II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4568 

To facilitate the development and distribution of forensic science standards 

by establishing in the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 

Mr. WICKER (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To facilitate the development and distribution of forensic 

science standards by establishing in the National Institute of Standards and Technology the Organization of 

Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Forensic Science Re5 search and Standards Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) In 2009, the National Research Council 

2 published a report entitled ‘‘Strengthening Forensic 

3 Science in the United States: A Path Forward’’, 

4 which provided a roadmap for the future of forensics 

5 research. 

6 (2) The Federal Government, forensic science 

7 community, the research community, and the legal 

8 community have taken steps to move the field of fo9 rensic science forward since the release of this re10 port. 

11 (3) There are still scientific advances to be 

12 made to bring further rigor to the forensic analyses 

13 used in courts across the United States. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON17 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con18 gress’’ means— 

19 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

20 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

21 (B) the Committee on Science, Space, and 

22 Technology of the House of Representatives. 

23 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Fo24 rensic Science Standards Board established under 

25 section 5(b)(1). 


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1 (3) FORENSIC SCIENCE.—The term ‘‘forensic 

2 science’’ refers to the application of scientific or 

3 technical practices to the recognition, collection, 

4 analysis, and interpretation of evidence to establish 

5 opinions, facts, and findings that can be used for 

6 criminal and civil law or regulatory purposes. 

7 (4) FORENSIC SCIENCE COMMUNITY.—The 

8 term ‘‘forensic science community’’ means forensic 

9 science practitioners, agencies, and service providers, 

10 forensic medicolegal death investigators, medical ex11 aminers or coroners, agencies, and service providers, 

12 various scientists, and forensic organizational mem13 bers with applied scientific and technical knowledge 

14 of and proximity to the area of forensic science. 

15 (5) FORENSIC SCIENCE PRACTITIONER.—The 

16 term ‘‘forensic science practitioner’’ means an indi17 vidual who— 

18 (A) applies scientific or technical practices 

19 to the recognition, collection, analysis, or inter20 pretation of evidence for criminal and civil law 

21 or regulatory purposes; and 

22 (B) issues test results, provides reports, or 

23 provides interpretations, conclusions, or opin24 ions through testimony with respect to such evi25 dence. 


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1 (6) ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Organization’’ 

2 means the Organization of Scientific Area Commit3 tees for Forensic Science established under section 

4 5(a)(1). 

5 (7) NONGOVERNMENTAL STANDARDS DEVELOP6 MENT ORGANIZATIONS.—The term ‘‘nongovern7 mental standards development organization’’ means 

8 a standards developing organization as defined in 

9 section 2(e) of Office of Management and Budget 

10 Circular A–119 (relating to Federal participation in 

11 the development and use of voluntary consensus 

12 standards in conformity assessment activities), or 

13 any successor document. 

14 SEC. 4. NATIONAL FORENSIC SCIENCE RESEARCH COORDI15 NATION AND STRATEGY. 

16 (a) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON FORENSIC

17 SCIENCE.— 

18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Of19 fice of Science and Technology Policy shall establish 

20 an interagency working group (referred to in this 

21 section as the ‘‘Working Group’’) for the purpose of 

22 developing a research strategy for forensic science. 

23 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

24 (A) COMPOSITION.—The Working Group 

25 shall be composed of members as follows: 


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1 (i) One or more members selected by 

2 the Director of the National Science Foun3 dation as the Director of the National 

4 Science Foundation considers appropriate. 

5 (ii) One or more members selected by 

6 the Director of the National Institute of 

7 Standards and Technology as the Director 

8 of the National Institute of Standards and 

9 Technology considers appropriate. 

10 (iii) One or more members selected by 

11 the Attorney General as the Attorney Gen12 eral considers appropriate, which shall in13 clude a representative with expertise in 

14 conducting scientific research. 

15 (iv) One or more members selected by 

16 the Director of the Office of Science and 

17 Technology Policy as the Director con18 siders appropriate. 

19 (v) Such additional members from 

20 such other Federal agencies responsible for 

21 conducting forensic science research or 

22 that have expertise in conducting and 

23 funding scientific research as the Director 

24 of the Office of Science and Technology 

25 Policy considers appropriate. 


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1 (B) REQUIREMENT.—Each member of the 

2 Working Group appointed under subparagraph 

3 (A) shall be an employee of the Federal Govern4 ment. 

5 (3) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group 

7 shall select a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson 

8 from among the members of the Working 

9 Group. 

10 (B) TERM.—The terms of the Chairperson 

11 and the Vice Chairperson of the Working Group 

12 shall each be for periods of 2 years. 

