I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8239 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 

Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) In 2009, the National Research Council 

4 published a report entitled ‘‘Strengthening Forensic 

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

6 which provided a roadmap for the future of forensics 

7 research. 

8 (2) The Federal Government, forensic science 

9 community, the research community, and the legal 

10 community have taken steps to move the field of fo11 rensic science forward since the release of this re12 port. 

13 (3) There are still scientific advances to be 

14 made to bring further rigor to the forensic analyses 

15 used in courts across the United States. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON19 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con20 gress’’ means— 

21 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

22 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

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

24 Technology of the House of Representatives. 


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1 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Fo2 rensic Science Standards Board established under 

3 section 5(b)(1). 

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

5 science’’ refers to the application of scientific or 

6 technical practices to the recognition, collection, 

7 analysis, and interpretation of evidence to establish 

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

9 criminal and civil law or regulatory purposes. 

10 (4) FORENSIC SCIENCE COMMUNITY.—The 

11 term ‘‘forensic science community’’ means forensic 

12 science practitioners, agencies, and service providers, 

13 forensic medicolegal death investigators, medical ex14 aminers or coroners, agencies, and service providers, 

15 various scientists, and forensic organizational mem16 bers with applied scientific and technical knowledge 

17 of and proximity to the area of forensic science. 

18 (5) FORENSIC SCIENCE PRACTITIONER.—The 

19 term ‘‘forensic science practitioner’’ means an indi20 vidual who— 

21 (A) applies scientific or technical practices 

22 to the recognition, collection, analysis, or inter23 pretation of evidence for criminal and civil law 

24 or regulatory purposes; and 


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

2 provides interpretations, conclusions, or opin3 ions through testimony with respect to such evi4 dence. 

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

6 means the Organization of Scientific Area Commit7 tees for Forensic Science established under section 

8 5(a)(1). 

9 (7) NONGOVERNMENTAL STANDARDS DEVELOP10 MENT ORGANIZATIONS.—The term ‘‘nongovern11 mental standards development organization’’ means 

12 a standards developing organization as defined in 

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

14 Circular A–119 (relating to Federal participation in 

15 the development and use of voluntary consensus 

16 standards in conformity assessment activities), or 

17 any successor document. 

18 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Commerce. 

20 SEC. 4. NATIONAL FORENSIC SCIENCE RESEARCH COORDI21 NATION AND STRATEGY. 

22 (a) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON FORENSIC

23 SCIENCE.— 

24 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Of25 fice of Science and Technology Policy shall establish 


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1 an interagency working group (referred to in this 

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

3 coordinating Federal investments relating to, and 

4 developing a research strategy for, forensic science. 

5 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

6 (A) COMPOSITION.—The Working Group 

7 shall be composed of members as follows: 

8 (i) One or more members selected by 

9 the Director of the National Science Foun10 dation as the Director of the National 

11 Science Foundation considers appropriate. 

12 (ii) One or more members selected by 

13 the Director of the National Institute of 

14 Standards and Technology as the Director 

15 of the National Institute of Standards and 

16 Technology considers appropriate. 

17 (iii) One or more members selected by 

18 the Attorney General as the Attorney Gen19 eral considers appropriate, which shall in20 clude a representative with expertise in 

21 conducting scientific research. 

22 (iv) One or more members selected by 

23 the Director of the Office of Science and 

24 Technology Policy as the Director con25 siders appropriate. 


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1 (v) Such additional members from 

2 such other Federal agencies responsible for 

3 conducting forensic science research or 

4 that have expertise in conducting and 

5 funding scientific research as the Director 

6 of the Office of Science and Technology 

7 Policy considers appropriate. 

8 (B) REQUIREMENT.—Each member of the 

9 Working Group appointed under subparagraph 

10 (A) shall be an employee of the Federal Govern11 ment. 

12 (3) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group 

14 shall select a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson 

15 from among the members of the Working 

16 Group. 

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

18 and the Vice Chairperson of the Working Group 

19 shall each be for periods of 2 years. 

20 (C) ROTATING BASIS.—After the initial 

21 terms of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson 

22 of the Working Group, such positions shall be 

23 filled on a rotating basis from the members of 

24 the Working group for successive 2-year terms. 

25 (4) RESEARCH STRATEGY.— 


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

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

3 not less frequently than once every 2 years 

4 thereafter until the termination of the Working 

5 Group, the Working Group shall publish a re6 search strategy for the Federal Government on 

7 forensic science. 

