing for the people of america at a press our gratitude and welcome her down the path  statements will be included in the record without objection without objection the previous question is ordered and further proceedings on this measure will be postponed until h r four zero zero the bill to establish a separate nonimmigrant classification for fashion models amendment in the nature of a substitute  r four zero eight zero as reported by the subcommittee on immigration citizenship refugees border security and international law strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following without objection ninety reformed the employment based immigration system that are created the p category that is designed for individuals in the performing arts and athletics who had previously been in the h one b visa category however in drafting the one nine hundred ninety act fashion models were inadvertently omitted from the p category upon discovery of the admission of fashion models the mission was corrected in the miscellaneous and technical immigration and nationality amendments of one thousand nine hundred one however instead of putting the models in p as they were supposed to be they were added into the h one b category now this was odd but it never really made a difference because there were sufficient numbers of h one b visas however now that the h one b visa provision is oversubscribed this has become a problem in the fashion industry from two thousand to two thousand and five new employment approvals for h one b fashion models ranged from six fourteen to seven ninety a year from two zero five two to zero seven the numbers declined to four sixty seven for thirty eight and three forty nine probably because of the result of the h one b cap in the lottery system that has ensued now the models never belonged in the h one b visa category to begin with they were put in there i think in error and the currents of way ssion does hurt u s commercial interest taxes that would be paid by foreign fashion models for working in the u s are lost to federal and state governments firms that match manage fashion models in the united states lose commission to foreign firms american fashion models who might be included in ensemble shoots are displaced by local talent in offshore locations advertising agencies and other media firms in the u s lose business to foreign counterparts in american fashion photographers lose business to foreign photographers and workers who support fashion shoots aaron makeup artists stylists props stylists and photographic printers retouches assistants all lose employment opportunities because of this situation this bill creates a new category subcategory in the peaveys a category that retains the courage admissions standards applied to fashion models that and also assures that these  will remain available to fashion models of distinguished merit and ability this really does correct the misclassification the curd in the one nine hundred ninety one technical corrections act than it was reported with an amendment to the full committee by voice vote the amendment limits the number of p d s for fashion models under the bill to one thousand and requires an employer to consult with labor unions for fashion models and if any should later developed before seeking s i'm happy that mr smith and mr weiner worked very diligently to reach an agreement on a compromise so this is i think a bipartisan effort and i would yield the balance of my time should he care to take it to mr wiener who is the author of the bill i thank the chair and took along you summarize the issue well and i want to express my gratitude to the smith and yourself for helping work on this issue this is an extension of what we've done a couple of times in this committee we did it for athletes who've done it for artists people who are cause of the oversight because lumped in with others who have more kind of definable skill sets you know this is what we're starting to see happen in the modeling industry is because of the this problem of having to compete with h one b visa holders what we're finding is a lot of these photo shoots that would normally take place in catalogs and for fashion shows are now taking place overseas and with the  advent of photo technology and alike they can very easily put in a background of california put in a background of new york put it a background of anywhere and all we're doing with this really with this restriction that we're changing today is just driving this this business the particular skill sets of models well mr chairman it's not so much a skill set as the one b visa holders as you know have a particular skill set that is in short supply here this is a separate category people who don't have a skill set for say artists musicians people who are who want to come here if you didn't mean a shortage of skills in the congress hesitantly support the passage of the bill the h one b visa cattle henri's available to temporary foreign workers in specialty occupations including fashion models who ever thought it wise to combine computer programmers and fashion models in one  category has some explaining to do maybe they were watching the t v show beauty and the geek in any event because demand for high tech workers has exhausted the supply of h one b visas in recent years the fashion industry has had increasing difficulty obtaining visas for foreign models the industry argues that when bases are unavailable to bring top models to the u s for photo shoots and other events the work is often sent to other countries the u s then loses out because the economic benefit of the event is lost h r forty eight takes fashion models out of the h one b category and places them in a new p four categories specifically for fashion models pieces are currently available for athletes and entertainers some people might consider fashion modeling in fact a form of entertainment the bill was introduced did not have a numerical cap this was of concern to me since a cab can prevent the fashion model category from growing beyond historical norms and can limit any potentially negative effect on american models this year we are offered an amendment subcommittee that added an annual cap of one thousand pieces for fashion models i support this cap which slightly exceeds the number of fashion models who have come to the u s under the h one b program in any one year currently when an employer files a petition for the employer must include an advisory opinion or letter of no objection from a labor union or other professional peer group how are the bills introduced did not include a consultation requirement for fashion models such a requirement can help ensure that foreign fashion models do not undercut the job opportunities are wages of american models if in fact no union or peer group represents fashion models in the consultation requirement can be weighed as is the case currently for when there is no such organization it is always possible that an organization representing fashion models will be created in the future and this year we are offered an amendment subcommittee that a private consultation requirement to fashion models all these changes have improved us that his bill in no way cast doubt on the continued attractiveness of american fashion models the chairman i have to say i'm not wild about the bill but i realize foreign fashion models by and surrounded by throngs of cheering and wailea static fashion models no doubt he will host annual celebrations of the enactment of this bill perhaps at gracie mansion is enough to make some of us cry but not enough to make us vote no chairman i support this legislation and you'll back the balance of my time not a moment too soon sure recognizes the ranking member of immigration steve king thank you mr chairman i move strike the last word on our nation's immigration simply immigration system simply defies logic we have made over one million immigrants a year legally and yet we choose only five percent on the basis basis of skills the skills that they can bring to the u s economy we actually give out tens of thousands of green cards a year on the basis of a random lottery and i find it hard to imagine that we could design a system any more divorced from america's national interest if we tried so what does this have to do with h r forty eight a fashion model bill well we have a contentious debate about h one b visa policy in this country bill gates in american high tech companies say that these visas allow us to hire the best and the brightest computer professionals those professionals the engineers scientists from all around the world allow us to stay competitive in the global economy however if you ask american high tech workers they say h one b visas go not to the best and the brightest but simply to the cheapest workers available and that american workers are being laid off or not hired and occasionally replaced by h one b foreign workers that he made over whether to increase h one b visa cap and to add safeguards for american workers to the program is critically important the american economy but what's this committee doing well debating fashion models but whether whether more h one b visas should be available for computer engineers should be the question before this committee we're not debating on whether we should be required to recruit for american workers for h one b program instead we're debating on whether fashion models should be taken out of the h one b program and given their own special visas which is what this bill does it sets up a subcategory under peavy says this bill should be called the ugly american act it's based on a faulty premise the premise that we're not there are not enough attractive people in the united states you know this is a country of three hundred million people we don't have enough homegrown talent to grace the covers of vogue thank you mr chairman i point out that there has never been in the history of this world and six billion people on the planet there's never been in the history of this world such a diverse gene pool never such a nation that had such a level of prosperity such a level of education such a level of culture if there ever was a nation that can contribute an adequate amount of fashion models to our economy to the runway and offer that out to the rest the world this has to be the nation but instead instead we have to have a special category four four  p category four and one thousand fashion models and we don't even have the discipline to take from it out of the million plus illegal immigrants that we have today we can't even meet pay go on immigration we can't meet a cap on immigration we came in have a debate on a cap on immigration but if we had a thousand here a thousand there as yogi said pretty soon you've got real immigration numbers and so mr chairman at the appropriate time i hope to offer an amendment to this bill but i would yield back the balance of my time thank you orders so reserves a point of order please continue to h r four zero eight zero and section one a of the