13 (C) ROTATING BASIS.—After the initial 

14 terms of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson 

15 of the Working Group, such positions shall be 

16 filled on a rotating basis from the members of 

17 the Working group for successive 2-year terms. 

18 (4) RESEARCH STRATEGY.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

21 not less frequently than once every 2 years 

22 thereafter until the termination of the Working 

23 Group, the Working Group shall publish a re24 search strategy for the Federal Government on 

25 forensic science. 


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1 (B) CONTENTS.—The strategy required by 

2 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

3 (i) Specification of priority areas, in4 cluding specific milestones and objectives 

5 as appropriate, for the short-term and 

6 long-term research necessary— 

7 (I) to enhance the validity and 

8 reliability of forensic science dis9 ciplines, including emerging dis10 ciplines; and 

11 (II) to provide the scientific basis 

12 for the development and updating of 

13 forensic science standards pursuant to 

14 section 5. 

15 (ii) A description of the role of each 

16 relevant Federal agency in supporting the 

17 specific areas of research identified under 

18 clause (i). 

19 (iii) A description of common metrics 

20 and other evaluation criteria that will be 

21 used to assess progress toward achieving 

22 the priorities, milestones, and objectives 

23 identified under clause (i), consistent with 

24 the mission of each Federal agency speci25 fied under clause (ii). 


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1 (iv) Recommendations, if any, for 

2 policies to support the implementation of 

3 the research strategy, including opportuni4 ties for new or expanded interagency col5 laborations. 

6 (v) A description of the options, if 

7 any, for a Federal Government role in 

8 helping to ensure the viability of a non9 governmental standards development orga10 nization for the promulgation of forensic 

11 science standards developed under section 

12 5. 

13 (vi) A description of changes or 

14 progress since the publication of the pre15 vious research strategy. 

16 (5) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In developing 

17 the research strategy under paragraph (4), the 

18 Working Group shall consult with stakeholders, in19 cluding forensic science practitioners, forensic 

20 science working groups within the Office of Justice 

21 Programs of the Department of Justice, the Organi22 zation of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for 

23 Forensic Science of the National Institute of Stand24 ards and Technology, statisticians, criminal justice 

25 stakeholders, and research scientists to ensure that 


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1 the strategy takes into account practical applications 

2 and implementation of the research. 

3 (6) TERMINATION.—The Working Group estab4 lished under paragraph (1) shall terminate on the 

5 date that is 10 years after the date on which such 

6 working group is established. 

7 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Director of the National 

8 Science Foundation, the Director of the National Institute 

9 of Standards and Technology, and the Attorney General, 

10 shall continue to advance the foundation and practice of 

11 forensic science in the United States by— 

12 (1) conducting or supporting research in foren13 sic science, consistent with the Federal research 

14 strategy developed under subsection (a)(3); 

15 (2) building relationships between members of 

16 the forensic science community and researchers at 

17 universities; 

18 (3) encouraging and promoting the education 

19 and training of a diverse group of people to be lead20 ers in the interdisciplinary field of forensic science; 

21 and 

22 (4) broadly disseminating the results of the re23 search conducted or supported under paragraph (1). 


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1 SEC. 5. FACILITATING DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION 

2 OF FORENSIC SCIENCE STANDARDS. 

3 (a) ORGANIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC AREA COMMIT4 TEES FOR FORENSIC SCIENCE.— 

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Com6 merce, acting through the Director of the National 

7 Institute of Standards and Technology, shall estab8 lish in the National Institute of Standards and 

9 Technology an organization to facilitate the develop10 ment of forensic science standards. 

11 (2) DESIGNATION.—The organization estab12 lished under paragraph (1) shall be known as the 

13 ‘‘Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Fo14 rensic Science’’. 

15 (3) COMPOSITION.—The Organization shall be 

16 composed of the following: 

17 (A) The Forensic Science and Standards 

18 Board established under subsection (b). 

19 (B) Each scientific area committee estab20 lished under subsection (c). 

21 (4) DUTIES OF THE ORGANIZATION.—The du22 ties of the Organization are as follows: 

23 (A) Facilitating the development and dis24 tribution of scientifically sound, consensus25 based documentary standards and guidelines for 

26 forensic science, including through formal colVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4568.IS S4568

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1 laboration with nongovernmental standards de2 velopment organizations. 

3 (B) Establishing a registry of scientifically 

4 sound forensic science standards and guidelines 

5 approved and endorsed by the Organization. 

6 (C) Establish a process for regularly re7 evaluating existing standards and guidelines 

8 published for placement on the registry estab9 lished under subparagraph (B). 

