Goodlatte Praises Enactment of House Bill that Protects Sexual Assault Survivors
September 30, 2014
Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, the President signed a bipartisan bill into law that protects sexual assault victims and helps remove criminals from our streets. The Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2014 (H.R. 4323), introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-Calif.), reauthorizes a federal grant program for state and local governments to reduce the backlog of rape kits through 2019. The program was set to expire today. The House of Representatives approved this bill by voice vote on April 7, 2014 and the Senate approved it by unanimous consent earlier this month. Chairman Goodlatte praised the enactment of the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act in the statement below:
“On the eve of a critical program’s expiration, I am pleased that the House bill reauthorizing the Debbie Smith Act has been signed into law 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 they don’t have to live in fear waiting for their perpetrators to be found and brought to justice.
“This federal grant program is aptly named after a brave woman who had the courage to tell her story 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.”
The original Debbie Smith Act was introduced by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) 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.
The Debbie Smith Act was enacted in 2004 and 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. 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.
Earlier this year, Debbie joined Chairman Goodlatte and others calling on Congress to reauthorize the Debbie Smith Act; click here for photos.
“On the eve of a critical program’s expiration, I am pleased that the House bill reauthorizing the Debbie Smith Act has been signed into law 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 they don’t have to live in fear waiting for their perpetrators to be found and brought to justice.
“This federal grant program is aptly named after a brave woman who had the courage to tell her story 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.”
The original Debbie Smith Act was introduced by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) 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.
The Debbie Smith Act was enacted in 2004 and 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. 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.
Earlier this year, Debbie joined Chairman Goodlatte and others calling on Congress to reauthorize the Debbie Smith Act; click here for photos.