I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 354 

To amend the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to provide 

for Debbie Smith grants for auditing sexual assault evidence backlogs 

and to establish a Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting System, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2013 

Mr. POE of Texas (for himself and Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 

2000 to provide for Debbie Smith grants for auditing 

sexual assault evidence backlogs and to establish a Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting System, 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 ‘‘Sexual Assault Foren5 sic Evidence Reporting Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘SAFER Act 

6 of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEBBIE SMITH GRANTS FOR AUDITING SEXUAL AS2 SAULT EVIDENCE BACKLOGS. 

3 Section 2 of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination 

4 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14135) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

6 following new paragraphs: 

7 ‘‘(7) To conduct an audit consistent with sub8 section (n) of the samples of sexual assault evidence 

9 that are in the possession of the State or unit of 

10 local government and are awaiting testing. 

11 ‘‘(8) To ensure that the collection and proc12 essing of DNA evidence by law enforcement agencies 

13 from crimes, including sexual assault and other vio14 lent crimes against persons, is carried out in an ap15 propriate and timely manner and in accordance with 

16 the protocols and practices developed under sub17 section (o)(1).’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

19 following new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION OF GRANT AWARDS FOR AU21 DITS.—For each of fiscal years 2014 through 2017, 

22 not less than 5 percent, but not more than 7 per23 cent, of the grant amounts distributed under para24 graph (1) shall, if sufficient applications to justify 

25 such amounts are received by the Attorney General, 

26 be awarded for purposes described in subsection 


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1 (a)(7), provided that none of the funds required to 

2 be distributed under this paragraph shall decrease or 

3 otherwise limit the availability of funds required to 

4 be awarded to States or units of local government 

5 under paragraph (3).’’; and 

6 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub7 sections: 

8 ‘‘(n) USE OF FUNDS FOR AUDITING SEXUAL AS9 SAULT EVIDENCE BACKLOGS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—The Attorney General may 

11 award a grant under this section to a State or unit 

12 of local government for the purpose described in 

13 subsection (a)(7) only if the State or unit of local 

14 government— 

15 ‘‘(A) submits a plan for performing the 

16 audit of samples described in such subsection; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(B) includes in such plan a good-faith es19 timate of the number of such samples. 

20 ‘‘(2) GRANT CONDITIONS.—A State or unit of 

21 local government receiving a grant for the purpose 

22 described in subsection (a)(7)— 

23 ‘‘(A) may not enter into any contract or 

24 agreement with any non-governmental vendor 


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1 laboratory to conduct an audit described in sub2 section (a)(7); and 

3 ‘‘(B) shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) not later than 1 year after receiv5 ing the grant, complete the audit referred 

6 to in paragraph (1)(A) in accordance with 

7 the plan submitted under such paragraph; 

8 ‘‘(ii) not later than 60 days after re9 ceiving possession of a sample of sexual as10 sault evidence that was not in the posses11 sion of the State or unit of local govern12 ment at the time of the initiation of an 

13 audit under paragraph (1)(A), subject to 

14 paragraph (4)(F), include in any required 

15 reports under clause (v), the information 

16 listed under paragraph (4)(B); 

17 ‘‘(iii) for each sample of sexual as18 sault evidence that is identified as awaiting 

19 testing as part of the audit referred to in 

20 paragraph (1)(A)— 

21 ‘‘(I) assign a unique numeric or 

22 alphanumeric identifier to each sam23 ple of sexual assault evidence that is 

24 in the possession of the State or unit 


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1 of local government and is awaiting 

2 testing; and 

3 ‘‘(II) identify the date or dates 

4 after which the State or unit of local 

5 government would be barred by any 

6 applicable statutes of limitations from 

7 prosecuting a perpetrator of the sex8 ual assault to which the sample re9 lates; 

10 ‘‘(iv) provide that— 

11 ‘‘(I) the chief law enforcement of12 ficer of the State or unit of local gov13 ernment, respectively, is the individual 

14 responsible for the compliance of the 

15 State or unit of local government, re16 spectively, with the reporting require17 ments described in clause (v); or 

18 ‘‘(II) the designee of such officer 

19 may fulfill the responsibility described 

20 in subclause (I) so long as such des21 ignee is an employee of the State or 

22 unit of local government, respectively, 

23 and is not an employee of any govern24 mental laboratory or non-govern25 mental vendor laboratory; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) comply with all grantee reporting 

2 requirements described in paragraph (4). 