8 (B) CONTENTS.—The strategy required by 

9 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

10 (i) Specification of priority areas, in11 cluding specific milestones and objectives 

12 as appropriate, for the short-term and 

13 long-term research necessary— 

14 (I) to enhance the validity and 

15 reliability of forensic science dis16 ciplines, including emerging dis17 ciplines; and 

18 (II) to provide the scientific basis 

19 for the development and updating of 

20 forensic science standards pursuant to 

21 section 5. 

22 (ii) A description of the role of each 

23 relevant Federal agency in supporting the 

24 specific areas of research identified under 

25 clause (i). 


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1 (iii) A description of common metrics 

2 and other evaluation criteria that will be 

3 used to assess progress toward achieving 

4 the priorities, milestones, and objectives 

5 identified under clause (i), consistent with 

6 the mission of each Federal agency speci7 fied under clause (ii). 

8 (iv) Recommendations, if any, for 

9 policies to support the implementation of 

10 the research strategy, including opportuni11 ties for new or expanded interagency col12 laborations. 

13 (v) A description of the options, if 

14 any, for a Federal Government role in 

15 helping to ensure the viability of a non16 governmental standards development orga17 nization for the promulgation of forensic 

18 science standards developed under section 

19 5. 

20 (vi) A description of changes or 

21 progress since the publication of the pre22 vious research strategy. 

23 (5) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In developing 

24 the research strategy under paragraph (4), the 

25 Working Group shall consult with stakeholders, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:30 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8239.IH H8239

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1 cluding forensic science practitioners, forensic 

2 science working groups within the Office of Justice 

3 Programs of the Department of Justice, the Organi4 zation of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for 

5 Forensic Science of the National Institute of Stand6 ards and Technology, statisticians, criminal justice 

7 stakeholders, and research scientists to ensure that 

8 the strategy takes into account practical applications 

9 and implementation of the research. 

10 (6) TERMINATION.—The Working Group estab11 lished under paragraph (1) shall terminate on the 

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

13 working group is established. 

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

15 Science Foundation, the Director of the National Institute 

16 of Standards and Technology, and the Attorney General, 

17 shall continue to advance the foundation and practice of 

18 forensic science in the United States by— 

19 (1) conducting or supporting research in foren20 sic science, consistent with the Federal research 

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

22 (2) building relationships between members of 

23 the forensic science community and researchers at 

24 universities; 


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1 (3) encouraging and promoting the education 

2 and training of a diverse group of people to be lead3 ers in the interdisciplinary field of forensic science; 

4 and 

5 (4) broadly disseminating the results of the re6 search conducted or supported under paragraph (1). 

7 SEC. 5. FACILITATING DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION 

8 OF FORENSIC SCIENCE STANDARDS. 

9 (a) ORGANIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC AREA COMMIT10 TEES FOR FORENSIC SCIENCE.— 

11 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

12 through the Director of the National Institute of 

13 Standards and Technology (referred to in this sec14 tion as the ‘‘Director’’), shall establish within the 

15 National Institute of Standards and Technology an 

16 organization to facilitate the development of forensic 

17 science standards. 

18 (2) DESIGNATION.—The organization estab19 lished under paragraph (1) shall be known as the 

20 ‘‘Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Fo21 rensic Science’’. 

22 (3) COMPOSITION.—The Organization shall be 

23 composed of the following: 

24 (A) The Forensic Science and Standards 

25 Board established under subsection (b). 


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1 (B) Each scientific area committee estab2 lished under subsection (c). 

3 (4) DUTIES OF THE ORGANIZATION.—The du4 ties of the Organization are as follows: 

5 (A) Facilitate the development and dis6 tribution of scientifically sound, consensus7 based documentary standards and guidelines for 

8 forensic science, including through formal col9 laboration with nongovernmental standards de10 velopment organizations. 

11 (B) Establish a registry of scientifically 

12 sound forensic science standards and guidelines 

13 approved and endorsed by the Organization. 

14 (C) Establish a process for regularly re15 evaluating existing standards and guidelines 

16 published for placement on the registry estab17 lished under subparagraph (B). 

18 (D) Promote the adoption by the forensic 

19 science community of the standards and guide20 lines described in subparagraph (A) and in21 cluded in the registry established under sub22 paragraph (B). 