amendment insert after paragraph three the following and i said in a moose consent the amendment be considered as read in recognize the gentleman from thank you mr chairman this this amendment has actually it's a very simple amendment and i spoke to the substance of it in my remarks on the bill and that is that it just simply  s i'll call it establishes a pay go on immigration and that we have our caps within our basic categories we need to stay within those overall numbers i'm hopeful that this committee can have a legitimate debate on what that lid ought to be and how we're going to hold it underneath that we should apportion our legal immigration within the existing numbers not not be expanding these because what i'm seeing happen is each now every little organization out here and some a very big organizations that sat at the white house three or four years ago and all join hands and said we are the comprehensive immigration reform caucus and we're all going to go together to get what we want collectively now that caucus has split apart and they're coming back to this congress for their little slice of the pie each time this is one little slice of the overall pie and you'll see more and more of these kind of bills coming that are designed to increase legal immigration in this country without having the discipline of holding it under those caps without having a debate and we can wake up one day and find out that our legal immigration is not a million to a million three well maybe two million to two million three with this gentleman you would feel to share that's the question is do you want a few models to be able to come in or none mr chairman my response to that and is that i'm not particularly concerned about how many models come in as i am about how many overall legal immigrants we have and so the central part of this amendment it does is it add reduces the age to be at cap that's at sixty six thousand down to sixty five thousand to make room for mr winner's amendment and i've asked this panel then to make a decision on its priorities whether h two b is are more important than runway models that is my concise presentation and ideal back to balance of my time models that we would if that's the will of this many that it's our priority h two b s and our mission is necessary for business in this country greg correct so is it your position that businesses need a thousand fewer people if we have models for something else and that is in the logic goes to reclaim my time mr nettle or my position is that actually we do well with the models that we have in this country and to set that as a higher priority or even a priority one we have real issues before this committee i would prefer we held those numbers consistent h two b and cap this off where we are legally and i would like to inject merit into every one of our visa categories and i say that i think when he says when for the question this a country of three hundred thirty million people do you really think that we have to parse the difference on one thousand if we're saying that the industry here need that the industry that uses models where the various industries that use models are a thousand short and there's a problem therefore we have to take skilled workers away from other businesses because a thousand and it's going to thirty million make such a difference that i don't understand the reclaiming my time a million thousand here thousand there it turns into a million here in a million there and i build a thousand they don't need to be what should that calacanis overall cap me because once we open up this door then how do we say no to the next request or the next request that would be that would be my position that although i would also say that i think i am qualified to evaluate these models and i hope i'm invited to mr winter celebration i'm you'll thank the chairman i'm so glad the gentleman made the statement to defend a number of members of the committee who think they have that expertise these workers were put in the h one b category in error because the h one b category speaks to specific skills specific to a process that you put out advertisements to find someone who has those skills what happened was a bunch of legitimate point again what we're trying to do is untangle these these groups and it does require a certain level level of subjectivity you have to think it through sometimes everyone doesn't fit into a distinct box but in the case of h one b it's hard to look at the h one b process and say oh yeah it was contemplated we were going to have someone was going to be coming in to do a concert at carnegie hall you wouldn't say well this you want to specific artists to do that you wouldn't say for example when you're having the u open well we need a tennis player who hits a forehand with terrific topspin with a with a winning percentage of seven fifty to you say we want to let roughly on the doll come in and play tennis so the only question is whether or not this group should be lumped in with h one b s now if you want to have a discussion and it sounds like you do about whether or not we should have the h one b program that's a fair discussion to have and and you and i both on the immigration subcommittee we should have that discussion but i want to make it very clear these are distinct these are not picking winners and taking lose if you want to reduce the thousand that should be in the context of this bill because you're making what is actually a false argument that somehow a computer program or is it should be in the same category as a tennis player with more money certainly i would just submit this question do you or do you not though expand the overall number of legal visas by adding this thousand category for models yes you do and so i would then restate my point which is we are expanding legal rationale for it that somehow we are taking a special part of the h one b and creating a different category it's not that way this is not essentially h one b workers by even the most remote definition of what was intended to be the h one b program again you can you know you want to have the discussion whether there many h one b s are too many more that's fine but i think it's a false thing to say that these were what were contemplated by congress or anyone else when the h one b program was considered a good deal i'd i thank the gentleman for yielding i just think it's important to correct some incorrect rhetoric the gentlemen's amendment which is not germane since it would broaden the bill beyond the scope of the the bill and the substitute and is therefore not germane would take the thousand visas from the h two b program not the h one b program the h two b program is for individuals who perform skilled but not academically based activities for example and there's been a lot of discussion in the congress people who work in in the crabbing industry and people who work in various other non technical industries the h one b program is for individuals with a bachelor's degree and above who have a performing a skill that an american cannot be found for the deduction would not be from the h one b program under the m m it would be from the age to be program the models were put into the h one b program by mistake in honor i do insist on the point of order mr chairman because the amendment does deal with the subject matter outside the scope of the bill and the mammon in the nature of the subsidy both the bill and subsidies are confined to the subject of fashion models this amendment deals with the broader subject i wish to be heard on the point of order and mr chairman no this amendment is your manger the bill bill that's under consideration and while rule sixteen clause seven prohibits amendments that are of a subject matter from a subject different from that under consideration my amendment deals with the same subject matter as this bill and we've described this and i appreciate that generally from california making that clarification about h two b s but clearly my memory is within the subject matter contemplated by the underlying text of this bill and i would also submit mr chairman that when the parliamentary recommendation was offered in subcommittee that was written prior to having the benefit of my very compelling argument and i would ask that you consider that before you should rule as your main as of this amendment i'm very impressed with the style of your presentation the parliamentarian of the house though hasn't been able to hear you himself like i have and amendment deals with subject matter outside the scope of this bill and the amendment in the nature of a substitute both the bill and the substitute are confined to the subject of fashion models this amendment unfortunately its merits i would not have supported the gentleman from iowa's amendment because as he talked about it it was supposed to take a thousand num out of h one b h one b is a category that fills up within six hours to twelve hours in february each year and i think there is a legitimate argument as to whether or not the addition of h one b workers in the area of high tech actually has a positive effect on employment in the united states my largest employer is intel seven thousand employees microsoft is a large employer on the west coast we have had them open manufacturing facilities in vancouver just across the u s border precisely because they can't get h one b visas they are now going to prospective h one b applicants in the united states canada is saying you can come to canada and receive those applications and as a result american companies have transferred up to a thousand total jobs there not all of those employees are h one b the h one b employees create the center around which they hire other employees so as a direct result of us not having sufficient h one b visas granted in the united states we have lost jobs we have lost jobs so i just would like to state that number two i've been involved in this issue for thirty years and i do not want to see us confuse the issue of illegal immigration vs legal immigration they are two separate issues and this country benefits by the acceptance of legal immigrants into this country and one of the reasons we have not been able to address the question of the total number of illegal immigrants in this country is because the congress has failed to deal with illegal immigration that's why we need to control our borders that's why we need to have enforcement but please let us not confuse the issue of illegal immigration versus illegal immigration and i just want to make it clear that not all on this side of the aisle support the idea that it is ruinous to this country to add  legal immigrants in fact i adamantly oppose that position and we sometimes hurt ourselves by what we do and i have a specific example in my district and around california and in the state of washington where we now have jobs going to canada because we can't have enough h one b visas adopted in this country and maybe it makes people feel good  by god we made sure that we didn't get any extra