IC 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 820 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2019 

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

To strengthen programs authorized under the Debbie Smith 

Act of 2004. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Debbie Smith Act of 

3 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DNA BACKLOG GRANT PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT. 

5 Section 2 of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination 

6 Act of 2000 (34 U.S.C. 40701) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘includ9 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘prioritizing, to the extent 

10 practicable consistent with public safety consid11 erations’’; and 

12 (B) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘includ13 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘in particular,’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (b)— 

15 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

16 the end; 

17 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe18 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(8) provide assurances that the DNA section 

21 of the laboratory to be used to conduct DNA anal22 yses has a written policy that prioritizes the analysis 

23 of, to the extent practicable consistent with public 

24 safety considerations, samples from homicides and 

25 sexual assaults.’’; 

26 (3) in subsection (c)(3)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 ‘‘2014 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 

3 through 2024’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

5 ‘‘2014 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 

6 through 2024’’; 

7 (4) in subsection (g)— 

8 (A) by redesignating paragraph (1), (2), 

9 and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), 

10 and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘Not later’’ and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM IMPROVE16 MENTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of en17 actment of the Debbie Smith Act of 2019— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Director of the National Institute 

19 of Justice shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) define DNA Capacity Enhance21 ment and Backlog Reduction program-wide 

22 goals in clear, specific, and measurable 

23 terms; 

24 ‘‘(ii) consistently document the goals 

25 defined under clause (i); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) use performance measures for 

2 each goal defined under clause (i) that 

3 fully reflect the appropriate attributes of 

4 successful performance measures according 

5 to recommendations made by the Govern6 ment Accountability Office in the report 

7 entitled, ‘DNA Evidence: DOJ Should Im8 prove Performance Measurement and 

9 Properly Design controls for Nationwide 

10 Grant Program’ (GAO–19–216); and 

11 ‘‘(B) the Assistant Attorney General for 

12 the Office of Justice Programs shall fully estab13 lish all appropriate controls relating to conflicts 

14 of interest and to lobbying as reported by the 

15 Government Accountability Office in the report 

16 entitled, ‘DNA Evidence: DOJ Should Improve 

17 Performance Measurement and Properly Design 

18 controls for Nationwide Grant Program’ (GAO– 

19 19–216). 

20 ‘‘(3) REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF GRANT

21 PROGRAM.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

22 on which the Comptroller General of the United 

23 States issues the 2018 report on the DNA Capacity 

24 Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Grant Pro25 gram, or 180 days after the date of enactment of 


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1 the Debbie Smith Act of 2019, whichever date is 

2 later, the Attorney General shall submit a report to 

3 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

4 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

5 Representatives that— 

6 ‘‘(A) describes any action taken by the De7 partment of Justice since the release of the 

8 2018 report on the DNA Capacity Enhance9 ment and Backlog Reduction Grant Program to 

10 improve the DNA Capacity Enhancement and 

11 Backlog Reduction Grant Program based on 

12 the recommendations of the Comptroller Gen13 eral; and 

14 ‘‘(B) includes recommendations for re15 forms that could enhance the effectiveness of 

16 the program in reducing the backlog of 

17 unanalyzed DNA evidence in sexual assault 

18 cases.’’. 

19 ‘‘(4) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

20 after the end of the third fiscal year beginning after 

21 the date of enactment of the Debbie Smith Act of 

22 2019, and once every 3 fiscal years thereafter 

23 through fiscal year 2025, the Comptroller General of 

24 the United States shall issue a report on the DNA 

25 analysis workloads at laboratories that participate in 


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1 the Combined DNA Index System using data avail2 able from the DNA Capacity Enhancement and 

3 Backlog Reduction Grant Program or other sources 

4 that— 

5 ‘‘(A) describes, by year— 

6 ‘‘(i) the total number of new crime 

7 scene DNA analysis requests submitted to 

8 laboratories; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the total number of crime scene 

10 DNA analysis requests analyzed including, 

11 to the extent practicable and reported sep12 arately— 

13 ‘‘(I) the number analyzed at lab14 oratories participating in Combined 

15 DNA Index System; and 

16 ‘‘(II) the number of requests 

17 outsourced and analyzed at private 

18 laboratories; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the total number of DNA pro20 files from crime scene evidence uploaded to 

21 the Combined DNA Index System; 

22 ‘‘(iv) the total number of Combined 

23 DNA Index System hits and investigations 

24 aided resulting from DNA profiles recov25 ered from crime scene evidence; 


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1 ‘‘(v) the number of outstanding crime 

2 scene DNA analysis requests at the end of 

3 each year and the number of such out4 standing requests that are older than 30 

5 days at the end of the year; and 

6 ‘‘(vi) to the extent practicable, the 

7 number of requests associated with sexual 

8 assault cases submitted to laboratories 

9 during the year and the number of such 

10 requests that are older than 30 days at the 

11 end of the year; and 

12 ‘‘(B) includes a determination as to— 

13 ‘‘(i) whether the National Institute of 

14 Justice has defined DNA Capacity En15 hancement and Backlog Reduction pro16 gram-wide goals as required under para17 graph (2)(A); and 

18 ‘‘(ii) whether the Office of Justice 

19 Programs has fully established all appro20 priate controls relating to conflicts of inter21 est and to lobbying as required under 

22 paragraph (2)(B).’’; and 

23 (5) in subsection (j), by striking ‘‘2015 through 

24 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 through 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. TRAINING AND EDUCATION. 

2 Section 303(b) of the DNA Sexual Assault Justice 

3 Act of 2004 (34 U.S.C. 40722(b)) is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘2015 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 through 

5 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 4. SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAM GRANTS. 

7 Section 304(d) of the DNA Sexual Assault Justice 

8 Act of 2004 (34 U.S.C. 40723(d)) is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘2015 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 through 

10 2024’’. 

Passed the Senate May 16, 2019. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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