II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1391

To establish a grant program for Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 3, 2001

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. DEWINE) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To establish a grant program for Sexual Assault Forensic

Examiners, 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 ‘‘SAFE Grant Act of

5 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Over 300,000 women are sexually assaulted

9 each year in the United States. Unlike all other vio10 lent crimes, rape is not declining in frequency.
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1 (2) Most victims of sexual assault who seek

2 treatment for an attack report to hospital emergency

3 rooms.

4 (3) Since most sexual assault victims do not re5 quire immediate medical attention, many wait hours

6 before receiving treatment from nurses or other

7 medical professionals. Some sexual assault victims

8 leave the hospital altogether rather than endure ex9 tended waits, diminishing the likelihood that the of10 fense will ever be reported, investigated, or pros11 ecuted.

12 (4) Most emergency room personnel who treat

13 sexual assault victims lack training in collecting crit14 ical forensic evidence and providing the physical and

15 psychological care particularly required by sexual as16 sault victims.

17 (5) Many hospitals lack the best and most re18 cent forensic tools, such as dye capable of revealing

19 microscopic scratches, and colposcopes, which detect

20 and photograph otherwise invisible pelvic injuries.

21 (6) Some emergency room personnel avoid

22 treating sexual assault victims for fear of having to

23 participate in time-consuming witness preparation

24 and court appearances, or decline to devote time and
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1 attention to cooperating with investigators and pros2 ecutors.

3 (7) By contrast, sexual assault victims treated

4 by Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (referred to

5 in this Act as ‘‘SAFEs’’) under the Sexual Assault

6 Forensic Examiner program (referred to in this Act

7 as the ‘‘SAFE program’’)—

8 (A) rarely wait for treatment;

9 (B) are attended to by a single, specially

10 trained examiner rather than multiple doctors,

11 nurses, lab technicians, and administrative as12 sistants; and

13 (C) receive sensitive care tailored specifi14 cally for sexual assault victims and delivered in

15 a private setting.

16 (8) SAFEs are far better able to document sex17 ual assault than nonspecialized emergency room per18 sonnel because they are primarily focused on col19 lecting evidence of sexual assault from victims, have

20 extensive training in the latest forensic techniques,

21 and use the best and most recent equipment.

22 (9) SAFEs bolster the odds of prosecuting and

23 convicting sexual assailants by gathering invaluable

24 evidence and ensuring its proper preservation, and

25 cooperating extensively with police and prosecutors.
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1 Because of their specialized training and experience,

2 SAFEs make better witnesses than ordinary emer3 gency room personnel and can make the difference

4 between success or failure at trial.

5 (10) There are approximately 500 SAFE pro6 grams in the United States, which treat less than 5

7 percent of all sexual assault victims.

8 (11) Financial obstacles have slowed the growth

9 of SAFE programs which struggle to obtain the

10 Federal, State, and private funding necessary to es11 tablish and maintain service.

12 (12) Currently, SAFE programs are forced to

13 compete against a myriad of other law enforcement

14 and victims’ programs to obtain limited Federal

15 funding from existing sources.

16 (13) Establishing a specific and adequate

17 source of Federal funding for SAFE programs will

18 contribute to their proliferation and thereby aid in

19 the successful prosecution of offenders and the im20 provement of care provided to victims.

21 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—The At23 torney General shall establish a program to award and dis24 burse annual grants to SAFE programs.
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1 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH NATIONAL PROTOCOL.—To

2 receive a grant under this section, a proposed or existing

3 SAFE program shall be in compliance with the standards

4 and recommended national protocol developed by the At5 torney General pursuant to section 1405 of the Victims

6 of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (42

7 U.S.C. 3796gg note).

8 (c) APPLICATION.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each proposed or existing

10 SAFE program that desires a grant under this sec11 tion shall submit an application to the Attorney

12 General at such time, and in such manner, as the

13 Attorney General shall reasonably require.

14 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

15 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include information

16 regarding—

17 (A) the size of the population or estimated

18 population to be served by the proposed or ex19 isting SAFE program; and

20 (B) if the SAFE program exists at the

21 time the applicant submits its application, the

22 effectiveness of that SAFE program.

23 (d) PRIORITY GIVEN TO PROGRAMS IN UNDER24 SERVED AREAS.—In awarding grants under this section,

25 the Attorney General shall give priority to proposed or ex-
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1 isting SAFE programs that are serving, or will serve, pop2 ulations currently underserved by existing SAFE pro3 grams.

4 (e) NONEXCLUSIVITY.—Nothing in this Act shall be

5 construed to limit or restrict the ability of proposed or

6 existing SAFE programs to apply for and obtain Federal

7 funding from any other agency or department, or under

8 any other Federal grant program.

9 (f) AUDITS.—The Attorney General shall audit re10 cipients of grants awarded and disbursed under this sec11 tion to ensure—

12 (1) compliance with the standards and rec13 ommended national protocol developed by the Attor14 ney General pursuant to section 1405 of the Victims

15 of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000

16 (42 U.S.C. 3796gg note);

17 (2) compliance with other applicable Federal

18 laws; and

19 (3) overall program effectiveness.

20 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

21 are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of

22 Justice $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through

23 2006 for grants under this section.

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