3 ‘‘(3) EXTENSION OF INITIAL DEADLINE.—The 

4 Attorney General may grant an extension of the 

5 deadline under paragraph (2)(B)(i) to a State or 

6 unit of local government that demonstrates that 

7 more time is required for compliance with such para8 graph. 

9 ‘‘(4) SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EVIDENCE

10 REPORTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For not less than 12 

12 months after the completion of an initial count 

13 of sexual assault evidence that is awaiting test14 ing during an audit referred to in paragraph 

15 (1)(A), a State or unit of local government that 

16 receives a grant award under subsection (a)(7) 

17 shall, not less than every 60 days, submit a re18 port to the Department of Justice, on a form 

19 prescribed by the Attorney General, which shall 

20 contain the information required under sub21 paragraph (B). 

22 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORTS.—A report 

23 under this paragraph shall contain the following 

24 information— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the name of the State or unit of 

2 local government filing the report; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the period of dates covered by 

4 the report; 

5 ‘‘(iii) the cumulative total number of 

6 samples of sexual assault evidence that, at 

7 the end of the reporting period— 

8 ‘‘(I) are in the possession of the 

9 State or unit of local government at 

10 the reporting period; 

11 ‘‘(II) are awaiting testing; and 

12 ‘‘(III) the State or unit of local 

13 government has determined should 

14 undergo DNA or other appropriate fo15 rensic analyses; 

16 ‘‘(iv) the cumulative total number of 

17 samples of sexual assault evidence in the 

18 possession of the State or unit of local gov19 ernment that, at the end of the reporting 

20 period, the State or unit of local govern21 ment has determined should not undergo 

22 DNA or other appropriate forensic anal23 yses, provided that the reporting form shall 

24 allow for the State or unit of local govern25 ment, at its sole discretion, to explain the 


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1 reasoning for this determination in some 

2 or all cases; 

3 ‘‘(v) the cumulative total number of 

4 samples of sexual assault evidence in a 

5 total under clause (iii) that have been sub6 mitted to a laboratory for DNA or other 

7 appropriate forensic analyses; 

8 ‘‘(vi) the cumulative total number of 

9 samples of sexual assault evidence identi10 fied by an audit referred to in paragraph 

11 (1)(A) or under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) for 

12 which DNA or other appropriate forensic 

13 analysis has been completed at the end of 

14 the reporting period; 

15 ‘‘(vii) the total number of samples of 

16 sexual assault evidence identified by the 

17 State or unit of local government under 

18 paragraph (2)(B)(ii), since the previous re19 porting period; and 

20 ‘‘(viii) the cumulative total number of 

21 samples of sexual assault evidence de22 scribed under clause (iii) for which the 

23 State or unit of local government will be 

24 barred within 12 months by any applicable 

25 statute of limitations from prosecuting a 


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1 perpetrator of the sexual assault to which 

2 the sample relates. 

3 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION OF REPORTS.—Not 

4 later than 7 days after the submission of a re5 port under this paragraph by a State or unit of 

6 local government, the Attorney General shall, 

7 subject to subparagraph (D), publish and dis8 seminate a facsimile of the full contents of such 

9 report on an appropriate internet website. 

10 ‘‘(D) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR11 MATION.—The Attorney General shall ensure 

12 that any information published and dissemi13 nated as part of a report under this paragraph, 

14 which reports information under this sub15 section, does not include personally identifiable 

16 information or details about a sexual assault 

17 that might lead to the identification of the indi18 viduals involved. 

