Goodlatte, Bass, Maloney Praise Senate Passage of Bipartisan House Bill to Protect Victims of Sexual Assault
Washington, D.C. — The Senate today approved by unanimous consent the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2014 (H.R. 4323). This bipartisan bill, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-Calif.), extends a federal grant program for state and local governments to reduce the backlog of rape kits through 2019. The House of Representatives approved this bill by voice vote on April 7, 2014. The bill now heads to President Obama’s desk for signature.
The original Debbie Smith Act, authored by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) in 2001, was passed in 2004. Since then, millions of dollars in federal funding have been appropriated under the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program to process the hundreds of thousands of DNA evidence kits. The grant program’s authorization is currently set to expire in 12 days on September 30, 2014
Chairman Goodlatte, Congresswoman Bass, and Congresswoman Maloney praised today’s Senate action to reauthorize this critical program in the statements below.
Chairman Goodlatte: “I applaud the Senate for approving the House bill to reauthorize the Debbie Smith Act so that we can continue to expedite the processing of DNA test kits across the country. Each of these DNA test kits represents a life that has been shattered by the horrors of rape. Sadly, we can’t take away the pain and fear these women have experienced, but we can provide necessary resources used to solve these crimes so that victims don’t have to live in fear for years waiting for their perpetrators to come to justice.
“This federal grant program is aptly named after a brave woman who had the courage to speak out about her painful experience and advocate tirelessly for other victims of sexual assault. Debbie Smith is a true hero and I am proud that Congress has stood by her and other survivors to ensure that DNA analysis is completed quickly.”
Congresswoman Bass: “Democrats and Republicans in both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate have worked together to do the right thing and ensure that those who rape women are brought to justice and the victims of rape can get closure to their cases. I commend Congresswoman Maloney for her leadership on this issue. The Debbie Smith Act has worked, and Congress’ actions this year will ensure that it will continue to work.”
Congresswoman Maloney: “The Debbie Smith Act has been called the most important anti-rape legislation ever signed into law, because it provides substantial federal funds to help states and localities work through DNA evidence backlogs. Rape kits that sat on shelves began to be tested and predators who walked our streets were finally put behind bars when the law took effect. New reports in cities like Detroit, Memphis and elsewhere show that this problem has still not been solved. There are tens of thousands of rape kits that have not been tested and that means tens of thousands of survivors are left without answers. Congress has taken an important step toward addressing this problem by reauthorizing the Debbie Smith Act for another five years. I am hopeful that Congress will take additional steps to ensure that no woman is attacked by a person who could have been taken off our streets if only there were the resources to eliminate the rape kit backlog.”
The original Debbie Smith Act was introduced after rape survivor Debbie Smith testified before Congress in June 2001 about using DNA evidence to solve rape cases. In 1989, Debbie was kidnapped from her home in Williamsburg, Virginia, and dragged into the woods where she was raped. As Debbie notes in her letter to Chairman Goodlatte, the traumatic effect of the assault remained with her and her family for over six years, until her attacker’s DNA sample was finally removed from the state’s backlog and included in the national DNA database. The suspect was immediately linked to her rape, convicted of multiple felonies, and then sentenced to two life terms plus 25 years in prison. Earlier this year, Debbie joined Chairman Goodlatte and others calling on Congress to reauthorize the Debbie Smith Act; click here for photos.
As of July 2014, the FBI national database included nearly 572,000 forensic profiles from crime scene samples. This information has aided more than 242,000 investigations nationwide, including nearly 9,000 in Virginia alone.
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