I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 829
To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of
1968 to authorize funds received by States and units of local government
to be expended to improve the quality and availability of DNA records;
to authorize the establishment of a DNA identification index; and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 4, 1993
Mr. EDWARDS of California (for himself, Mr. HYDE, and Mr. KOPETSKI) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 to authorize funds received by States
and units of local government to be expended to improve
the quality and availability of DNA records; to authorize
the establishment of a DNA identification index; and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DNA Identification
Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FUNDING TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY AND AVAIL-
ABILITY OF DNA ANALYSES FOR LAW EN-
FORCEMENT IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES.
(a) DRUG CONTROL
AND SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT
GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 501(b) of title I of the Omni-
bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 3751(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (20) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end,
(2) in paragraph (21) by striking the period at
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(22) developing or improving in a forensic lab-
oratory a capability to analyze deoxyribonucleic acid
(hereinafter in this title referred to as ‘DNA’) for
identification purposes.’’.
(b) STATE APPLICATIONS.—Section 503(a) of title I
of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3753(a)) is amended by adding at the
end thereof the following new paragraph:
‘‘(12) If any part of a grant made under this
part is to be used to develop or improve a DNA
analysis capability in a forensic laboratory, a certifi-
cation that—
‘‘(A) DNA analyses performed at such lab-
oratory will satisfy or exceed then current
standards for a quality assurance program for
DNA analysis, issued by the Director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation under section 3
of the DNA Identification Act of 1993;
‘‘(B) DNA samples obtained by, and DNA
analyses performed at, such laboratory will be
accessible only—
‘‘(i) to criminal justice agencies for
law enforcement identification purposes;
‘‘(ii) for criminal defense purposes, to
a defendant, who shall have access to sam-
ples and analyses performed in connection
with the case in which such defendant is
charged; or
‘‘(iii) if personally identifiable infor-
mation is removed, for a population statis-
tics database, for identification research
and protocol development purposes, or for
quality control purposes; and
‘‘(C) such laboratory, and each analyst
performing DNA analyses at such laboratory,
will undergo, at regular intervals of not to ex-
ceed 180 days, external proficiency testing by a
DNA proficiency testing program meeting the
standards issued under section 3 of the DNA
Identification Act of 1993.’’.
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section
1001(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating the last 3 paragraphs se-
quentially as paragraphs (7), (8), and (9); and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(10) There are authorized to be appropriated
for each of the fiscal years 1994 through 1998
$10,000,000 for grants to the States for DNA anal-
ysis.’’.
SEC. 3. QUALITY ASSURANCE AND PROFICIENCY TESTING
STANDARDS.
(a) PUBLICATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE AND PRO-
FICIENCY TESTING STANDARDS.—(1) Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc-
tor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall appoint
an advisory board on DNA quality assurance methods.
The Director shall appoint members of the board from
among nominations proposed by the head of the National
Academy of Sciences and professional societies of crime
laboratory officials. The advisory board shall include as
members scientists from state and local forensic labora-
tories, molecular geneticists and population geneticists not
(b) CONTENT OF INDEX.—Such index may include
only information on DNA identification records and DNA
analyses that are—
(1) based on analyses performed in accordance
with publicly available standards that satisfy or ex-
ceed the guidelines for a quality assurance program
for DNA analysis, issued by the Director of the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation under section 3 of the
DNA Identification Act of 1993;
(2) prepared by laboratories, and DNA ana-
lysts, that undergo, at regular intervals of not to ex-
ceed 180 days, external proficiency testing by a
DNA proficiency testing program meeting the stand-
ards issued under section 3 of the DNA Identifica-
tion Act of 1993; and
(3) maintained by Federal, State, and local
criminal justice agencies pursuant to rules that allow
disclosure of stored DNA samples and DNA analy-
ses only—
(A) to criminal justice agencies for law en-
forcement identification purposes;
(B) for criminal defense purposes, to a de-
fendant, who shall have access to samples and
analyses performed in connection with the case
in which such defendant is charged; or
(C) if personally identifiable information is
removed, for a population statistics database,
for identification research and protocol develop-
ment purposes, or for quality control purposes.
(c) The exchange of records authorized by this section
is subject to cancellation if the quality control and privacy
requirements described in subsection (b) of this section are
not met.
SEC. 5. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
(a) PROFICIENCY TESTING REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) GENERALLY.—Personnel at the Federal
Bureau of Investigation who perform DNA analyses
shall undergo, at regular intervals of not to exceed
180 days, external proficiency testing by a DNA
proficiency testing program meeting the standards
issued under section 3(b). Within one year of the
date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation shall arrange for
periodic blind external tests to determine the pro-
ficiency of DNA analysis performed at the Federal
Bureau of Investigation laboratory. As used in this
paragraph, the term ‘‘blind external test’’ means a
test that is presented to the laboratory through a
second agency and appears to the analysts to involve
routine evidence.
(2) REPORT.—For five years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation shall submit to the Commit-
tees on the Judiciary of the House and Senate an
annual report on the results of each of the tests re-
ferred to in paragraph (1).
(b) PRIVACY PROTECTION STANDARDS.—
(1) GENERALLY.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the results of DNA tests performed for
a Federal law enforcement agency for law enforce-
ment purposes may be disclosed only—
(A) to criminal justice agencies for law en-
forcement identification purposes; or
(B) for criminal defense purposes, to a de-
fendant, who shall have access to samples and
analyses performed in connection with the case
in which such defendant is charged.
(2) EXCEPTION.—If personally identifiable in-
formation is removed, test results may be disclosed
for a population statistics database, for identification
research and protocol development purposes, or for
quality control purposes.
(c) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—(1) Whoever—
(A) by virtue of employment or official position,
has possession of, or access to, individually identifi-
able DNA information indexed in a database created
or maintained by any Federal law enforcement agen-
cy; and
(B) willfully discloses such information in any
manner to any person or agency not entitled to re-
ceive it;
shall be fined not more than $100,000.
(2) Whoever, without authorization, willfully obtains
DNA samples or individually identifiable DNA informa-
tion indexed in a database created or maintained by any
Federal law enforcement agency shall be fined not more
than $100,000.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation $2,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 1994 through 1998 to carry out sections 3, 4, and
5 of this Act.
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