folks in here but the fact of matter is we've lost jobs a thousand yobs now right across the border in canada canada now advertising in the united states after you have received your training in the best colleges and universities in the world in the united states come to canada and by the way the american companies will then bring other jobs to canada because your government won't act in a reasonable  gentleman i appreciate this discussion is an important one although as you pointed out it's not really on point given little bill that fixes a smaller but still significant problem i would just invite you to examine the bill introduced yesterday by mr cannon and myself and numerous other co sponsors a bipartisan bill that does address masters and ph d recipients in the stanfield and that may be a solution the issue you raised is a pertinent one and i like to think that we could address it in a bipartisan way i would hope we do it in a bipartisan way but i hope we would do it in a comprehensive way and i hope we would also do it in the context of making sure we enforce the laws with respect to if the general immigrate the other thing i would just say the gentleman from new york i do rise in support of this which will help foreign models even though my mother was a model here in the united states years ago and since i used her immigration and real concur with the objective of your amendment i thank the distinguished chairman and i ask unanimous consent that my statement explaining the amendment be added to be included in the record and i think that on the issue of reciprocity that this amendment will enhance the bill and create a fair and comprehensive immigration system going forward i'd be lady i would thank the general a d for yielding we this there was unanimous agreement in the subcommittee that this deletion should occur it was something that we did not notice it's not appropriate of the jackson lee amendments to signify by saying i all opposed say no the ayes have it and so ordered if there are no further amendments reporting corm being president the question is on reporting mr jordan past yes mr watt thank you oh mr mr chairman twenty members voted aye three members voted nay the bill is passed without objection it will be reported as a single amendment in the nature of a substitute incorporating the amendment adopted and that staff is of course authorized to make technical and conforming changes and members will have two days to submit additional views we will now report on we will now have a and that was asia our five zero three zero private bill mess all those in favor of reporting the bill indicate by saying i those opposed indicate by saying no i's have it so and that the bill is reported favorably without objection it'll be reported  and and the members will have two days to submit additional views representatives of the united states of america and congress assembled section ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered as read and turn again to the chair of the immigration subcommittee zoloft th case of went was reviewed for many years she finally lost her appeal on the asylum application in two thousand and three however in one thousand nine hundred five she gave birth to her son nicholas  nicholas was born in massachusetts he had and continues to suffer from severe physical and mental disability disability including three able palsy spastic quadriplegia hearing loss and developmental  citizen would likely die if returned to kenya or separated from his mother the h s has granted aster annual discretionary stays of removal because of the humanitarian aspects of this  case and on may eighth the subcommittee reported this bill by voice vote the department of homeland security has issued a report indicating that they have no objection and i hope that we can unanimously send this to the floor for member of that immigration subcommittee the german from iowa mr king thank you mr smith i appreciate your yielding and i also support this private bill for esther qur'an jen i agree with the statement that's been offered by the share of the immigration  subcommittee and this is about esther and esther taking care of her son who is dependent upon his care in fact completely dependent upon his care and it grants esther lawful permanent residence and it's a path to citizenship it's a very much a compassionate bill that understands that her son is an american citizen by virtue of being born here in massachusetts and if esther is not here take care of her son the taxpayers will be can spend in considerably more to do so as well as this bill fits with the end clearly established precedents on narrow definitions that i support when it comes to private bills so i urge its adoption and i yield back to the gentleman from texas time yes then we have a reporting corm present and if there are no further amendments all those in favor of reporting the bill favorably to the house  asked a clerk to report h r three four zero r thirty four eighty a bill to direct the united states saying commission to assure appropriate enhancement of those individual those involved in receiving stolen property where that property consist of grave markers of crime terrorism and homeland security having had under consideration a bill h r thirty four eighty reports of favorably to the committee and religious variable recommendation to the full house as chairman incredibly desecrated veterans graves has become a widespread national in a number of states these have removed the metal parts of the grave markers and sold them for scrap metal in response some states have answered this problem by replacing stolen markers markers with aluminum markers instead of the brass and bronze markers they once  used with the price of aluminum sharply on the rise it is expected that these will still be stolen as well to let our veterans rest in peace act of two thousand and seven will bring attention to this issue and increase the penalties for this crime these no longer consider robbing grave markers for scrap metal easy money the bill sponsored by the gentleman from pennsylvania mr carney directs the us anything commission to amend the sensing guidelines provide an increase in the sentence for all offenses involving a desecration theft or traffic gun in a grave marker monument headstone object intended to permanently market veterans graves posing as chairman i would like to point out that i do have an amendment for the bill but i support of subjectives and urge my colleagues to support them as well you know back thank you  thank you mr chairman h r thirty four eighty let our veterans rest in peace activists increased penalties for the desecration or theft from veterans grays the men and women of america's armed forces who have given the ultimate sacrifice to our country deserve a proper final resting place sadly the hollowed memorials of our fallen soldiers are being to face by vandals and thieves last year in my home state of texas the grave of purple heart recipient lance corporal jeremy  only two days after his burial flower arrangements personal notes and flags decorating the gray site were torn down and destroyed all this destruction was simply to steal in to sell flowers stands this is but one example of the many veteran gra vandalisms some motivated by theft others by spiteful protest that occurred throughout the country our nation's fallen heroes fought and died for their country and their memory simply deserve better that you're now you're the boss of my time to the gentleman from texas m state the graves of ninety seven war veterans were desecrated american flags honoring these men and women were burned or replace with handmade swastika flags other better grades have been vandalized as mr smith today indicated some for the bronze plates that are traditionally placed on the gravesites of fallen servicemen and women with the price of bronze on the rise these are stealing these markers to sell scrap metals whether these acts are motivated by greed or protest are just destroying the grave of a person let alone those who have died fighting for our country it's deplorable our fans desecration these graves not only disrespects the men and women the rest their designers those serving in our armed forces today this bail disgraceful and not go unpunished and i know if i were still a judge i would welcome the chance to hit somebody really hard for such a despicable act so i appreciate the leadership in this committee getting this to where we can vote it thank you very much thank the gentleman chairman scott has a manager's amendment at the desk and like it called up now and to recognize him for an amendment in the nature of a substitute to h grave although i agree with the purpose of objective of the bill my men would instruct the sentencing commission not to simply increase the sentencing but to assess the punishments and to make appropriate changes presumably those changes will be to increase but i think it's more appropriate to ask them to do what is appropriate after they've done the study without regard the joint changes if any will be appropriately severe and consistent with other federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements back thank chairman scott for offering amendment it means the finding section to make grammatical and other tech correction clarifies the wording the senate saying directive bring it in conformity with similar provisions adopted by congress s just my colleagues to accept and i support this and then let you know back i thank the gentleman are there any further amendments to the manager's amendment if not reported as a single amendment in the nature of a substitute incorporating the amendment adopted staff is authorized to make technical and conforming changes members will have two days for additional views chair calls up h r five nine three eight former vice president's protection act and asked the clerk to report the bill h r fifty nine thirty eight a bill to amend title eighteen united states code to provide reports that favorably to the committee moves its favorable recommendation to the full house is chairman i'd like to thank you for your leadership as author of the bill that i also like to thank the ranking member of the full committee the gentleman from texas was to smith and the ranking member of the subcommittee on crime the gentleman from texas judge government for their bipartisan support of the bill as well title eighteen u s c provides former presidents and their spouses protection by the united states secret service after after leaving office however federal law provides no such protection of a former vice presidents and their families who justice former presidents and their families remain as likely targets of physical threat and even assassination this bill authorizes the united states secret service to protect the former vice president of the united states form vice president spouse and children under the age of sixteen but not more than six months after the vice president leaves office there would also authorize