19 ‘‘(E) OPTIONAL REPORTING.—The Attor20 ney General shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) at the discretion of a State or 

22 unit of local government required to file a 

23 report under subparagraph (A), allow such 

24 State or unit of local government, at their 


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1 sole discretion, to submit such reports on 

2 a more frequent basis; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) make available to all States and 

4 units of local government the reporting 

5 form created pursuant to subparagraph 

6 (A), whether or not they are required to 

7 submit such reports, and allow such States 

8 or units of local government, at their sole 

9 discretion, to submit such reports for pub10 lication. 

11 ‘‘(F) SAMPLES EXEMPT FROM REPORTING

12 REQUIREMENT.—The reporting requirements 

13 described in paragraph (2) shall not apply to a 

14 sample of sexual assault evidence that— 

15 ‘‘(i) is not considered criminal evi16 dence (such as a sample collected anony17 mously from a victim who is unwilling to 

18 make a criminal complaint); or 

19 ‘‘(ii) relates to a sexual assault for 

20 which the prosecution of each perpetrator 

21 is barred by a statute of limitations. 

22 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

23 ‘‘(A) AWAITING TESTING.—The term 

24 ‘awaiting testing’ means, with respect to a sam25 ple of sexual assault evidence, that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the sample has been collected and 

2 is in the possession of a State or unit of 

3 local government; 

4 ‘‘(ii) DNA and other appropriate fo5 rensic analyses have not been performed on 

6 such sample; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) the sample is related to a crimi8 nal case or investigation in which final dis9 position has not yet been reached. 

10 ‘‘(B) FINAL DISPOSITION.—The term ‘final 

11 disposition’ means, with respect to a criminal 

12 case or investigation to which a sample of sex13 ual assault evidence relates— 

14 ‘‘(i) the conviction or acquittal of all 

15 suspected perpetrators of the crime in16 volved; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a determination by the State or 

18 unit of local government in possession of 

19 the sample that the case is unfounded; or 

20 ‘‘(iii) a declaration by the victim of 

21 the crime involved that the act constituting 

22 the basis of the crime was not committed. 

23 ‘‘(C) POSSESSION.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘posses25 sion’, used with respect to possession of a 


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1 sample of sexual assault evidence by a 

2 State or unit of local government, includes 

3 possession by an individual who is acting 

4 as an agent of the State or unit of local 

5 government for the collection of the sam6 ple. 

7 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

8 Nothing in clause (i) shall be construed to 

9 create or amend any Federal rights or 

10 privileges for non-governmental vendor lab11 oratories described in regulations promul12 gated under section 210303 of the DNA 

13 Identification Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 

14 14131). 

15 ‘‘(o) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTOCOLS, TECHNICAL

16 ASSISTANCE, AND DEFINITIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) PROTOCOLS AND PRACTICES.—Not later 

18 than 18 months after the date of enactment of the 

19 SAFER Act of 2013, the Director, in consultation 

20 with Federal, State, and local law enforcement agen21 cies and government laboratories, shall develop and 

22 publish a description of protocols and practices the 

23 Director considers appropriate for the accurate, 

24 timely, and effective collection and processing of 

25 DNA evidence, including protocols and practices speVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:22 Jan 31, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H354.IH H354

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1 cific to sexual assault cases, which shall address ap2 propriate steps in the investigation of cases that 

3 might involve DNA evidence, including— 

4 ‘‘(A) how to determine— 

5 ‘‘(i) which evidence is to be collected 

6 by law enforcement personnel and for7 warded for testing; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the preferred order in which evi9 dence from the same case is to be tested; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(iii) what information to take into 

12 account when establishing the order in 

13 which evidence from different cases is to be 

14 tested; 