10 (D) Promoting the adoption of the stand11 ards and guidelines described in subparagraph 

12 (A) by the forensic science community and as 

13 included in the registry established under sub14 paragraph (B). 

15 (b) FORENSIC SCIENCE STANDARDS BOARD.— 

16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

17 through the Director, shall establish in the Organi18 zation a board to oversee the operations of the Orga19 nization and its committees. 

20 (2) DESIGNATION.—The board established 

21 under paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘Foren22 sic Science Standards Board’’. 

23 (3) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com24 posed of the following: 


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1 (A) Members selected by the Secretary to 

2 serve on the Board from among— 

3 (i) members of the forensic science 

4 community; 

5 (ii) scientists and engineers with rel6 evant expertise at institutions of higher 

7 education and other nonprofit research or8 ganizations; 

9 (iii) statisticians; 

10 (iv) a representative of each of the 

11 task groups established under subsection 

12 (d), as the Secretary considers appropriate; 

13 and 

14 (v) such other communities or sectors 

15 as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

16 (B) The chairpersons of the scientific area 

17 committees established under subsection (c). 

18 (4) DUTIES.—The duties of the Board are as 

19 follows: 

20 (A) Overseeing all operations of the Orga21 nization, including the committees of the Orga22 nization. 

23 (B) Establishing governance rules and 

24 policies for the Organization. 


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1 (C) Facilitating communication within the 

2 Organization and between the Organization, the 

3 criminal justice community, and the forensic 

4 science community. 

5 (D) Overseeing the reviewing and approv6 ing process of standards to be added to the reg7 istry established under subsection (a)(4)(B). 

8 (5) AUTHORITY TO APPROVE STANDARDS FOR

9 LISTING IN REGISTRY OF FORENSIC SCIENCE STAND10 ARDS AND GUIDELINES.—The Board may approve 

11 standards for listing on the registry established 

12 under subsection (a)(4)(B). 

13 (c) SCIENTIFIC AREA COMMITTEES.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

15 through the Director, shall establish one or more sci16 entific area committees to carry out the work of the 

17 Organization. 

18 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

19 (A) COMPOSITION.—Each scientific area 

20 committee established under paragraph (1) 

21 shall be composed of the following: 

22 (i) The chairperson of the scientific 

23 area committee. 

24 (ii) The vice chairperson of the sci25 entific area committee. 


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1 (iii) Each chairperson of a sub2 committee established in the scientific area 

3 committee under paragraph (3). 

4 (B) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR5 PERSON.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—For each scientific 

7 area committee established under para8 graph (1), the Secretary shall appoint a 

9 chairperson and a vice chairperson for the 

10 scientific area committee from among indi11 viduals with expertise in the subject area 

12 of the scientific area committee. 

13 (ii) SERVICE.—Each chairperson and 

14 vice chairperson appointed under clause (i) 

15 shall serve as a chairperson or vice chair16 person at the pleasure of the Secretary. 

17 (3) SUBCOMMITTEES.— 

18 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may 

19 establish such subcommittees in a scientific 

20 area committee established under paragraph (1) 

21 as the Secretary considers appropriate to assist 

22 in the work of the scientific area committee. 

23 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—Each subcommittee 

24 established under subparagraph (A) shall be 


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1 composed of such members selected by the Sec2 retary from among the following: 

3 (i) Forensic science practitioners. 

4 (ii) Scientists and engineers at institu5 tions of higher education and other non6 profit research organizations. 

7 (iii) Statisticians. 

8 (iv) Representatives of the legal com9 munity. 

10 (v) Such others as the Secretary con11 siders appropriate for purposes of this sec12 tion. 

13 (4) DUTIES.—The duties of a scientific area 

14 committee established under paragraph (1) shall be 

15 as follows: 

16 (A) Coordinating the operation and activi17 ties of specific forensic science discipline sub18 committees in order to encourage communica19 tion across all subject and discipline specific 

20 subcommittees. 

21 (B) Providing opportunity to the public to 

22 engage the forensic science community in mat23 ters relating to priorities, standards, and guide24 lines. 


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1 (C) Covering topics of high importance to 

2 the forensic community, such as matters relat3 ing to the following: 

4 (i) Biology. 

5 (ii) Chemistry, including— 

6 (I) matters relating to seized 

7 drugs and toxicology; and 

8 (II) matters relating to trace evi9 dence. 

10 (iii) Scene examination. 

11 (iv) Medicine. 

12 (v) Digital and multimedia. 

13 (vi) Physics and pattern interpreta14 tion. 

15 (vii) Computational forensic algo16 rithms. 

17 (D) Furthering the development of stand18 ards under subsection (e)(1) and other guide19 lines. 