the secretary of homeland security to extend such protections should circumstances warrant the extension th parent a call note and i would hope that if any former vice president is concerned about their carbon footprint getting bigger with this additional help that they could live off the additional secret service help  cohen thank you mr chairman appropriate to ask a question now of course thank you sir i'd like to ask the sponsors and i understand times are changing but has there ever been an attempt on a vice president's life before after he was vice president protection based on credible threats but it's not known whether or not the only limit is that anything happened based on the threat and that was done by executive order the president i would i would point out that the  language of the bill which provides this protection for six months after the date the former vice president leaves office would mean that its application would be a prospect of only the six months after the next vice president would just for six months just six months and if warranted extended is the genesis of the bill the fact that we're concerned about al qaeda or we're concerned about the current vice president my feeling is that it's we've just got heightened  terrorism and it's appropriate thank you sir well done i'm going to move feel more comfortable knowing that this is the first time bobby scott has supported the vice president in some time do any other members seek recognition are there any amendments if not every port in quorum being present we reporting quorum being present the question is on reporting the bill to the house those in favor say aye those opposed say no the eyes haven't the bill will be reported to the house all members will have two days to submit additional dues we can take one more bill the clerk will call fifty four h r fifty four sixty four a child was missing alert and recovery center h r fifty four sixty four a bill to direct the attorney general to make an annual grant favorable recommendation to full house h r fifty four sixty four a child is missing alert and recovery center act authorizes grants to a child is missing alert recovery center or a c i m the child a child goes missing every forty seconds in the states and successful recovery of that child often requires quick least and community response but this is chairman this is slightly different than the amber alert in that it targets that response to where the child may have been missing out asking has been said it's not only child gone missing every forty seconds but over twenty one children per day go missing and so the the this will be a wonderful addition as we heard in our legislative hearing to fill in the gap  for those children that do not made the recall armaments for amber alerts but have gone about recovering and helping find children before it's too late so i have a statement out asked me a last word briefly a child that's missing is an organization that is based in fort lauderdale florida and show you friedlander who is the founder of this organization has just done an incredible service to show that we can find children as quickly as possible when they go missing this legislation and unfortunately is tied up in another markup but i would like for his statement to be without objection so ordered are there any amendments if not a reporting quorum being present the  bill will be put to a vote for that by the full committee all those in favor say aye all those opposed say no the ayes have it and the bill is ordered to be reported favorably to the committee and members will have two days to submit additional views we have only one vote on the floor and we have three more previously agreed to bills and so the committee will stand in recess testing committee will come to order pursuant to notice and i called up h r twenty three thirty two the school safety and hence meant for purposes of markup and asked the clerk to report the bill h twenty three fifty two a bill to enhance the safety of elementary schools secondary schools and institutions of higher education without objection the reading of the bill  incidents of violence in our schools continue over the last pic decade we've seen our ific school shootings and violence in at least twenty seven states more states with shootings and violence than those without ensuring the safety of our students and teachers at all levels of education must be paramount h r twenty three thirty two sponsored by the gentleman from new jersey mr othman will enhance school safety by increasing the amount of money available and making that money more accessible to poor communities they will raise the authorization level for the federal from thirty million to fifty million for fiscal year two thousand and eight and two thousand and one would also amend the eligibility requirements so that schools with the most need have a better opportunity to receive the funding presently grant recipients must match for all federal grant dollar for dollar with non federal funds in order to qualify for federal funds grant this requirement has undermined the objective of the grant this poor states with the most need receive the least benefit because they are least of able to afford the money to provide the matching funds in h r twenty three fifty two corrects a problem by decreasing the mandatory matching not federal grant percentage from fifty percent to twenty percent and increasing the federal portion from fifty to eighty percent chang funding ratios brings a percentage more in line with traditional splits of the school funds and will bring much needed help to many schools twenty three fifty two also means our amends our education act requires participating institutions to conduct annual campus assessments and develop and implement of campus emergency response plan closing with the chairman i want to thank the gentleman from texas ranking member of the subcommittee judge gohmert for his support on the bill and encourage my colleagues to see what it is well go back afraid of bullies violence or even shootings our children shouldn't be afraid to go to school they deserve a surf safe place to learn and grow h r twenty three fifty two school safety and hanson act will help school authorities put effective tools in place to provide a safe learning environment h r twenty three fifty two provides grants for surveillance equipment on school grounds and requires colleges and universities participating in certain federal programs to implement emergency response plans and annual safety assessments are you my colleagues to support this bill and to keep school grounds safe for our children the chairman or your back and other statements of members will be included in the record at this point without objection are there any amendments if not having him there is an amendment chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia for his amendment oversight second amendment removes a paragraph that would have authorized capital improvements to schools as an authorized use of the money there was some disagreement about the paragraph both inside and outside the community some of which involved the jurisdiction of th other committees if that provision remained as a result of the discussion the sponsor of the bill chose to ask for this paragraph to be deleted so that the controversy and jurisdictional questions could be removed and the bill could be could move more smoothly to the full house floor third the manager's amendment clarifies that the federal portion of the grant money may not be more than eighty percent as opposed to requiring the federal portion to be exactly eighty percent this language clarifies clarification complies with common practice for grants for the manager's amendment clarifies certain requirements in the grant application process that changes the phrase chief legal officer to chief law enforcement executive and the word to two chief law enforcement executive and the word demonstrating to certifying these changes merely provide a clarification for the community oriented community already in police services of the cops would minister the grant fits the certain dates have been obsolete by the passage of time in the manager's amendment correct these dates for example a bill was written would have required the attorney general of the secretary of education to develop and publish advisory school safety guidelines by june two thousand and eight this has been changed to not later than one year after the date of an accident finally at the request of the sponsor the manager's amendment includes  chair recognizes ranking member lamar smith thank you mr chairman i support this manager's amendment and i also agree with the description that was offered by chairman scott and urge my colleagues to support the management matters in them as well is there any further discussion ms jackson lee of texas at the end of title one of the bill insert the following no section section one zero two additional amendment paragraph five of section two seven zero one b of the omnibus crime control and safe streets conditions after in situations situations legislative initiative and i thank my colleagues and i thank the chairman of the subcommittee and ranking member chairman of the full committee and ranking member dealing with schools and confronting the conditions of security and safety that all children are in the first amendment that i have would extend the current requirement of establishing a hot line on tip line to include the reporting of hazardous conditions including the presence of hazardous chemicals the second amendment would require schools to develop an implement safety measures to protect chilled students children in an event of an is terrorist attack or other harris has it is conditions or situation let me put into the record the very very sad condition that occurred in my own community the need for schools to respond to hazardous conditions or situations as necessary because often children are confronted with hazardous conditions and they simply are ignored the children are depended upon the school district and the school district does not act this has been a big problem in the houston independent school district and it has occurred around the nation for example in key middle school students were getting sick because they were in classrooms where a model was growing and conditions were if you will intolerable only after the centers for disease control came into the school district and indicated that the school had to be shut down several days and almost a month into students and teachers and administrators being removed from the hospital excuse me remove from the school by way of ambulance the students or the mall or getting sick but they did not know how to respond the school district was called and they did not respond to these amendments would ensure that children who are aware of talk city of these chemicals and organic substances who view this as a real threat can of course get response it would have cause the middle school king middle school to