23 (b) FORENSIC SCIENCE STANDARDS BOARD.— 

24 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

25 through the Director, shall establish within the OrVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:30 Sep 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8239.IH H8239

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1 ganization a board to oversee the operations of the 

2 Organization and its committees. 

3 (2) DESIGNATION.—The board established 

4 under paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘Foren5 sic Science Standards Board’’. 

6 (3) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com7 posed of the following: 

8 (A) Members selected by the Secretary to 

9 serve on the Board from each of the following: 

10 (i) Members of the forensic science 

11 community. 

12 (ii) Scientists and engineers with rel13 evant expertise at institutions of higher 

14 education and other nonprofit research or15 ganizations. 

16 (iii) Statisticians. 

17 (iv) A representative of each of the 

18 task groups established under subsection 

19 (d), as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

20 (v) Such other communities or sectors 

21 as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

22 (B) The chairpersons of the scientific area 

23 committees established under subsection (c). 

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

25 follows: 


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1 (A) Oversee all operations of the Organiza2 tion, including the committees of the Organiza3 tion. 

4 (B) Establish governance rules and policies 

5 for the Organization. 

6 (C) Facilitate communication within the 

7 Organization and between the Organization, the 

8 criminal justice community, and the forensic 

9 science community. 

10 (D) Oversee the reviewing and approving 

11 process of standards to be added to the registry 

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

13 (5) AUTHORITY TO APPROVE STANDARDS FOR

14 LISTING IN REGISTRY OF FORENSIC SCIENCE STAND15 ARDS AND GUIDELINES.—The Board may approve 

16 standards for listing on the registry established 

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

18 (c) SCIENTIFIC AREA COMMITTEES.— 

19 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

20 through the Director, shall establish one or more sci21 entific area committees to carry out the work of the 

22 Organization. 

23 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 (A) COMPOSITION.—Each scientific area 

2 committee established under paragraph (1) 

3 shall be composed of the following: 

4 (i) The chairperson of the scientific 

5 area committee. 

6 (ii) The vice chairperson of the sci7 entific area committee. 

8 (iii) The chairperson of each sub9 committee established under paragraph (3) 

10 for each scientific area committee under 

11 paragraph (1). 

12 (B) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR13 PERSON.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—For each scientific 

15 area committee established under para16 graph (1), the Secretary shall appoint a 

17 chairperson and a vice chairperson for the 

18 scientific area committee from among indi19 viduals with expertise in the subject area 

20 of the scientific area committee. 

21 (ii) SERVICE.—Each chairperson and 

22 vice chairperson appointed under clause (i) 

23 shall serve as a chairperson or vice chair24 person at the pleasure of the Secretary. 

25 (3) SUBCOMMITTEES.— 


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1 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may 

2 establish such subcommittees in a scientific 

3 area committee established under paragraph (1) 

4 as the Secretary considers appropriate to assist 

5 in the work of the scientific area committee. 

6 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—Each subcommittee 

7 established under subparagraph (A) shall be 

8 composed of such members selected by the Sec9 retary from among the following: 

10 (i) Forensic science practitioners. 

11 (ii) Scientists and engineers at institu12 tions of higher education and other non13 profit research organizations. 

14 (iii) Statisticians. 

15 (iv) Representatives of the legal com16 munity. 

17 (v) Such others as the Secretary con18 siders appropriate for purposes of this sec19 tion. 

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

21 committee established under paragraph (1) shall be 

22 as follows: 

23 (A) Coordinate the operation and activities 

24 of specific forensic science discipline subcommit25 tees in order to encourage communication 


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1 across all subject- and discipline-specific sub2 committees. 

3 (B) Provide the public with the oppor4 tunity to engage the forensic science community 

5 in matters relating to priorities, standards, and 

6 guidelines. 

7 (C) Address topics of high importance to 

8 the forensic community, such as matters relat9 ing to the following: 

10 (i) Biology. 

11 (ii) Chemistry, including— 

12 (I) matters relating to seized 

13 drugs and toxicology; and 

14 (II) matters relating to trace evi15 dence. 

16 (iii) Scene examination. 

17 (iv) Medicine. 

18 (v) Digital and multimedia. 

19 (vi) Physics and pattern interpreta20 tion. 

21 (vii) Computational forensic algo22 rithms. 

23 (D) Further the development of standards 

24 under subsection (e)(1) and other guidelines. 

