Connecting Communities Post Disasters Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me, from the beginning, acknowledge the ranking member for being on the floor on these important bills during this police and law enforcement week in commemoration. This week is one of the weeks that, over the years, all of us as Members have enjoyed the most, seeing a lot of our law enforcement representatives from our hometown jurisdiction and just seeing them from all over the Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4854, the Justice Served Act of 2018. I thank my colleague, Mr. Pascrell, my fellow Texan, Judge Carter, and other Members for bringing this forward.

This legislation would help ensure that prosecutors have the resources to go after perpetrators of violent crimes, specifically those who have been identified by DNA evidence. I want to just say that again, Mr. Speaker, violent crimes, which leave in their wake either the bloody loss of life or some victim that is ruined for life because of the viciousness of the crime, some of them children, families, the elderly.

This is a very important element of law enforcement, the fair investigation of crimes and bringing forward the perpetrator in a fair and just and constitutional manner. To do so, they need tools. Congress has appropriated over $100 million per year for the last decade to reduce the DNA backlogs and improve crime laboratory capacity.

The Justice Served Act of 2018 does something unique. It capitalizes on these investments by allowing a portion of the Debbie Smith Grant Program to be allocated to prosecute perpetrators of violent crimes.

Mr. Goodlatte is right. I remember meeting Ms. Smith and the tragedy that she faced, but also the way in which she wanted to commit to making life better for many others. I thanked her for that as she appeared before our committee in years past.

According to FBI data, over 1 million people were victims of violent crimes nationwide in 2016. And in many of these cases, especially cases involving sexual violence, DNA evidence is a crucial component of prosecuting the perpetrators.

The Judiciary Committee is about to begin its effort of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, which my office has worked extensively with other Members who previously had great commitment to this legislation. We look forward to a bipartisan initiative.

We know that in the elements of sex crimes and domestic violence, the DNA kits are extremely important, among other evidence that can be found. Prosecutors often, however, face large caseloads and lack the resources to properly ensure that violent crimes are adjudicated in a timely manner, even when a suspect has been identified through DNA evidence.

H.R. 4854, the Justice Served Act of 2018, encourages a resolution of this problem by providing additional resources, none to take away from the important work of the purpose of the act, but to add these additional resources as are available through this legislation. Prosecutors need to investigate, solve, and close these cases. Give them those resources to do so.

Remember, investigating, solving, and closing have the component of making sure that we do justice as well. This includes additional funding for the prosecution of cold cases where new forensic technology has identified a suspect.

It is important to note that the need for additional funding is not the only problem that impacts prosecutors' ability to deal with perpetrators of violent crimes. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, RAINN, the overwhelming backlog of untested DNA evidence is currently one of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence. Based on public reports, at least 100,000 rape kits sit untested in evidence rooms, warehouses, and the like. These rape kits often contain DNA evidence collected through a sexual assault forensic exam, a medical process where evidence is collected from a victim's body or clothes.

This evidence is a crucial factor in achieving justice, and it is vital that prosecutors have this evidence.

So this legislation, the Debbie Smith Act, was passed to alleviate my comments that I just previously made, and it has been enacted since 2004, and it has made a great impact, but now we have the opportunity to use some of those resources to help move along some of these violent cases and to assist prosecutors, again, in the fair adjudication, the just adjudication, to bring justice to those who have suffered a violent criminal act, lost their life, and certainly enhanced the justice system.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4854, the ``Justice Served Act of 2018'' and thank my colleague, Mr. Pascrell and other Members for bringing this forward. This legislation would help ensure that prosecutors have the resources to go after perpetrators of violent crimes, specifically those who have been identified by DNA evidence.

Congress has appropriated over $100 million per year for the last decade, to reduce the DNA backlogs and improve crime laboratory capacity. The ``Justice Served Act of 2018'' capitalizes on these investments by allowing a portion of the Debbie Smith grant program to be allocated to prosecute perpetrators of violent crimes.

According to FBI data, over a million people were victims of violent crimes nationwide, in 2016. In many of these cases, especially cases involving sexual violence, DNA evidence is a crucial component of prosecuting the perpetrators.

Prosecutors, however, often face large caseloads and lack the resources to properly ensure that violent crimes are adjudicated in a timely manner, even when a suspect has been identified through DNA evidence.

H.R. 4854 the ``Justice Served Act of 2018'' encourages the resolution of this problem by providing additional resources prosecutors need to investigate, solve and close these cases. This includes additional funding for the prosecution of cold cases where new forensic technology has identified a suspect.

It is important to note that the need for additional funding is not the only problem that impacts prosecutors' ability to hold perpetrators of violent crimes accountable. According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, (RAINN), the overwhelming backlog of untested DNA evidence is currently one of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence.