be closed quickly because a severe health risk poses students my calls us to know where it is training prevention as pertains to a terrorist attack does not exploration that's a second amendment in light of the tragic events of nine eleven children need to know what to do how to respond on to dangerous situations my last to mimic goes to the heart of the administrative practice the original bill required that a task force create safety guidelines my met requies that in developing the final advisory school safety guidelines the interact agency task for shall consult with stakeholders and interested parties including parents teachers and agencies in conclusion let me simply say the tragedy of what occurred in  schools and the tragedies that we've seen from school shootings and otherwise is that we do not get in front of the disaster by working with students teachers administrators and others who are the true stakeholders this was the tragedy of the teen middle situations and the third would include parents and teachers in the consultation with the advisory school with the advisory committee when drafting safety guidelines i think all three are to the bill and i would hope th and ask unanimous consent that mr gohmert statements on these amendments and other bills be made a part of the record anyone else seek recognition whether any further amendment all those in favor of  the elder justice and asked the clerk to report the bill h r one seventy three a bill to amend the social security act to enhance the social security of the nation by ensuring adequate public private infrastructure and to subcommittee on crime terrorism and homeland security having had an consideration the bill h r seven hundred eighty three reported favorably to the committee and moves its favorable recommendation to the full house h r seven hundred eighty three the elder justice act sponsored by the gentleman from illinois  manual is a comprehensive plan for preventing and combating elder abuse neglect and exploitation each year in the united states we don't know what the exact number is but estimates are between one half million to five million elders are abused neglected or exploited and experts agreed in most cases and never reported data collected on the problem is minimal and there have been no comprehensive national approaches to solving many problems these problems likely will increase in the next thirty years as seventy six million baby retire approaching retirement despite this disturbing trend funding to combat elder abuse is minimal and diminishing they'll just as coalition reports that of all federal splats funds spent on abuse prevention less than two percent o is spent on elder abuse funding the state adult protective services varies from state to state and from year to year and is inadequate to dress the problem of elder abuse the social services block grant from which states can choose to fund adult protect services has suffered more than a one billion dollars funding cut in the last five years in the last few years investigating elder abuse is not easy and some of the solutions must be must must be in the nature of visit with any person who is reported to be the victim of abuse adult protective services would attempt to visit the person only to be denied entry to the home and access to the suspected victim often by the abuser the bill establish a process allowing the adult protective service worker to petition the circuit court for an order allowing access and or entry or both on a showing of good cause today we seek to do our part in addressing the serious problem of elder abuse this act provides for a comprehensive malted disciplinary approach to preventing and combating elder abuse neglect and exploitation while enabling states and local communities to run programs that can best serve their needs but establishes the national elder justice coordinating council and advisory board on elder abuse neglect and exploitation it starts the critically needed process of researching the state rights state practices in a quick and collecting national data on the problem the actor authorizes grant money and elders in areas of elder abuse beginning with prevention it also provides critically needed money to state and local adult protective services and helps the long term care facilities recruit train and retain competent employees it provides grants to assist the investigation and prosecution of elder abuse at the state and local level finally requires grant recipients to evaluate the effectiveness of their funding activities that's a chairman  thank the ranking member of the committee of the subcommittee judge gohmert for his support of the bill and encourage my colleagues to support it as well you know back about thank you so much banking member  thank you ranking member smith and thank you chairman conyers and americans over the age of fifty account for twelve percent of our nation's murder victims and seven percent of other serious and violent crime victims ninety percent of all the elder abuse and neglect cases are  known perpetrators usually family members our eldest seniors eighty plus years are abused in the glass at two to three times the proportion of all other senior citizens elder abuse is clearly a serious problem facing our older americans and with a population of people age eighty five or older expected to double to eight point nine million by the year twenty thirty we can be sure the problem will only grow h r seventy ninety three they were just makes efforts to curb these acts of abuse the bill awards grants to states and local governments to aid them in the investigation prosecution of elder abuse this bill also directs the attorney general to study and report to the elder justice cording council the advisory board of elder abuse neglect exploitation in congress on state laws and practices relating to elder abuse neglect and exploitation and to develop and implement a long term plan for elder just programs and related activities as i mentioned during the subcommittee hearing on this bill i have serious concerns about whether imposing such burdensome requirements on the department of justice is the most defective approach to achieving the goals of the bill for instance a bill requires the department to promulgating model state laws despite the fact that the majority of states have already adopted elder justice statutes the bill also directs the apartment to hire federal prosecutors  investigators to prosecute federal cases now is banding the fact that the federal government lacks the police power to impose penalties for most of these crimes i'm pleased to report that the sponsor of the bill mr emanuel and my colleagues on the committee worked with me to address these concerns in the goshi a bipartisan compromise to title two of the bill thank them for working with me on this legislation and addressing my concerns and with that i y recognize ask the clerk to report to scott amendment amendment to h r seven hundred eighty three offered by mr scott of virginia and mr gohmert of texas page seventy two beginning on line and make several miscellaneous technical changes and updates authorization dates first the management manager's amendment delete section two zero six of title two of the bill because it is no longer relevant and the memo adds a requirement that the comptroller general report to congress with recommendations regarding any federal legislation regulations of programs needed to improve elder justice in the united states third it deletes the part of the bill that require the development of model state laws  since the most state laws now the the report only asked for best practices to be to be developed for the underlying bill requires the department of justice to require to prepare t reports an amendment merges those into one required report in light of the above change of the lesions it has become appropriate from a drafting perspective to merge sections two a one into two into one section and finally the manager's amendment expand state and local grants to state courts by only certain dates and no longer applicable due to the passage of time and the amendment includes current dates urge the passage of this amendment in the old balance of my time i thank the gentleman previously these two sections impose significant margins on the department by requiring it to conduct a comprehensive study of state elder justice laws promulgated model state laws and implementing national strategy for elder justice these requirements would be b and for the department the revised section two zero one maintains the requirement the department completes the study the national institute of justice within the department has been studying elder justice issues for several years and issue the subject in two thousand and six it's betting that the d n i continue its work under this study as directed by this new section to a one hour the amendment eliminates the requirement for model state laws and implementation of a national strategy as i mentioned earlier the majority of states have already enacted elder justice statutes including criminal penalties for elder abuse and neglect while it is worthwhile that we study the effectiveness of these laws probably modeled state laws would provide little benefit because most states would be reluctant to rewrite the laws they have in place but this amendment well it strikes section two zero six of the bill which require the department to hire federal prosecutors and nurse investigators expand but it expands state and local grant eligibility to not just prosecutors but the courts as well and makes other technical improvements to title two and again like to thank mr emanuel and chairman scott for their willingness to address my  concerns and draft this bipartisan amendment again elder abuse is such a problem that is doing nothing but growing day by day in this country that i'm pleased that we've been able to work together to get to this point this amendment i would like to quickly state my intention to offer a second amendment to the base bill on the same topic procedurally we have to consider the amendment separately as one amat amends the manager's amendment and the other amends the base bill but conceptual two amendments are very i'm a lawyer and can be best understood together so for the sake of expediting our markup i will discuss both amendments now so we can move forward more quickly as i noted during our subcommittee hearing on the elder abuse act am very concerned about telephone mail and internet fraud targeted at seniors although i recognize that protecting the physical and mental health and security of seniors is the central focus of the elder justice act as it should be i'm very hopeful that we  ill also ensure that the department of justice has the knowledge and resources necessary to successfully combat the financial exploitation of seniors through phone mail and internet fraud my own experiences as the primary caregiver for my grandmother who raised me opened my eyes to some troubling exploitative tactics