20 (d) RESOURCE TASK GROUPS.— 

21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

22 through the Board, shall establish legal, human fac23 tors, quality, and statistics task groups to support 

24 and assist the Organization with matters relating to 

25 questions of law, human factors, ethical and social 


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1 implications of technology, workflow processes, qual2 ity assurance, and statistics. 

3 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Secretary, acting 

4 through the Board, shall ensure that each task 

5 group established under paragraph (1) is composed 

6 of voting members of the subcommittees established 

7 under subsection (c)(3) who have relevant expertise. 

8 (3) CHAIRPERSONS.—The Secretary, acting 

9 through the Board, shall appoint a chairperson of 

10 each task group established under paragraph (1). 

11 (e) FORENSIC SCIENCE STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT

12 PROCESS.— 

13 (1) STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—The 

14 Secretary, acting through the Organization, shall im15 plement a process to facilitate the development of 

16 scientifically sound, consensus-based forensic stand17 ards and guidelines, consistent with the duties de18 scribed for each entity established under this section. 

19 (2) TECHNICAL REVIEW.— 

20 (A) PROCESS REQUIRED.—The Secretary 

21 shall establish a process for technical peer re22 view to provide feedback on a draft of a stand23 ard or guideline to a relevant subcommittee of 

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1 mental standards development organization or 

2 submitted for inclusion in a registry of forensic 

3 standards or guidelines. 

4 (B) PARTICIPANTS.—The process estab5 lished under subparagraph (A)— 

6 (i) may include members of the Orga7 nization; and 

8 (ii) shall include additional volunteer 

9 experts from the forensic science commu10 nity and the academic research community. 

11 (3) PUBLIC COMMENT.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

13 provide for public comment on draft standards 

14 prior to inclusion in the registry of forensic 

15 science standards and guidelines established 

16 under subsection (a)(4)(B). 

17 (B) COMMENTS FROM RESEARCH TASK

18 GROUPS.—The Secretary shall ensure that— 

19 (i) each resource task group estab20 lished under subsection (d) may submit, as 

21 a group, comments on draft standards de22 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 

23 (ii) any comments submitted under 

24 clause (i), and any adjudication of such 


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1 comments by the Organization, are made 

2 available to the public. 

3 (4) SUBMISSION TO STANDARDS DEVELOPING

4 ORGANIZATION.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

5 standards proposed by the Organization and ap6 proved for the registry of forensic science standards 

7 and guidelines established under subsection 

8 (a)(4)(B) are submitted to a nongovernmental 

9 standards development organization for review and 

10 formal adoption as standard. 

11 (5) GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through 

12 the Director, shall award grants through a competi13 tive process— 

14 (A) to support activities under paragraph 

15 (3); and 

16 (B) to ensure that the standards approved 

17 for inclusion in the registry of forensic science 

18 standards and guidelines required by subsection 

19 (a)(4)(B) are submitted to a nongovernmental 

20 standards development organization. 

21 (f) FORENSIC STANDARDS FOR AUTHENTICATING

22 DIGITAL EVIDENCE.— 

23 (1) FURTHERING DEVELOPMENT OF STAND24 ARDS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Digital or Multi2 media Subcommittee, or any successor thereto, 

3 shall develop standards for validating or assess4 ing the authenticity of digital content, including 

5 content created by technologies that synthesize 

6 or manipulate digital content such as deepfakes. 

7 (B) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out 

8 subparagraph (A), the subcommittee described 

9 in such subparagraph shall collaborate with the 

10 forensic science community and experts who 

11 study advanced techniques for digital content 

12 manipulation, including those in academia and 

13 government entities such as the Defense Ad14 vanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 

15 (2) RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT.—The Organiza16 tion shall develop and compile resources and mate17 rials for use by the forensic science community in 

18 developing standards to authenticate digital mate19 rials. 

20 (3) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING.—Not later than 

21 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

22 the Secretary, acting through the Director, shall 

23 provide the appropriate committees of Congress a 

24 briefing on the status of efforts undertaken pursuant 

25 to this subsection. 


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1 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026, 

4 of which $1,000,000 shall be available in each of fiscal 

5 years 2021 through 2026 to carry out subsection (e)(4). 

6 SEC. 6. FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH. 

7 The Director shall conduct foundational studies to— 

8 (1) identify and document the technical merit 

9 and validity of select forensic science methods, prac10 tices, and disciplines, including their capabilities, 

11 limitations, and knowledge gaps; and 

12 (2) identify opportunities for advancements in 

13 forensic methods, practices, and disciplines through 

14 additional research and improvements to practice. 

Æ 


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