I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3045

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 27, 2000

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

AN ACT

To improve the quality, timeliness, and credibility of forensic

science services for criminal justice purposes, 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 ‘‘Paul Coverdell Na5 tional Forensic Sciences Improvement Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE QUALITY, TIMELINESS, AND

2 CREDIBILITY OF FORENSIC SCIENCE SERV3 ICES FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE PURPOSES.

4 (a) DESCRIPTION OF DRUG CONTROL AND SYSTEM

5 IMPROVEMENT GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 501(b) of title

6 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

7 1968 (42 U.S.C. 375(b)) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (25), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

9 end;

10 (2) in paragraph (26), by striking the period at

11 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

13 ‘‘(27) improving the quality, timeliness, and credi14 bility of forensic science services for criminal justice pur15 poses.’’.

16 (b) STATE APPLICATIONS.—Section 503(a) of title I

17 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

18 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3753(a)) is amended by adding at the

19 end the following:

20 ‘‘(13) If any part of the amount received from a grant

21 under this part is to be used to improve the quality, timeli22 ness, and credibility of forensic science services for crimi23 nal justice purposes, a certification that, as of the date

24 of enactment of this paragraph, the State, or unit of local

25 government within the State, has an established—
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1 ‘‘(A) forensic science laboratory or forensic

2 science laboratory system, that—

3 ‘‘(i) employs 1 or more full-time

4 scientists—

5 ‘‘(I) whose principal duties are the ex6 amination of physical evidence for law en7 forcement agencies in criminal matters;

8 and

9 ‘‘(II) who provide testimony with re10 spect to such physical evidence to the

11 criminal justice system;

12 ‘‘(ii) employs generally accepted practices

13 and procedures, as established by appropriate

14 accrediting organizations; and

15 ‘‘(iii) is accredited by the Laboratory Ac16 creditation Board of the American Society of

17 Crime Laboratory Directors or the National As18 sociation of Medical Examiners, or will use a

19 portion of the grant amount to prepare and

20 apply for such accreditation by not later than 2

21 years after the date on which a grant is initially

22 awarded under this paragraph; or

23 ‘‘(B) medical examiner’s office (as defined by

24 the National Association of Medical Examiners)

25 that—
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1 ‘‘(i) employs generally accepted practices

2 and procedures, as established by appropriate

3 accrediting organizations; and

4 ‘‘(ii) is accredited by the Laboratory Ac5 creditation Board of the American Society of

6 Crime Laboratory Directors or the National As7 sociation of Medical Examiners, or will use a

8 portion of the grant amount to prepare and

9 apply for such accreditation by not later than 2

10 years after the date on which a grant is initially

11 awarded under this paragraph.’’.

12 (c) PAUL COVERDELL FORENSIC SCIENCES IM13 PROVEMENT GRANTS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus

15 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42

16 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

17 end the following:

18 ‘‘PART BB—PAUL COVERDELL FORENSIC

19 SCIENCES IMPROVEMENT GRANTS

20 ‘‘SEC. 2801. GRANT AUTHORIZATION.

21 ‘‘The Attorney General shall award grants to States

22 in accordance with this part.

23 ‘‘SEC. 2802. APPLICATIONS.

24 ‘‘To request a grant under this part, a State shall

25 submit to the Attorney General—
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1 ‘‘(1) a certification that the State has developed

2 a consolidated State plan for forensic science labora3 tories operated by the State or by other units of

4 local government within the State under a program

5 described in section 2804(a), and a specific descrip6 tion of the manner in which the grant will be used

7 to carry out that plan;

8 ‘‘(2) a certification that any forensic science

9 laboratory system, medical examiner’s office, or

10 coroner’s office in the State, including any labora11 tory operated by a unit of local government within

12 the State, that will receive any portion of the grant

13 amount uses generally accepted laboratory practices

14 and procedures, established by accrediting organiza15 tions; and

16 ‘‘(3) a specific description of any new facility to

17 be constructed as part of the program described in

18 paragraph (1), and the estimated costs of that facil19 ity, and a certification that the amount of the grant

20 used for the costs of the facility will not exceed the

21 limitations set forth in section 2804(c).