targeted to seniors when my grandmother was about ninety years old she asked if i would help her with her mail and balancing a checkbook and all that sort of thing and i was disturbed by the number of frequence a little solicitation she received from what appeared to me to be bogus or fly by night charities designed more to line the pockets of the solicitors than to serve the purported charitable missions and i was also disturbed by the amount of money my grandmother had been giving to these entities she believed that those able to do so ought to be as generous as possible to those in need but she had no way of determining the legitimacy of the entities that were contacting her so frequently millions of americans become victims of similar financial exploitation each year and as my grandmother made clear to me it's not just the isolated in the lonely who fall prey to these scams although it's difficult to estimate the province of financial exploitation cases due to severe under reporting several national studies have revealed troubling statistics for example in the year two thousand the us senate special committee on aging reported that each year consumers lose approximately forty billion to telemarketing fraud an estimated approximately ten percent of the nation's fourteen thousand telemarketing firms were fraudulent in two thousand and three alone postal inspectors investigated thirty one hundred ma fraud cases and analysts processed more than eighty thousand complaints these investigations have led to more than two billion dollars in court ordered restitution to fraud victims particularly with the population of americans over sixty  set to drastically increase in the next few decades we know that financial threats to seniors are growing and changing because so many baby boomers have considerable computer skills the f b i has confirmed that criminals are modifying the targeting techniques to include online scams like fishing and e mail spamming as we have discussed h r seven hundred eighty three rightly sets the wheels in motion on a number of initiatives within the department of justice to comprehensively prevent and combat elder abuse neglect and exploitation i have prepared amendments that add to these important initiatives into relatively simple ways my amendment adds laws relating to telemarketing mail and internet fraud to a list of state laws and practices the attorney general will examine and report to congress on and by specifying that telemarketing mail and internet fraud be included in this study we are ensuring that all the practices related to combating senior exploitation will be addressed as i noted i intend to offer a second amendment that instructs the attorney general to consult with the postmaster general and chief postal inspector in thinking about how to award elder justice grants to support those who work on ending elder abuse establishing early collaboration's between leaders with the most knowledge around the issues impacting seniors will help facilitate a more comprehensive approach to the grant program by noting our intent to include mail telemarketing and internet fraud within the broad focus of the elder justice act i think we move even closer to our collective goal of eliminating abuse neglect and exploitation of our fall victim to identity theft mail fraud or telemarketing fraud and as other members of committee know i'm always reluctant to interfere in state law issues but our amendment addresses issues that are clearly within interstate commerce in our jurisdiction baghban crimes within interstate commerce and i thank her for offering this amendment it does address issues that she and i shared within family and friend realm and when you see our elderly that are becoming so vulnerable they're so innocent they're not led weren't raised in a an environment like we have in congress where the old saying is no matter how cynical you get it's never enough to catch up they get these these mailers they get these phone calls and they think they're really supposed to pay and it's taking advantage of people who we should be helping protect through our jurisdiction over crimes in interstate commerce so i thank them as bollen for offering this amendment in the one forthcoming and i think these are important issues to address and address advantage of elderly people and this could turn out to be perhaps the most important ingredient of this this amend this bill thank you reclaiming my time if you have  manager's amendment all in favor say aye those opposed say no the ayes have it and the amendment is agreed to the vote occurs on the manager's amendment mr scott all in favor say and internet fraud targeted to seniors i urge its options ok judge a gomer thank you chairman conyers i just want to express my support on this amendment as well and i thank the gentleman further amendment mr chairman yes and then a lady from california maxine waters i have an amendment at the desk clerk will report the amendment amendment to h r seven hundred eighty three offered by ms waters of california ms jackson lee of texas unanimous consent to strike the word entities on page two line seventeen and insert nonprofit organizations without objection so already first mr chairman i'd like to thank my colleagues congresswoman families an estimated five million americans have all simers disease one in eight americans over sixty five and nearly half of americans over eighty five suffer from this is this disorder sixty percent of alzheimer's patients are likely to wander from their homes wonder is abominable to dehydration ition weather conditions traffic hazards and individuals who prey on those who are defenseless up to fifty percent of wandering out simon's patients will become seriously injured or died if they are not found within twenty four hours of their departure from home since its inception more than ten years ago to miss an alzheimer's patient alert program has funded a national registry of more than one hundred  seventy two thousand individuals at risk of wandering and has united over twelve thousand wonders with their families this national registry has been run by the alzheimer's association is known as safe return it is a highly successful program whereby eighty eight percent of the registrant who wander are found within the first four hours of being reported missing a total of one thousand two hundred eighty eight wandering incidents were reported to safe return in two thousand and seven the program has a ninety eight degree success rate in recovering your rollies who are reported missing there are also technology based options to address wandering that should be considered for funding under the misson alzheimer's patient alert program for example personalize wristbands that emit a try can signal can be used to locate wanderers these wristbands when combined with specially trained search and rescue teams can search times from hours and days to minutes unfortunately the missing alzheimer's patients alert program has not been reauthorized or updated in over ten years congress originally authorized nine hundred thousand dollars in appropriations for the program for the first three years since then the program has continued to receive funding on a year to year basis but it has been virtually flat funded sentence inception in june of two thousand and six despite the fact that the program had not been reauthorized i've worked with my colleagues congressman jim ramstad and adam schiff as well as the appropriations subcommittee chairman frank w and we increase the funding when the bill was on the floor to one million in fiscal year two thousand and seven the program receive the same amount in fiscal year two thousand and eight on march eighteenth of this year i sent a letter to the appropriate as requesting an appropriation of two million for the missing patients program in fiscal year two thousand and nine my letter specifically recommended that the program be expanded to allow funding part technology based options in addition to a national registry this letter was supported by the alzheimer's association and they all signed ms foundation of america and it was signed by a bipartisan group of thirty two members of congress and  chairman our men met with reauthorize the missing alzheimer's patient alert program and expanded it so as to allow the department of justice to award multiple competitive grants that also get a preference to be given to non profit organizations that have a direct link to patients and families of patients with alzheimer's disease and related dementias their memory would authorize up to five million per year in appropriations but the school years two thousand and nine through two thousand fifteen our members requires their turn a general to consult with the secretary of health and human services in awarding the grant and finally our members specifies that the program will be operated in the department of justice hero of justice assistance currently the program is operated under the office of juvenile justice which is obviously not the most appropriate agency for a program serving the elderly with the baby boom generation approaching the age of retirement the number of americans with al ninety nine through two thousand and eight currently the program awards grant monies to the alzheimer's association of america my colleague ms waters mention this is also an expansion this amendment provides an expansion of eligibility of the program to other organizations who offer services to protect and locate missing elderly several programs all for electronic monitoring service project lifesaver is used by local law enforcement agencies  responders to locate missing elderly through a personalized wristband that emits a tracking signal project lifesaver is used by over seven hundred law enforcement agencies in p t tuesday and so i forty two states in over fifteen hundred searches there been no reported serious injuries or deaths and recovery times of average less than thirty minutes after alert systems known as silver and senior large have been established in at least eight states we've seen the alerting of law enforcement and the public through various media outlets about these bones all adults who are reported missing these alert systems were created out of concern for the safety of seniors and other at risk populations who are prone to wandering due to a physical or cognitive disability or medical conditions such as alzheimer's or dementia some missing adult alert programs including those  oklahoma and virginia were modeled after the state's amber alert system now this amendment will ultimately allow florida used to very quickly and effectively determine the difference between an elderly at risk individual wandering away and an actual kidnapping which dramatically decreases the amount of federal state and local funds and personnel required to make such a finding and determination this federal government has  co sponsor of the waters amendment let me thank the chairman and the ranking member and subcommittee chairs and ranking