15 ‘‘(B) the establishment of a reasonable pe16 riod of time in which evidence is to be for17 warded by emergency response providers, law 

18 enforcement personnel, and prosecutors to a 

19 laboratory for testing; 

20 ‘‘(C) the establishment of reasonable peri21 ods of time in which each stage of analytical 

22 laboratory testing is to be completed; 

23 ‘‘(D) systems to encourage communication 

24 within a State or unit of local government 

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1 forcement personnel, prosecutors, courts, de2 fense counsel, crime laboratory personnel, and 

3 crime victims regarding the status of crime 

4 scene evidence to be tested; and 

5 ‘‘(E) standards for conducting the audit of 

6 the backlog for DNA case work in sexual as7 sault cases required under subsection (n). 

8 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.— 

9 The Director shall make available technical assist10 ance and training to support States and units of 

11 local government in adopting and implementing the 

12 protocols and practices developed under paragraph 

13 (1) on and after the date on which the protocols and 

14 practices are published. 

15 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

16 terms ‘awaiting testing’ and ‘possession’ have the 

17 meanings given those terms in subsection (n).’’. 

18 SEC. 3. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

19 Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal 

20 year for which a grant is made for the purpose described 

21 in section 2(a)(7) of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimi22 nation Act of 2000, as amended by section 2, the Attorney 

23 General shall submit to Congress a report that— 

24 (1) lists the States and units of local govern25 ment that have been awarded such grants and the 


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1 amount of the grant received by each such State or 

2 unit of local government; 

3 (2) states the number of extensions granted by 

4 the Attorney General under section 2(n)(3) of the 

5 DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000, as 

6 added by section 2; and 

7 (3) summarizes the processing status of the 

8 samples of sexual assault evidence identified in Sex9 ual Assault Forensic Evidence Reports established 

10 under section 2(n)(4) of the DNA Analysis Backlog 

11 Elimination Act of 2000, including the number of 

12 samples that have not been tested. 

13 SEC. 4. REDUCING THE RAPE KIT BACKLOG. 

14 Section 2(c)(3) of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimi15 nation Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14135(c)(3)) is amended— 

16 (a) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘2014’’ and in17 serting ‘‘2018’’; and 

18 (b) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) For each of fiscal years 2014 through 

20 2018, not less than 75 percent of the total 

21 grant amounts shall be awarded for a combina22 tion of purposes under paragraphs (1), (2), and 

23 (3) of subsection (a).’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 

2 All grants awarded by the Department of Justice that 

3 are authorized under the SAFER Act of 2013 shall be 

4 subject to the following: 

5 (1) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.—Beginning in fiscal 

6 year 2013, and each fiscal year thereafter, the In7 spector General of the Department of Justice shall 

8 conduct audits of recipients of grants under this Act 

9 to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by 

10 grantees. The Inspector General shall determine the 

11 appropriate number of grantees to be audited each 

12 year. 

13 (2) MANDATORY EXCLUSION.—A recipient of 

14 grant funds under this Act that is found to have an 

15 unresolved audit finding shall not be eligible to re16 ceive grant funds under this Act during the 2 fiscal 

17 years beginning after the 12-month period described 

18 in paragraph (5). 

19 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

20 Act, the Attorney General shall give priority to eligi21 ble entities that, during the 3 fiscal years before 

22 submitting an application for a grant under this Act, 

23 did not have an unresolved audit finding showing a 

24 violation in the terms or conditions of a Department 

25 of Justice grant program. 


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1 (4) REIMBURSEMENT.—If an entity is awarded 

2 grant funds under this Act during the 2-fiscal-year 

3 period in which the entity is barred from receiving 

4 grants under paragraph (2), the Attorney General 

5 shall— 

6 (A) deposit an amount equal to the grant 

7 funds that were improperly awarded to the 

8 grantee into the General Fund of the Treasury; 

9 and 

10 (B) seek to recoup the costs of the repay11 ment to the fund from the grant recipient that 

12 was erroneously awarded grant funds. 