25 (d) RESOURCE TASK GROUPS.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

2 through the Board, shall establish legal, human fac3 tors, quality, and statistics task groups to support 

4 and assist the Organization with matters relating to 

5 questions of law, human factors, ethical and social 

6 implications of technology, workflow processes, qual7 ity assurance, and statistics. 

8 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Secretary, acting 

9 through the Board, shall ensure that each task 

10 group established under paragraph (1) is composed 

11 of voting members of the subcommittees established 

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

13 (3) CHAIRPERSONS.—The Secretary, acting 

14 through the Board, shall appoint a chairperson of 

15 each task group established under paragraph (1). 

16 (e) FORENSIC SCIENCE STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT

17 PROCESS.— 

18 (1) STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—The 

19 Secretary, acting through the Organization, shall im20 plement a process to facilitate the development of 

21 scientifically sound, consensus-based forensic stand22 ards and guidelines, consistent with the duties de23 scribed for each entity established under this section. 

24 (2) TECHNICAL REVIEW.— 


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1 (A) PROCESS REQUIRED.—The Secretary 

2 shall establish a process for technical peer re3 view to provide feedback on a draft of a stand4 ard or guideline to a relevant subcommittee of 

5 a scientific area committee before such stand6 ard or guideline is submitted to a nongovern7 mental standards development organization or 

8 submitted for inclusion in a registry of forensic 

9 standards or guidelines. 

10 (B) PARTICIPANTS.—The process estab11 lished under subparagraph (A)— 

12 (i) may include members of the Orga13 nization; and 

14 (ii) shall include additional volunteer 

15 experts from the forensic science commu16 nity and the academic research community. 

17 (3) PUBLIC COMMENT.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

19 provide for public comment on draft standards 

20 prior to inclusion in the registry of forensic 

21 science standards and guidelines established 

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

23 (B) COMMENTS FROM RESEARCH TASK

24 GROUPS.—The Secretary shall ensure that— 


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1 (i) each resource task group estab2 lished under subsection (d) may submit, as 

3 a group, comments on draft standards de4 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 

5 (ii) any comments submitted under 

6 clause (i), and any adjudication of such 

7 comments by the Organization, are made 

8 available to the public. 

9 (4) SUBMISSION TO STANDARDS DEVELOPING

10 ORGANIZATION.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

11 standards proposed by the Organization and ap12 proved for the registry of forensic science standards 

13 and guidelines established under subsection 

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

15 standards development organization for review and 

16 formal adoption as standards. 

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

18 the Director, shall award grants through a competi19 tive process— 

20 (A) to support activities under paragraph 

21 (3); and 

22 (B) to ensure that the standards approved 

23 for inclusion in the registry of forensic science 

24 standards and guidelines required by subsection 


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

2 standards development organization. 

3 (f) FORENSIC STANDARDS FOR AUTHENTICATING

4 DIGITAL EVIDENCE.— 

5 (1) FURTHERING DEVELOPMENT OF STAND6 ARDS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The subcommittee ad8 dressing digital and multimedia, or any suc9 cessor thereto, shall develop standards for vali10 dating or assessing the authenticity of digital 

11 content, including content created by tech12 nologies that synthesize or manipulate digital 

13 content such as deepfakes. 

14 (B) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out 

15 subparagraph (A), the subcommittee described 

16 in such subparagraph shall collaborate with the 

17 forensic science community and experts who 

18 study advanced techniques for digital content 

19 manipulation, including those in academia and 

20 government entities such as the Defense Ad21 vanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 

22 (2) RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT.—The Organiza23 tion shall develop and compile resources and mate24 rials for use by the forensic science community in 


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1 developing standards to authenticate digital mate2 rials. 

3 (3) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING.—Not later than 

4 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

5 the Secretary, acting through the Director, shall 

6 provide the appropriate committees of Congress a 

7 briefing on the status of efforts undertaken pursuant 

8 to this subsection. 

9 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

11 $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026, 

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

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

14 SEC. 6. FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH. 

15 The Director of the National Institute of Standards 

16 and Technology shall conduct foundational studies to— 

17 (1) identify and document the technical merit 

18 and validity of select forensic science methods, prac19 tices, and disciplines, including their capabilities, 

20 limitations, and knowledge gaps; and 

21 (2) identify opportunities for advancements in 

22 forensic methods, practices, and disciplines through 

23 additional research and improvements to practice. 

Æ 


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