member miss waters mr schiff it was a pleasure to work with their staff as my staff work for exam as well  this is an important reauthorization but more importantly it is appropriate as it is a part of this committee because it does engage the loss of life of individuals who may not be found within that period of time each of us can recall a certain story that brings us to believe this bill is extremely important and i have that example in my own congressional district where i participated in a search for an elderly person there who had simply just walked away he had an attentive family his family however did not live at his home but they had a very welcoming and warm situation he had in attendance how he left in the middle of the light night if he had some of the resources that could be utilized to this legislation such as a bracelet for example we believe he could have been found in a shorter period of time he was ultimately found in a ditch and died of exposure this i believe  both that is long overdue in the reauthorization but the importance of it is that it has the attorney general and secretary of health working together for these competitive grants because it does include law enforcement and health officials for that reason i ask my colleagues to support this gentleman from california i think the chairman i'll be very brief delay to join with my colleagues representatives waters and jackson lee to address the problem faced by many families caring for a loved one with alzheimer's or related illness or susceptible to wandering away from home and becoming lost or disorienting which can be a life threatening act even if they're found by law enforcement or good samaritans that may not be able to recall their full name or address or phone number of a family member one program that's had great success in helping out simers patients is the missing alzheimer's disease patient alert program originally authorized in one thousand nine hundred four it's a program that's been provided a grant of about a million dollars though that mout has varied from year to year the safe return programs a nationwide system in which for fifty dollars fee alzheimer patients register they're given a small bracelet or pendant which should there's a unique identification number in an emergency toll free number for the safe return hotline this  act quickly to reunite the wandering a patient with their family and caregivers it's the only nationwide program of its kind and since the program began more than one hundred fifty thousand people have been registered nationwide it's helped return more than ten thousand people to their family and caregivers and has a ninety nine percent success rate this amendment reauthorized that valuable program and others at a level of five million dollars a year additional funds are warranted i believe by the aging population which will increase the strain the program and lead to a greater number of cases of wandering each year i believe a larger authorization will allow the development of other programs as well to meet the same goals so again i want to thank my colleagues for their work on this issue  and the amendments we don't have a reporting quorum so we will postpone and move to the next bill pursuant to notice i called up h r five th five two elder abuse victims and ask the clerk to report h r fifty three fifty two a bill to protect seniors in the united states without objection the bill be considered as read and the chairman of similar to the elder abuse act it requires attorney general a study and report to congress and say laws and practices authorizes grant money the bill which is actually included in the elder justice act is necessary and the event that the senate chooses to address this problem with two separate bills one addressing the portions that concerns a part of health and human services and the other department of justice thomas chairman i think we would it would be appropriate in due course to and suspenders situation and so i obviously had concerns with the other bill that applauded this and there will be a bipartisan amendment to dressing these concerns and i appreciate chairman scott working with us along with the staff thank you thank you very much are there any amendments to chairman yes the gentle lady from california i would like to clarify whether or not you indicated that you would scott is made a motion that would ask that all of these amendments and bills be connected is there any discussion on this any to we will now consider the amendments considered blood on those in favor say aye those opposed say no the ayes have it and we  pursuant to notice i call this bill up to amend the immigration chairman did we did didn't we do that once oh we did this the attorney general to provide grants to states to assist them in entering d n a evidence and databases as a nation's police departments and prosecutors have come to recognize the value of d n a evidence in solving crimes labs have collected d n a samples from increasing numbers of crime scenes and convicted offenders faster than they can examine and enter them and enter them into state or local databases in fact congress has funded state and local law enforcement agencies to test nearly  hundred four thousand d n a case from two thousand and four and two thousand and seven funded over two and a half million convicted offender and arrest the samples yet the backlog remains almost level consequently a large backlog of samples exists around the nation that could identify violent criminals at large and there is no better example that demonstrates how d n a technology can be for solving crimes than the story of the every smith the bill's namesake who shared a story with the subcommittee during our hearing on april tenth one thousand nine hundred ninety every smith was kidnapped in a virginia home and viciously attacked in nearby woods by a stranger with remarkable courage and determination she reported her attack and in the crime lab was able to preserve d n a evidence of her attacker and eventually he was convicted on a separate violent crime and was required to provide a d n a sample which matched a sample collected from his attack well ms smith and d him as their attacker the goal of the deadly smith d n a backlog grant program is to assist dates and entering their d n a evidence timely so that they can they can solve more crimes and solve them as soon as possible the act was incorporated in the justice for all act of two thousand and four that expires at the end of two thousand and this bill has a strong bipartisan support and we authorize funding for the day extending it through the fiscal year two thousand and fourteen sherman scott as well in being a co sponsor of this piece of legislation and debbie smith d n a backlog elimination grant program provides grants to state and local governments to reduce the d n a backlog of samples collected and entered into the national d n a database program originally authorized in two thousand expires at the end of fiscal year two thousand and nine while the debbie smith program has indeed been successful in reducing the backlog there is still work to do h r fifty fifty seven the debbie smith reauthorization act forty four states that require all convicted felons to provide d n a samples there entered into various law enforcement databases and then match the crime scene d n a while using d n a evidence has proved to be successful the increase in processing requests has created a huge backlog across the nation in two thousand the debbie smith d n a backlog elimination grant program was created to address the problem and we are pleased to have gotten here for such a courageous individual like debbie smith appreciate her efforts on behalf of those who could not appear and speak for themselves but the debbie smith program will help reduce the d n a back of samples collected from crime scenes and the backlog for entry of those samples into a national d n a database however the program currently expires at the end of his school year two thousand and nine these grants give state and local governments funding to collect an app million d n a samples from convicted offenders and arrestees for inclusion in the national d n a database these backlog grants funded testing of approximately one hundred four thousand d n a cases between two thousand and four and two thousand and seven well we know the programs been successful two thousand and three department of justice report indicated that a backlog of forty eight thousand d n a samples existed the current backlog is expected to be just as it is therefore imperative that we pass h r fifty fifty seven the debbie smith reauthorization act the bill which was introduced by carolyn maloney reauthorizes the program through two thousand and fourteen members to the substitute mr scott has a substitute that we will report it now madam clear amendment in the nature of a substitute to h r five zero five seven offered by mr scott of virginia and the right to go and working together to come up with improvements before the bill reach the full committee process the amendment makes essentially two changes to the original bill that provides for a study to determine exactly what resources are and local law enforcement agencies to test over one hundred thousand d n a cases and funding and funded over two and a half million convicted fender an arrestee samples from two thousand and four and two thousand and seven yet the backlog in entering a evidence in the nation's battle databases remains essentially level consequence a large backlog of samples exists around the nation that could have done a five violent criminals at large during the hearing of the subcommittee on crime terrorism and homeland security held on april tenth witnesses who are experts in the field were asked how much more funding and what technology is needed to eliminate the backlog but none were able to answer therefore mr chairman a memo would authorize two million dollars to the national academy of sciences to conduct a study that would determine exactly what technology and funding is needed to eliminate the backlog and prevent backlogs future backlogs and the study is to be completed by the end of fiscal year two thousand  nine and to be presented to congress and the attorney general and the determination is made through the study will enable congress to make more informed decisions about future funding levels than the deadliest ever smith effect the other aspect of the amendment would expand the use of the  technical changes and updates the bill to reauthorize program to reduce the d n i and now analysis backlog but in addition to the points chairman scott made contained in this amendment the subsidy amendments relatives of missing in a den of five persons will be analyzed under the debbie smith program this provision should aid law enforcement officials and decipher and clues from cold or otherwise difficult cases that might not be resolved any other way subsume him and also authorizes finding for a comprehensive study to