22 ‘‘SEC. 2803. ALLOCATION.

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

24 ‘‘(1) POPULATION ALLOCATION.—Seventy-five

25 percent of the amount made available to carry out
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1 this part in each fiscal year shall be allocated to

2 each State that meets the requirements of section

3 2802 so that each State shall receive an amount

4 that bears the same ratio to the 75 percent of the

5 total amount made available to carry out this part

6 for that fiscal year as the population of the State

7 bears to the population of all States.

8 ‘‘(2) DISCRETIONARY ALLOCATION.—Twenty9 five percent of the amount made available to carry

10 out this part in each fiscal year shall be allocated

11 pursuant to the Attorney General’s discretion to

12 States with above average rates of part 1 violent

13 crimes based on the average annual number of part

14 1 violent crimes reported by such State to the Fed15 eral Bureau of Investigation for the 3 most recent

16 calendar years for which such data is available.

17 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—Each State

18 shall receive not less than 0.6 percent of the amount

19 made available to carry out this part in each fiscal

20 year.

21 ‘‘(4) PROPORTIONAL REDUCTION.—If the

22 amounts available to carry out this part in each fis23 cal year are insufficient to pay in full the total pay24 ment that any State is otherwise eligible to receive

25 under paragraph (3), then the Attorney General
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1 shall reduce payments under paragraph (1) for such

2 payment period to the extent of such insufficiency.

3 Reductions under the preceding sentence shall be al4 located among the States (other than States whose

5 payment is determined under paragraph (3)) in the

6 same proportions as amounts would be allocated

7 under paragraph (1) without regard to paragraph

8 (3).

9 ‘‘(b) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term

10 ‘State’ means each of the several States, the District of

11 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin

12 Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth

13 of the Northern Mariana Islands, except that—

14 ‘‘(1) for purposes of the allocation under this

15 section, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of

16 the Northern Mariana Islands shall be considered as

17 1 State; and

18 ‘‘(2) for purposes of paragraph (1), 67 percent

19 of the amount allocated shall be allocated to Amer20 ican Samoa, and 33 percent shall be allocated to the

21 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

22 ‘‘SEC. 2804. USE OF GRANTS.

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a grant

24 under this part shall use the grant to carry out all or a

25 substantial part of a program intended to improve the
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1 quality and timeliness of forensic science or medical exam2 iner services in the State, including such services provided

3 by the laboratories operated by the State and those oper4 ated by units of local government within the State.

5 ‘‘(b) PERMITTED CATEGORIES OF FUNDING.—Sub6 ject to subsections (c) and (d), a grant awarded under this

7 part—

8 ‘‘(1) may only be used for program expenses re9 lating to facilities, personnel, computerization, equip10 ment, supplies, accreditation and certification, edu11 cation, and training; and

12 ‘‘(2) may not be used for any general law en13 forcement or nonforensic investigatory function.

14 ‘‘(c) FACILITIES COSTS.—

15 ‘‘(1) STATES RECEIVING MINIMUM GRANT

16 AMOUNT.—With respect to a State that receives a

17 grant under this part in an amount that does not

18 exceed 0.6 percent of the total amount made avail19 able to carry out this part for a fiscal year, not more

20 than 80 percent of the total amount of the grant

21 may be used for the costs of any new facility con22 structed as part of a program described in sub23 section (a).

24 ‘‘(2) OTHER STATES.—With respect to a State

25 that receives a grant under this part in an amount
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1 that exceeds 0.6 percent of the total amount made

2 available to carry out this part for a fiscal year—

3 ‘‘(A) not more than 80 percent of the

4 amount of the grant up to that 0.6 percent may

5 be used for the costs of any new facility con6 structed as part of a program described in sub7 section (a); and

8 ‘‘(B) not more than 40 percent of the

9 amount of the grant in excess of that 0.6 per10 cent may be used for the costs of any new facil11 ity constructed as part of a program described

12 in subsection (a).

