II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5498 

To establish a grant program for certain State and local forensic activities, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 12, 2024 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program for certain State and local 

forensic activities, 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 ‘‘Carla Walker Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO IMPROVE FORENSIC ACTIVITIES. 

6 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

7 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART PP—GRANTS TO IMPROVE FORENSIC 

2 ACTIVITIES 

3 ‘‘SEC. 3061. DEFINITIONS. 

4 ‘‘In this part: 

5 ‘‘(1) FORENSIC ANALYSIS.—The term ‘forensic 

6 analysis’ means an expert examination or test— 

7 ‘‘(A) required by a law enforcement agen8 cy, a prosecutor, a criminal suspect or defend9 ant, or a relevant court; and 

10 ‘‘(B) performed on physical evidence, in11 cluding DNA evidence, for the purpose of deter12 mining the connection of the evidence to a 

13 criminal act. 

14 ‘‘(2) FORENSIC LABORATORY.—The term ‘fo15 rensic laboratory’ means a facility, entity, or site ac16 credited or pursuing accreditation as described in 

17 section 3062(d)(1)(C)(iii) that— 

18 ‘‘(A) offers or performs forensic analysis; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(B) follows relevant chain of custody re21 quirements for authentication by an appropriate 

22 court. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 3062. DNA ANALYSIS GRANTS. 

24 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 

25 the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

26 ‘‘(1) a State; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a Tribal or local law enforcement agency; 

2 ‘‘(3) a prosecutor’s office with a forensic labora3 tory capability; 

4 ‘‘(4) a medical examiner’s office; and 

5 ‘‘(5) a coroner’s office. 

6 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.—The Attorney 

7 General may award a competitive grant to an eligible enti8 ty for the purpose of using any technology used in a foren9 sic laboratory— 

10 ‘‘(1) in order to conduct whole genome sequenc11 ing technology to assess at least 100,000 genetic 

12 markers ; and 

13 ‘‘(2) that is compatible with multiple genea14 logical databases permitted to be used by law en15 forcement agencies under this part to generate in16 vestigative leads for criminal investigations or un17 identified human remains. 

18 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking a 

19 grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney Gen20 eral an application at such time and in such form as the 

21 Attorney General may require. 

22 ‘‘(d) USE OF GRANT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re24 ceives a grant under this section shall use amounts 

25 from the grant for any of the following activities: 


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1 ‘‘(A) To carry out DNA analyses of sam2 ples collected under applicable legal authority 

3 using the technology described in subsection (b) 

4 if the submission of such samples to the Com5 bined DNA Index System has failed to produce 

6 investigative leads. 

7 ‘‘(B) To carry out DNA analyses of un8 identified human remains reasonably believed 

9 by investigators to be the remains of a sus10 pected homicide victim using the technology de11 scribed in subsection (b) if submission of such 

12 samples to the Combined DNA Index System 

13 has failed to provide an identity. 

14 ‘‘(C) To outsource an activity described in 

15 subparagraph (A) or (B) for the use of tech16 nology described in subsection (b) and search17 ing to— 

18 ‘‘(i) an accredited publicly funded fo19 rensic laboratory; 

20 ‘‘(ii) an accredited nongovernmental 

21 forensic laboratory; or 

22 ‘‘(iii) a nongovernmental forensic lab23 oratory that attests to the Attorney Gen24 eral, in a manner that is legally binding 

25 and enforceable, that the nongovernmental 


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1 forensic laboratory will prepare and apply 

2 for such accreditation not later than 2 

3 years after the date on which the non4 governmental laboratory first receives a re5 quest for analysis from an eligible entity 

6 receiving a grant under this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) DOJ POLICY.—An activity carried out 

8 using amounts from a grant under this section shall 

9 be carried out consistent with the policy of the De10 partment of Justice entitled ‘Interim Policy on Fo11 rensic Genealogical DNA Analysis and Searching’ 

12 and dated November 1, 2019, or any successor pol13 icy, including with respect to communication be14 tween custodial Combined DNA Index System lab15 oratories and vendor laboratories. 

16 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

18 appropriated to the Attorney General to carry out 

19 this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

20 through 2028. 

21 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON USE.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts appropriated 

23 to carry out this section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) subject to subparagraph (B), 

2 shall only be made available to carry out 

3 forensic genetic genealogical analysis; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) shall not be made available for 

5 staffing, training, travel, and equipment. 

6 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Attor7 ney General may use not more than 10 percent 

8 of amounts appropriated to carry out this sec9 tion for administrative costs. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 3063. GRANTS TO PURCHASE FORENSIC EQUIPMENT 

11 ENABLED FOR FORENSIC GENETIC GENE12 ALOGY DNA ANALYSIS AND SEARCHING. 

13 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 

14 the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

15 ‘‘(1) a publicly funded and accredited forensic 

16 laboratory; 

17 ‘‘(2) a medical examiner’s office; and 

18 ‘‘(3) a coroner’s office. 

