I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5721 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

require certain reporting on sexual assault kit testing. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 

Ms. MACE (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Ms. 

ADAMS, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. SALINAS, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. 

BALINT, Mr. VAN DREW, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. LEE

of Florida, Mr. DONALDS, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MOYLAN, Mrs. LESKO, 

Ms. LEE of Nevada, Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina, Mr. SMITH of New 

Jersey, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. ZINKE, 

Ms. VAN DUYNE, and Ms. ROSS) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to require certain reporting on sexual assault kit testing. 

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 ‘‘Rape Kit Backlog 

5 Progress Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) A sexual assault kit includes a sexual as2 sault forensic exam meaning an examination pro3 vided to a sexual assault patient by a health care 

4 provider, who has specialized education and clinical 

5 experience in the collection of forensic evidence and 

6 treatment of these patients, which includes— 

7 (A) gathering information from the patient 

8 for the medical forensic history; 

9 (B) an examination; 

10 (C) coordinating treatment of injuries, doc11 umentation of biological and physical findings, 

12 and collection of evidence from the patient; 

13 (D) documentation of findings; 

14 (E) providing information, treatment, and 

15 referrals for sexually transmitted infections, 

16 pregnancy, suicidal ideation, alcohol and sub17 stance abuse, and other non-acute medical con18 cerns; and 

19 (F) providing follow-up as needed to pro20 vide additional healing, treatment, or collection 

21 of evidence. 

22 (2) A sexual assault kit is an important forensic 

23 tool used by law enforcement and prosecutors to in24 vestigate and prosecute sexual assault and other 

25 crimes. 


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1 (3) It is estimated that there are currently well 

2 over 100,000 untested sexual assault kits in Amer3 ica, but the exact number is not known. 

4 (4) Untested sexual assault kits means that 

5 there are sexual assaults unprosecuted, sexual as6 saults occurring that could have been prevented, and 

7 a delay in uploading DNA to Combined DNA Index 

8 System (commonly known as ‘‘CODIS’’) that can as9 sist law enforcement in solving other violent crimes. 

10 SEC. 3. REPORT TO ATTORNEY GENERAL REQUIRED ON 

11 SEXUAL ASSAULT KIT TESTING. 

12 Section 502 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

13 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10153) is amended— 

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

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(7) A report indicating whether— 

17 ‘‘(A) the State or unit of local government 

18 has conducted a comprehensive sexual assault 

19 kit inventory, commonly known as a ‘backlog 

20 inventory’, to identify the physical location, un21 tested or tested status (or full sexual assault kit 

22 status, if available), and any individual test kit 

23 identification or tracking information of each 

24 sexual assault kit in the possession of such 

25 State or unit of local government, or that has 


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1 been otherwise transmitted by a State or unit 

2 of local government to a third party, such as 

3 for testing, storing, processing, or handling; 

4 ‘‘(B) with respect to each sexual assault 

5 kit, that the victim has consented to have col6 lected, the State or unit of local government 

7 has submitted each such sexual assault kit to a 

8 laboratory for DNA analysis; 

9 ‘‘(C) results of any such DNA analysis 

10 were uploaded to the Combined DNA Index 

11 System; 

12 ‘‘(D) the State or unit of local government 

13 has established an electronic tracking system 

14 for a victim to identify the physical location of 

15 their sexual assault kit and the results of any 

16 DNA analysis that was performed; 

17 ‘‘(E) the State or unit of local government 

18 has established a victim notification protocol for 

19 informing a victim of the status of their sexual 

20 assault kit, including where their sexual assault 

21 kit was analyzed; 

22 ‘‘(F) the State or unit of local government 

23 has in place a comprehensive sexual assault kit 

24 inventory system to identify sexual assault kit 

25 status, physical location, and any test kit idenVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 Sep 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5721.IH H5721

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1 tification or tracking information of each sexual 

2 assault kit in the possession of such State or 

3 unit of local government, or otherwise trans4 mitted by a State or unit of local government 

5 to a third party, such as for testing, storing, 

6 processing, or handling; and 

7 ‘‘(G) the information in any comprehensive 

8 sexual assault kit inventory system described in 

9 subparagraph (F) is updated, and how and 

10 when it is updated.’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

13 Between the receipt of a grant application and deciding 

14 on such application, the Attorney General shall deter15 mine— 

16 ‘‘(1) if the State or unit of local government 

17 has completed the conduct described under sub18 section (a)(7); and 

19 ‘‘(2) if such conduct has not been completed, 

20 the reason that it has not been completed. 

21 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY.—A State or unit or local govern22 ment shall only be eligible for a grant under this subpart 

23 if the Attorney General determines such State or unit of 

24 local government has completed the conduct described 

25 under subsection (a)(7). 


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1 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.—A 

2 State or unit of local government that has been awarded 

3 a grant under this subpart as of the date of the enactment 

4 of the ‘Rape Kit Backlog Progress Act of 2023’ shall have 

5 one calendar year from such date of enactment to com6 plete the conduct described in subsection (a)(7) or such 

7 State or unit of local government shall become ineligible 

8 for a grant under this subpart. 

9 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) SEXUAL ASSAULT KIT.—The term ‘sexual 

11 assault kit’ means evidence gathered by a medical 

12 professional from a victim following a sexual assault, 

13 which evidence may— 

14 ‘‘(A) include swabs, test tubes, microscopic 

15 slides, and evidence collection envelopes, for 

16 hairs and fibers; and 

17 ‘‘(B) vary in accordance with the cir18 cumstances of the sexual assault and with any 

19 applicable rules or procedures of the jurisdic20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(2) SEXUAL ASSAULT KIT STATUS.—The term 

22 ‘sexual assault kit status’ means whether an indi23 vidual sexual assault kit is— 

24 ‘‘(A) collected and untested; 

25 ‘‘(B) collected and tested; 


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1 ‘‘(C) lost or missing, expired or spoiled; or 

2 ‘‘(D) tested and results reported to the vic3 tim, proper authorities, and the Combined DNA 

4 Index System.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. ATTORNEY GENERAL PUBLIC REPORT ON RAPE KIT 

6 BACKLOGS. 

7 Subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

8 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 

9 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 510. ATTORNEY GENERAL PUBLIC REPORT ON RAPE 

11 KIT BACKLOGS. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than two 

13 years after the date of the enactment of the ‘Rape Kit 

14 Backlog Progress Act of 2023’, and annually thereafter, 

15 the Attorney General shall make publicly available on the 

16 internet website of the Department of Justice a report, 

17 including— 

18 ‘‘(1) each report on the conduct described 

19 under section 502(a)(7) received from an applicant 

20 for a grant under this subpart; 

21 ‘‘(2) an aggregate analysis of the reports de22 scribed under paragraph (1); 

23 ‘‘(3) if an applicant for a grant under this sub24 part has been awarded a grant; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) if an applicant for a grant under this sub2 part completed the conduct described under section 

3 502(a)(7) and if it has not completed the conduct 

4 described under such subsection, the reason that the 

5 conduct has not been completed. 

6 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE

7 INFORMATION.—Any information published by the Attor8 ney General pursuant to this section may not contain the 

9 personally identifiable information of a victim and if such 

10 information was erroneously published, it shall be removed 

11 from the website of the Department of Justice imme12 diately upon discovery.’’. 

Æ 


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