103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 829
AN ACT
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 by adding
at the end the following:
‘‘(11) 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
affiliated with a forensic laboratory, and a representative
from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The advisory board shall develop, and if appropriate, peri-
odically revise, recommended standards for quality assur-
ance, including standards for testing the proficiency of fo-
rensic laboratories, and forensic analysts, in conducting
analyses of DNA.
(2) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion, after taking into consideration such recommended
standards, shall issue (and revise from time to time)
standards for quality assurance, including standards for
testing the proficiency of forensic laboratories, and foren-
sic analysts, in conducting analyses of DNA.
(3) The standards described in paragraphs (1) and
(2) shall specify criteria for quality assurance and pro-
ficiency tests to be applied to the various types of DNA
analyses used by forensic laboratories. The standards shall
also include a system for grading proficiency testing per-
formance to determine whether a laboratory is performing
acceptably.
(4) Until such time as the advisory board has made
recommendations to the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and the Director has acted upon those
recommendations, the quality assurance guidelines adopt-
ed by the technical working group on DNA analysis meth-
ods shall be deemed the Director’s standards for purposes
of this section.
(b) ADMINISTRATION OF THE ADVISORY BOARD.—
For administrative purposes, the advisory board appointed
under subsection (a) shall be considered an advisory board
to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5
U.S.C. App.) shall not apply with respect to the advisory
board appointed under subsection (a). The board shall
cease to exist on the date 5 years after the initial appoint-
ments are made to the board, unless the existence of the
board is extended by the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.
SEC. 4. INDEX TO FACILITATE LAW ENFORCEMENT EX-
CHANGE OF DNA IDENTIFICATION INFORMA-
TION
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation may establish an index of—
(1) DNA identification records of persons con-
victed of crimes;
(2) analyses of DNA samples recovered from
crime scenes; and
(3) analyses of DNA samples recovered from
unidentified human remains.
(b) CONTENT OF INDEX.—Such index may include
only information on DNA identification records and DNA
analyses that are—