assess the d n a analysis backlog and what it will take to eliminate it as they will also take the next step of determining ways to prevent such a  provision is very important as it directs the national academy of sciences and forensic science practitioners to answer the question of why a d n a backlog persists despite five years of federal assistance to the states to address the problem and i can assure you that when the case has to be consistent consistently and continually put off over and over thirty days sixty days of the time to finally get the assess it it is a case of justice delayed is justice denied so i think this is an important amendment and it was also i should add sparred by mr winner's concerns and appreciate those concerns because it is important that we reduce the backlog to ensure that proper justice is facilitated my colleagues to support this bipartisan amendment nature of subs to appreciate mr support of others on the committee to take into account some of the testimony we heard about the barriers that existed beyond money to accelerate some of the efforts to clear out the backlog and it does four things one of which was touched upon in the substitute which was d n a identification of missing persons it also expands funding for d n a training to law enforcement for prosecutors and cops judges probation officers and others in identifying collecting and preserving d n a evidence the dealing with a crime scene that has d n a evidence present is a complicated matter that requires retraining and providing additional training to all elements of law enforcement secondly it expands funding for the sexual abuse forensic exam program grants this is for sexual abuse nurse examiners very often unfortunately women who are victims of sexual abuse are victimized a second time when they walk into the emergency room for care they are victimized by the fact that frankly very often in the traditional treat that goes on in hospitals sufficient care isn't taken for women who have been dick of sexual abuse also evidence that needs to be preserved that is present in a sexual abuse victim that is especially a specialty that sexual abuse nurse examiners bring so this would expand funding for that as well third d n a research and technology fifty million dollars a year congressman gohmert raised the point at the hearings that led to a discussion about why it is if you have more tests being done you're not having improvements that should be should be found with with elements of scale coming in s b because we and government are not doing so efficient research or development coming up with new technologies that would allow some of these exams to be done quicker some of the backlogs to be reduced and also to allow for r and d in the private sector to enhance the way these examinations are done and finally the element that mr scott mentioned  of identification of missing persons for an additional two million dollars a year it also authorizes a fifty of fifty five zero million dollars technology program and it expands the overall debbie smith funding to two hundred million from the level that it is in the bill now and it's an acknowledgment of the point that mr gohmert mr scott made that to be honest with you we don't have a good handle on what the what the backlog is presently the report there was that was produced in two thousand and three as a result of legislation that i sponsored had some general numbers about the backlog since then two things have happened one there's been obviously additional rape kits that have been taken but also since two thousand and three many more states have offender databases that they've been feeding into now admittedly it's cheaper to to add those samples it's more it's more systematic but it is happening and we do need to expand the funding so that those are the four elements and i asked for for a yes vote on the amendment  been requested on the floor with my colleague representative dan linger and of california the nation's crime labs were largely unprepared for the onslaught of requests for d n a services that began in the early one nine hundred ninety s samples continue to pour into our nation's crime labs at a pace faster than they can be processed one of the eligibility requirements for the debbie smith then a backlog grants is that each entity must prove that they've implemented a comprehensive plan for expeditious d n a analysis of samples in order to address backlog problems and respond to this requirement many states have begun outsourcing some of the work to accredited private labs however the f b i requires the crime laboratories perform in house technical reviews of one hundred percent of database samples from contract labs well this requirement certainly is important with regard to friends casework samples it has been found to be an onerous requirement with regard to conflicted offender profiles in fact these requirements add substantial additional costs and further delay backlog reduction  debbie smith grant funds are expended on fulfilling these onerous requirements as one of the permissible uses of grant funding under the debbie spiff program is for data review of sample profiles generated by accredited fee for service private labs i have a two thousand and five memo from the director of the national institute of justice to the deputy attorney general this memo confirms that quote the burden of these requirements has increased the backlog of convicted offender samples cost millions of dollars and force crime lab analyzing rape kits and other forensic samples unquote further more detailed analysis of almost one hundred seventy thousand profiles found that not a single mismatch would prevent been prevented by these requirements leading to their conclusion the incredible public safety and financial costs are not justified by these quality assurance requirements in the analysis one hundred thirteen profiles were found to have errors but given the code of software matching abilities in the minor nature of the errors codice would still have correctly matched all hundred thirteen profiles to a corresponding forensic sample profile in addition all codice hits are used only as investigative information known as arrested charged tried or convicted based on an unconfirmed codice hit after hit all states require that offender samples be retrieved again and retested all public and private labs that do forensic analysis are subject to and d i s board review of their compliance with quality assurance samples in addition the d o j office of the inspector general has conducted audits of public and contract labs to determine compliance with standards governing codice of the nine state lab audit reports and i j was able to obtain from the old i g no technical errors were found in any convicted offender samples in order to address this issue mr long going to my amendment would create a new national d n a index system advisory board or and this advisory board to ensure diverse representation of views including state local lab directors the national institute of justice the d o j office of legal policy and the f b i furthermore the board to be directed to develop and provide recommendations to the f b i director a new standards governing the use of the federal index that provide for the expedited uploading by state local forensic labs of convicted offender profiles generated by private labs the standards would have to be issued within six months it would in addition the member would direct the board to look into the feasibility of other measures that would greatly expedite analysis and uploading as well as backlo reduction would include feasibility desirability of entering into agreements with private forensic labs to enable direct access to coders for the purpose of uploading d n a samples of those persons convicted of crimes and other analyses as would thank you without objection so ordered chair recognizes dan thank you very much mr chairman i'm happy to join my colleague mr schiff in this sunshine amendment which would open up the process by which the d national database policies and procedures are formulated i have great respect for the f b i lab but allowing the crime lab employees at the f b i to establish the national policy for the criminal justice system is in many ways tantamount to allowing the tail to wag the dog what's happened here is that decisions that have been made that are not required by law have resulted in  frankly a bureaucratic slowing up of the process defeats the very purpose of what it is we seek to do by the underlying bill and by this bill that is before us the underlying law in this bill is before us currently the scientific working group on d n a analysis methods in the n d i s board development and minister the policies regarding the acquirements which must be met before d n a profiles may be uploaded there is no statutory requirement for either entity the national database policies and procedures are established currently by a small working group of f b i crime lab employees the standards created by these two entities are not subject to the normal federal process sees that help ensure that appropriate governmental policies and procedures are followed furthermore they are not subject to the federal advisory committee act that ensures the openness and accountability in government advisory boards my concern however is not just with bureaucratic niceties unfortunately as mentioned by the gentleman from california the policies and procedures produced by this defacto process have had real world consequences let's just  let me take this time to share just two areas of concern revealed to me by state and local law enforcement agencies first of all the defacto n d s process has had a dramatic effect on rape victims for example of a rape kit produces a d n a profile the police must exclude potential innocent donors of that sample before the d n a profile may be uploaded in the n b a s the practical effect is that police investigators ask a rape victim about all of the other possible sources for the semen recovered in a rape kit once the rape victim identifies other potential source the police must attempt to obtain a sample from that consensual partner or partners then that partner sample must be tested and after the lab determines that the consensual partner's d n a is not in the rape kit then the law can finally upload the d n a profile obtained from the rape kit that is not what we intended by the law it is something which might make it easier for the federal authorities because they might in some ways discourage the states from going through all this so therefore they get a smaller workload but that's not what we should be about here this is insult to what is already a serious injury to the victim of rape she loses the ability to keep the terrible incident private in a consensual partner or partners will be notified and subjected to d n a testing and in the meantime valuable time is wasted locating consensual rest of them and the rest of the bills at the next hearing the committee stands