13 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 10

14 percent of the total amount of a grant awarded under this

15 part may be used for administrative expenses.

16 ‘‘SEC. 2805. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

17 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro18 mulgate such guidelines, regulations, and procedures as

19 may be necessary to carry out this part, including guide20 lines, regulations, and procedures relating to the submis21 sion and review of applications for grants under section

22 2802.

23 ‘‘(b) EXPENDITURE RECORDS.—

24 ‘‘(1) RECORDS.—Each State, or unit of local

25 government within the State, that receives a grant
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1 under this part shall maintain such records as the

2 Attorney General may require to facilitate an effec3 tive audit relating to the receipt of the grant, or the

4 use of the grant amount.

5 ‘‘(2) ACCESS.—The Attorney General and the

6 Comptroller General of the United States, or a des7 ignee thereof, shall have access, for the purpose of

8 audit and examination, to any book, document, or

9 record of a State, or unit of local government within

10 the State, that receives a grant under this part, if,

11 in the determination of the Attorney General, Comp12 troller General, or designee thereof, the book, docu13 ment, or record is related to the receipt of the grant,

14 or the use of the grant amount.

15 ‘‘SEC. 2806. REPORTS.

16 ‘‘(a) REPORTS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—For each

17 fiscal year for which a grant is awarded under this part,

18 each State that receives such a grant shall submit to the

19 Attorney General a report, at such time and in such man20 ner as the Attorney General may reasonably require,

21 which report shall include—

22 ‘‘(1) a summary and assessment of the program

23 carried out with the grant;

24 ‘‘(2) the average number of days between sub25 mission of a sample to a forensic science laboratory
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1 or forensic science laboratory system in that State

2 operated by the State or by a unit of local govern3 ment and the delivery of test results to the request4 ing office or agency; and

5 ‘‘(3) such other information as the Attorney

6 General may require.

7 ‘‘(b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90

8 days after the last day of each fiscal year for which 1 or

9 more grants are awarded under this part, the Attorney

10 General shall submit to the Speaker of the House of Rep11 resentatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate,

12 a report, which shall include—

13 ‘‘(1) the aggregate amount of grants awarded

14 under this part for that fiscal year; and

15 ‘‘(2) a summary of the information provided

16 under subsection (a).’’.

17 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 1001(a) of title

19 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe

20 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3753(a)) is

21 amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(24) There are authorized to be appropriated

23 to carry out part BB, to remain available until

24 expended—

25 ‘‘(A) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;
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1 ‘‘(B) $85,400,000 for fiscal year 2002;

2 ‘‘(C) $134,733,000 for fiscal year 2003;

3 ‘‘(D) $128,067,000 for fiscal year 2004;

4 ‘‘(E) $56,733,000 for fiscal year 2005; and

5 ‘‘(F) $42,067,000 for fiscal year 2006.’’.

6 (B) BACKLOG ELIMINATION.—There is au7 thorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fis8 cal year 2001 for the elimination of DNA con9 victed offender database sample backlogs and

10 for other related purposes, as provided in the

11 Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State,

12 the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropria13 tions Act, 2001.

14 (3) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—Title I of the Om15 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968

16 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by striking the

17 table of contents.

18 (4) REPEAL OF 20 PERCENT FLOOR FOR CITA

19 CRIME LAB GRANTS.—Section 102(e)(2) of the

20 Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 (42

21 U.S.C. 14601(e)(2)) is amended—

22 (A) in subparagraph (B), by adding ‘‘and’’

23 at the end; and
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1 (B) by striking subparagraph (C) and re2 designating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph

3 (C).

