II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 820 

To strengthen programs authorized under the Debbie Smith Act of 2004. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2019 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Ms. ERNST, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. BURR, Mr. LEAHY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. SCOTT of South 

Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DNA BACKLOG GRANT PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT. 

7 Section 2 of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination 

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

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘includ2 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘prioritizing, to the extent 

3 practicable consistent with public safety consid4 erations’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘includ6 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘in particular,’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (b)— 

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

9 the end; 

10 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

14 of the laboratory to be used to conduct DNA anal15 yses has a written policy that prioritizes the analysis 

16 of, to the extent practicable consistent with public 

17 safety considerations, samples from homicides and 

18 sexual assaults.’’; 

19 (3) in subsection (c)(3)— 

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

21 ‘‘2014 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 

22 through 2024’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘2014 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 

25 through 2024’’; 


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1 (4) in subsection (g)— 

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

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

4 and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

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

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(2) REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF GRANT

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

11 on which the Comptroller General of the United 

12 States issues the 2018 report on the DNA Capacity 

13 Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Grant Pro14 gram, or 180 days after the date of enactment of 

15 the Debbie Smith Act of 2019, whichever date is 

16 later, the Attorney General shall submit a report to 

17 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

18 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

19 Representatives that— 

20 ‘‘(A) describes any action taken by the De21 partment of Justice since the release of the 

22 2018 report on the DNA Capacity Enhance23 ment and Backlog Reduction Grant Program to 

24 improve the DNA Capacity Enhancement and 

25 Backlog Reduction Grant Program based on 


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1 the recommendations of the Comptroller Gen2 eral; and 

3 ‘‘(B) includes recommendations for re4 forms that could enhance the effectiveness of 

5 the program in reducing the backlog of 

6 unanalyzed DNA evidence in sexual assault 

7 cases. 

8 ‘‘(3) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the end of the third fiscal year beginning after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, and once every 3 

11 fiscal years thereafter, the Comptroller General of 

12 the United States shall issue a report on the DNA 

13 Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction 

14 Grant Program describing, by year— 

15 ‘‘(A) the total number of new DNA re16 quests; 

17 ‘‘(B) the total number of cases, items, and 

18 offender and arrestee samples analyzed; 

19 ‘‘(C) the total number of DNA profiles 

20 uploaded to the national DNA index; 

21 ‘‘(D) the total number of matches and in22 vestigations aided by matches made by the na23 tional DNA index; 


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1 ‘‘(E) changes in total laboratory capacity 

2 to conduct DNA analyses as described in sub3 section (a)(3); 

4 ‘‘(F) the number of open DNA cases at 

5 the end of each year and open DNA cases older 

6 than 30 days at the end of the year; 

7 ‘‘(G) the number of sexual assault cases 

8 submitted to the laboratory during the year and 

9 the number of untested sexual assault cases 

10 older than 30 days at the end of the year; 

11 ‘‘(H) whether the National Institute of 

12 Justice has defined DNA Capacity Enhance13 ment and Backlog Reduction program-wide 

14 goals in clear, specific, and measurable terms; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(I) whether the Office of Justice Pro17 grams has fully established all appropriate con18 trols related to lobbying.’’; and 

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

20 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 through 2024’’. 

21 SEC. 3. TRAINING AND EDUCATION. 

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

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

24 ‘‘2015 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 through 

25 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAM GRANTS. 

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

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

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

5 2024’’. 

Æ 


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