May 25, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE S7489 

It will make a difference in fighting 

terrorism, and it will make a difference 

in fighting all kinds of crime. 

Last year’s crime bill, Mr. President, 

had a major provision that provided 

that very significant amount of money 

to the FBI to develop the national central data base—DNA, fingerprints, 

identification of individuals, ballistics. 

When I traveled Ohio the last few 

months and talked to local law enforcement officers, one of things that 

they told me was that is all well and 

good, but if we cannot access that information, if we cannot get it, if we do 

not have the tools to bring it to law enforcement, it will not do any good. 

Several months ago, I visited the FBI 

and spent a day with them and spent a 

day with their experts in all of these 

different high technical fields. That, I 

found, is what local law enforcement 

had told me the FBI confirmed. That 

is, their fear is that local law enforcement will not have the resources so 

that we all can develop this national 

data base. 

This is a unique role for the Federal 

Government. When we talk, Mr. President, about anticrime bills, antiterrorism bills, we always should first 

focus on what can only the Federal 

Government do. 

I submit, Mr. President, that the evidence is abundantly clear that it is 

only the Federal Government that can 

establish this national base throughout 

the country. Now, why is that? Let us 

pretend that we are the sheriffs in 

Lawrence county, Ohio, or the chief of 

police in Ironton. 

Our ability to use these tools, to use 

these data bases, depends on three 

things. 

Number one, we have to have the 

ability or the resources there, and we 

have to put the information in. We 

have to do a good job. 

Number two, the FBI, of course, has 

to build up a national base, so we can 

access from a national point of view. 

But the third thing that we sometimes miss is that my ability —if I am 

the chief of police or a police officer in 

Ironton—to get information is dependent not only on the local community, 

local police, local sheriff and local FBI, 

but also on tens of thousands of jurisdictions across the country, because we 

live in a very, very mobile society. 

People move around; criminals move 

around. 

So what the Federal Government 

does and what we are doing in this 

bill—and again, I congratulate my colleague from Utah and Senator DOLE

the majority leader, for having the wisdom to listen to local law enforcement, 

to listen to the FBI when they say this 

is what we need, and to set aside a provision of this bill and to take that $500 

million and say it will go down to local 

law enforcement so that we can, as a 

country, develop this national data 

base. It will, in fact, Mr. President, 

make a very substantial difference. 

What are we talking about? What 

practical applicability does all of this 

have? You know, I have said many 

times, Mr. President, that we debate in 

this Congress—in the Senate and in the 

House —on the national news media a 

lot of things regarding crime that really do not make a lot of difference. But 

giving local police officers the tools 

that they need makes a difference. It 

matters. It is important. This is what 

the provisions of this bill truly do. 

What is the practical application? We 

have seen it on TV a lot in the last few 

in regard to DNA. One of the things 

that is sometimes missed is the fact 

that DNA can be used, and is used, 

every single day in this country to help 

clear from investigations innocent people, so that someone does not stay the 

focus of a criminal investigation. DNA 

can be used for that. 

But the situation we have in this 

country today is that law enforcement 

officers throughout the country do not, 

as a rule, really have access to good 

DNA technology. The laboratories are 

not there. If the laboratories are there 

and they have access, there is waiting 

time. They have to pick only their top 

cases, only the highest priority cases. 

This bill will help solve that problem 

by establishing the resources so we can 

have DNA laboratories and experts who 

can come into court and testify, no 

matter where that crime is committed. 

How else does it help? Think how important it is if you are a police officer 

or a sheriff’s deputy, and at 3 o’clock in 

the morning you are following a car 

and, for some reason, you make the determination you need to pull that car 

over, and you need to pull that car over 

on a dark road, away from civilization, 

away from people, and you do that. Is 

it not important that you know that 

when you run that license plate, that 

the information you get back on the 

ownership of that car is accurate? Is 

that not important? Is it not important, or would it not be important if 

you are a police officer and you had 

just arrested someone and you wanted 

to determine really who that person 

was, and you did not believe them 

when they told you who they were, if 

you could take that person back to 

your police cruiser and take his or her 

hand and put it up against a screen and 

have those prints electronically transmitted to a central data base, and 

within a matter of seconds know who 

that person really is? We have that 

technology today. It is not widespread 

because of the cost. But we have the 

ability to do that. 

Would it not be important for our 

children, for possible victims of sexual 

abuse, to be able to start as a country 

what some States are just now beginning to do—that is, to develop a national data base, DNA data base of sex 

offenders? The sad truth is, Mr. President, that sex offenders have just about 

the highest repeat offender rate of any 

group of criminals. I think check forgers and those who pass bad checks 

probably have about the same number 

of recidivism. But it is a little different 

when we are dealing with a sex offender. 

I think it is important that every sex 

offender who goes into prison gets their 

blood taken. It is constitutional. We 

can do it. We just have not put the resources behind it. We can take their 

blood and develop a national DNA data 

base of sex offenders. So when that person comes out—as most of them do—

and if that person commits another offense—as many do, tragically—then we 

have that data base, and we have the 

ability to take any bodily fluid from 

the crime scene, anything, and match 

that up and make that DNA comparison. We will solve crimes, save lives, 

and we will convict sex offenders. 

Mr. President, I could go on and on 

with example after example. This 

money is important. We talk a lot 

about what matters in crime and what 

does not matter. The money provided 

in this bill, the provision that Senator 

HATCH and Senator DOLE have put in, 

when they have listened to local law 

enforcement and to the FBI—these provisions are an integral part of this bill, 

a very important part of the bill. I congratulate them and thank them for 

putting it in the bill because it will 

truly make a difference. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I compliment the distinguished Senator from 

Ohio for an excellent statement and 

also the distinguished Senator from 

South Carolina. As usual, Senator 

THURMOND really covers these matters 

as well as they can be covered. 

f 

MORNING BUSINESS 

Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that there now be a 

period for the transaction of routine 

morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 5 

minutes each. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KITTY 

WILKA 

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, today 

I want to take a moment to wish Kathleen ‘‘Kitty’’ Wilka of Sioux Falls, 

South Dakota, a happy sixty-fifth 

birthday. 

Mrs. Wilka was born Kathleen Kelly 

on May 25, 1930, in Larchwood, Iowa. 

On August 16, 1948, she married Bill 

Wilka, and, together, they have built a 

strong family of 12 children and, so far, 

28 grandchildren. Their son Jeff has 

worked in my Sioux Falls office for 

many years. 

On behalf of the entire Wilka family, 

as well as my wife, Linda, and my staff, 

I want to wish Kitty Wilka the 

happiest of birthdays. 

f 

RETIREMENT OF JAMES O. KING 

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, throughout 

my career in public service, I have had 

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