4 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION REGARDING CERTAIN CLAIMS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 983(a)(2)(C)(ii) of title

6 18, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘(and pro7 vide customary documentary evidence of such interest if

8 available) and state that the claim is not frivolous’’.

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

10 this section shall take effect as if included in the amend11 ment made by section 2(a) of Public Law 106–185.

12 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE OBLIGATION

13 OF GRANTEE STATES TO ENSURE ACCESS TO

14 POST-CONVICTION DNA TESTING AND COM15 PETENT COUNSEL IN CAPITAL CASES.

16 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

17 (1) over the past decade, deoxyribonucleic acid

18 testing (referred to in this section as ‘‘DNA test19 ing’’) has emerged as the most reliable forensic tech20 nique for identifying criminals when biological mate21 rial is left at a crime scene;

22 (2) because of its scientific precision, DNA test23 ing can, in some cases, conclusively establish the

24 guilt or innocence of a criminal defendant;
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1 (3) in other cases, DNA testing may not con2 clusively establish guilt or innocence, but may have

3 significant probative value to a finder of fact;

4 (4) DNA testing was not widely available in

5 cases tried prior to 1994;

6 (5) new forensic DNA testing procedures have

7 made it possible to get results from minute samples

8 that could not previously be tested, and to obtain

9 more informative and accurate results than earlier

10 forms of forensic DNA testing could produce, result11 ing in some cases of convicted inmates being exoner12 ated by new DNA tests after earlier tests had failed

13 to produce definitive results;

14 (6) DNA testing can and has resulted in the

15 post-conviction exoneration of more than 75 inno16 cent men and women, including some under sentence

17 of death;

18 (7) in more than a dozen cases, post-conviction

19 DNA testing that has exonerated an innocent person

20 has also enhanced public safety by providing evi21 dence that led to the apprehension of the actual per22 petrator;

23 (8) experience has shown that it is not unduly

24 burdensome to make DNA testing available to in25 mates in appropriate cases;
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1 (9) under current Federal and State law, it is

2 difficult to obtain post-conviction DNA testing be3 cause of time limits on introducing newly discovered

4 evidence;

5 (10) the National Commission on the Future of

6 DNA Evidence, a Federal panel established by the

7 Department of Justice and comprised of law en8 forcement, judicial, and scientific experts, has urged

9 that post-conviction DNA testing be permitted in the

10 relatively small number of cases in which it is appro11 priate, notwithstanding procedural rules that could

12 be invoked to preclude such testing, and notwith13 standing the inability of an inmate to pay for the

14 testing;

15 (11) only a few States have adopted post-con16 viction DNA testing procedures;

17 (12) States have received millions of dollars in

18 DNA-related grants, and more funding is needed to

19 improve State forensic facilities and to reduce the

20 nationwide backlog of DNA samples from convicted

21 offenders and crime scenes that need to be tested or

22 retested using upgraded methods;

23 (13) States that accept such financial assist24 ance should not deny the promise of truth and jus-
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1 tice for both sides of our adversarial system that

2 DNA testing offers;

3 (14) post-conviction DNA testing and other

4 post-conviction investigative techniques have shown

5 that innocent people have been sentenced to death in

6 this country;

7 (15) a constitutional error in capital cases is in8 competent defense lawyers who fail to present impor9 tant evidence that the defendant may have been in10 nocent or does not deserve to be sentenced to death;

11 and

12 (16) providing quality representation to defend13 ants facing loss of liberty or life is essential to fun14 damental due process and the speedy final resolution

15 of judicial proceedings.

16 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that—

18 (1) Congress should condition forensic science19 related grants to a State or State forensic facility on

20 the State’s agreement to ensure post-conviction

21 DNA testing in appropriate cases; and

22 (2) Congress should work with the States to im23 prove the quality of legal representation in capital

24 cases through the establishment of standards that

25 will assure the timely appointment of competent
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1 counsel with adequate resources to represent defend2 ants in capital cases at each stage of the pro3 ceedings.

Passed the Senate October 26 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.