19 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.—The Attorney 

20 General may award a grant to an eligible entity for the 

21 purpose of purchasing equipment to deploy forensic ge22 netic genealogical DNA analysis and searching to generate 

23 investigative leads for criminal investigations or unidenti24 fied human remains. 


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1 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking a 

2 grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney Gen3 eral an application at such time and in such form as the 

4 Attorney General may require. 

5 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

6 a grant under this section shall use amounts from the 

7 grant to purchase forensic equipment, including supplies, 

8 reagents, consumables, and validation expenses, to deploy 

9 forensic genetic genealogy techniques, as defined in the In10 terim Policy on Forensic Genealogical DNA Analysis and 

11 Search of the Department of Justice dated November 1, 

12 2019, or any successor policy, as applicable. 

13 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

15 to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 

16 years 2024 through 2028. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 3064. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

18 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro19 mulgate guidelines, regulations, and procedures to carry 

20 out this part, including guidelines, regulations, and proce21 dures relating to the submission and review of applications 

22 for grants under sections 3062 and 3063. 

23 ‘‘(b) ACCOUNTABILITY.— 

24 ‘‘(1) RECORDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

25 a grant under this part shall maintain such records 


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1 as the Attorney General may require to facilitate an 

2 effective audit relating to the receipt of the grant, 

3 the use of amounts from the grant, outsourcing ac4 tivities, and compliance with section VIII, entitled 

5 ‘Sample and Data Control and Disposition’, of the 

6 Interim Policy on Forensic Genealogical DNA Anal7 ysis and Search of the Department of Justice dated 

8 November 1, 2019, or any successor policy. 

9 ‘‘(2) ACCESS.—For the purpose of conducting 

10 audits and examinations, the Attorney General shall 

11 have access to any book, document, or record of an 

12 eligible entity that receives a grant under this sec13 tion, a State or unit of local government within 

14 which the eligible entity operates, and any entity to 

15 which the eligible entity outsources work using 

16 amounts from the grant if the Attorney General de17 termines that the book, document, or record relates 

18 to— 

19 ‘‘(A) the receipt of the grant; 

20 ‘‘(B) the use of amounts from the grant; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(C) compliance with section VIII, entitled 

23 ‘Sample and Data Control and Disposition’, of 

24 the Interim Policy on Forensic Genealogical 

25 DNA Analysis and Search of the Department of 


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1 Justice dated November 1, 2019, or any suc2 cessor policy. 

3 ‘‘(3) SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT.—In car4 rying out this part, the Attorney General shall com5 ply with part 180 of title 2, Code of Federal Regula6 tions, or any successor regulation. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 3065. REPORTS. 

8 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date on which an 

9 eligible entity receives a grant under section 3062 or 3063, 

10 the eligible entity shall submit to the Attorney General a 

11 report that includes— 

12 ‘‘(1) the amount of funding the eligible entity 

13 receives from the grant each fiscal year; 

14 ‘‘(2) the number of cases for which the eligible 

15 entity performed testing using forensic genealogical 

16 DNA analysis during the previous year; 

17 ‘‘(3) the type of forensic genetic genealogical 

18 DNA testing performed by the eligible entity, includ19 ing— 

20 ‘‘(A) the name of any laboratory to which 

21 the eligible entity outsources the testing; 

22 ‘‘(B) the type of equipment used for the 

23 testing; and 

24 ‘‘(C) the results of the testing, such as 

25 whether the testing resulted in successful victim 


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1 or perpetrator identification or no identification 

2 and the time it took to make the identification; 

3 ‘‘(4) the number of cases in which forensic ge4 netic genealogical DNA analysis— 

5 ‘‘(A) resulted in a searchable profile in a 

6 publicly available genealogy database; 

7 ‘‘(B) generated a victim or perpetrator 

8 identification; 

9 ‘‘(C) did not generate a victim or perpe10 trator identification; and 

11 ‘‘(D) directly resulted in an arrest or vic12 tim identification; and 

13 ‘‘(5) the average number of days it took to 

14 make an identification between the date of sample 

15 submission for forensic genetic genealogical DNA 

16 testing and the date of delivery of test results to the 

17 requesting office or agency.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. DOJ REPORT. 

19 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

20 of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 

21 Forensic Laboratory Needs Working Group of the Na22 tional Institute of Justice, shall submit to Congress a re23 port— 

24 (1) on the awards and practices reported the 

25 Attorney General under section 3064 of title I of the 


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1 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

2 1968, as added by this Act; 

3 (2) on forensic genetic genealogy technologies 

4 and how best to implement forensic genetic gene5 alogy into publicly funded forensic laboratories; and 

6 (3) that includes recommendations for— 

7 (A) implementing forensic investigative ge8 netic genealogy technology, including expected 

9 funding needs; and 

10 (B) necessary regulations for the use of fo11 rensic investigative genetic genealogy tech12 nology. 

Æ 


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