13 (5) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term 

14 ‘‘unresolved audit finding’’ means an audit report 

15 finding in the final audit report of the Inspector 

16 General of the Department of Justice that the 

17 grantee has utilized grant funds for an unauthorized 

18 expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that is not 

19 closed or resolved within a 12-month period begin20 ning on the date when the final audit report is 

21 issued. 

22 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION REQUIRE23 MENTS.— 

24 (A) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

25 section and the grant programs described in 


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1 this Act, the term ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ 

2 means an organization that is described in sec3 tion 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

4 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 

5 501(a) of such Code. 

6 (B) PROHIBITION.—The Attorney General 

7 shall not award a grant under any grant pro8 gram described in this Act to a nonprofit orga9 nization that holds money in offshore accounts 

10 for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax de11 scribed in section 511(a) of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986. 

13 (C) DISCLOSURE.—Each nonprofit organi14 zation that is awarded a grant under a grant 

15 program described in this Act and uses the pro16 cedures prescribed in regulations to create a re17 buttable presumption of reasonableness for the 

18 compensation of its officers, directors, trustees 

19 and key employees, shall disclose to the Attor20 ney General, in the application for the grant, 

21 the process for determining such compensation, 

22 including the independent persons involved in 

23 reviewing and approving such compensation, the 

24 comparability data used, and contemporaneous 

25 substantiation of the deliberation and decision. 


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1 Upon request, the Attorney General shall make 

2 the information disclosed under this subsection 

3 available for public inspection. 

4 (7) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Unless oth5 erwise explicitly provided in authorizing legislation, 

6 not more than 7.5 percent of the amounts author7 ized to be appropriated under this Act may be used 

8 by the Attorney General for salaries and administra9 tive expenses of the Department of Justice. 

10 (8) CONFERENCE EXPENDITURES.— 

11 (A) LIMITATION.—No amounts authorized 

12 to be appropriated to the Department of Justice 

13 under this Act may be used by the Attorney 

14 General or by any individual or organization 

15 awarded discretionary funds through a coopera16 tive agreement under this Act, to host or sup17 port any expenditure for conferences that uses 

18 more than $20,000 in Department funds, un19 less the Deputy Attorney General or the appro20 priate Assistant Attorney General, Director, or 

21 principal deputy as the Deputy Attorney Gen22 eral may designate, provides prior written au23 thorization that the funds may be expended to 

24 host a conference. 


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1 (B) WRITTEN APPROVAL.—Written ap2 proval under subparagraph (A) shall include a 

3 written estimate of all costs associated with the 

4 conference, including the cost of all food and 

5 beverages, audio/visual equipment, honoraria 

6 for speakers, and any entertainment. 

7 (C) REPORT.—The Deputy Attorney Gen8 eral shall submit an annual report to the Com9 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

10 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

11 Representatives on all conference expenditures 

12 approved by operation of this paragraph. 

13 (9) PROHIBITION ON LOBBYING ACTIVITY.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts authorized to 

15 be appropriated under this Act may not be uti16 lized by any grant recipient to— 

17 (i) lobby any representative of the De18 partment of Justice regarding the award of 

19 grant funding; or 

20 (ii) lobby any representative of a Fed21 eral, State, local, or tribal government re22 garding the award of grant funding. 

23 (B) PENALTY.—If the Attorney General 

24 determines that any recipient of a grant under 


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1 this Act has violated subparagraph (A), the At2 torney General shall— 

3 (i) require the grant recipient to repay 

4 the grant in full; and 

5 (ii) prohibit the grant recipient from 

6 receiving another grant under this Act for 

7 not less than 5 years. 

8 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

9 Effective on December 31, 2018, subsections (a)(7) 

10 and (n) of section 2 of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimi11 nation Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14135(a)(7) and (n)) are 

12 repealed. 

Æ 


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