Based on public reports, at least 100,000 rape kits have sat, untested, in evidence rooms, warehouses, and the like. These rape kits often contain DNA evidence collected through a sexual assault forensic exam, a medical process where evidence is collected from a victim's body or clothes. This evidence is a crucial factor in achieving justice and it is vital that prosecutors have this evidence.

In order to address the backlog, Congress passed the ``Debbie Smith Act.'' The Debbie Smith Act provides crucial funding to support public crime laboratories' work to build capacity and process DNA evidence including evidence collected in rape kits.

Since its enactment in 2004, the Debbie Smith Act has been renewed twice with overwhelming bipartisan support. This funding has significantly decreased the backlog of untested DNA evidence.

The problem, however, continues to persist because of the overwhelming amount of evidence that needs to be analyzed. For example, in 2016, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science, in Houston, received over 3,000 cases to be reviewed. Despite receiving federal grants, this lab continues to face difficulties in analyzing all the evidence in a timely manner. We in Congress need to make sure that we are allocating enough resources to ensure that these labs are able to meet the demand.

Victims of violent crimes, especially victims of sexual violence, have the right to have their cases resolved as quickly as possible. They need to be able to move on, knowing that they are safe from the person who hurt them.

It is therefore important that Congress continue to support efforts to ensure that states and local government have the resources to test and analyze DNA evidence and that prosecutors have the resources to go after these suspects. For these reasons I support this bill, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), who has worked without ceasing on legislation that will help our law enforcement officers.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Pascrell for making that commitment that the resources under the Debbie Smith Act will still be viable and ready to be used for those sexual assault, sexual violence victims as this legislation was intended, but a provision in the bill allows the resources to also keep in line that nothing will undermine the investigation of sexual assault cases, sexual violence cases, but it allows the hand of justice to move on further for those who are the victims of violent crimes and to ensure that perpetrators of violent crimes are prosecuted as quickly as possible, again, under the equal and balanced hand of justice.

So H.R. 4845, the Justice Served Act of 2018, provides funding to State and local prosecutors to help them tackle the backlog of violent crime cases, including cold cases, where suspects have been identified through DNA evidence.

Certainly, there may be some overlap. I want to make it very clear to our victims of sex crimes, domestic violence, and other crimes dealing with those particular issues, that these dollars are enhanced dollars to be able to do the violent crimes.

While it is important that State and local prosecutors have the resources they need, it is also important that Congress remain vigilant and continue to support efforts to clear the backlogs of untested and unanalyzed DNA evidence, including rape kits.

The backlog in many jurisdictions is enormous. This was our intent, to move forward, to provide justice to those who have suffered, some have lost their life.

So in the spirit of expanding justice to ensure that justice is for all, I rise to support this legislation in keeping with its initial purpose, to solve the backlog of DNA kits, and now to be able to assist in the solving and bringing to justice the perpetrators of violent crimes.

Mr. Speaker, I again ask my colleagues to support the underlying legislation, I thank the sponsors of it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4854) to amend the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to provide additional resources to State and local prosecutors, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4854, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4854, the Justice Served Act of 2018, introduced by the gentleman from Texas, Judge Carter.

All of us in this body are familiar with Debbie Smith and the tragedy of her attack and the triumph of the law that bears her name. Many of us have had the pleasure of meeting Debbie and her husband, Rob, and hearing her story firsthand.

The Debbie Smith Act was the Nation's first piece of legislation aimed at ending the DNA backlog that plagued our State crime labs.

The Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program was created in 2004, and

since then it has enabled States to process more than 725,000 cases and upload more than 327,000 DNA profiles into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. I had the honor to be the chief sponsor of the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2014.

When Judge Carter reached out to me about this bill, I was encouraged, but I also wanted to know how Debbie Smith felt about it. I learned that not only did she support it, she and others helped craft it.

When we reached out to Debbie and Rob to get their thoughts on the bill, they stated, ``getting hits doesn't mean as much if we cannot prosecute.'' I agree with Debbie and Judge Carter on this very important point.

The bill in front of us today makes a very small but important change to the Debbie Smith Act. That small change will increase the capacity of prosecutors to address the backlog of violent crime cases involving suspects identified through DNA evidence. This bill will allow victims of crime and their families to receive justice by giving prosecutors the tools they need to investigate, solve, and close cold cases.

That small, but vitally important, change is why the Justice Served Act of 2018 is endorsed by the National District Attorneys Association; Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network; Debbie Smith; Major County Sheriffs of America; Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association; Sergeants Benevolent Association; the Fraternal Order of Police; the National Association of Police Organizations; Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations; Joyful Heart Association; the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence; the Major Cities Chiefs; and the National Criminal Justice Association.

We in this body should join these organizations in supporting this very important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Texas, Judge Carter, for introducing this legislation and all of his hard work in supporting it.

To paraphrase Debbie and Rob, getting a hit is nice, but ensuring justice is served is better.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in supporting the Justice Served Act of 2018.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, to paraphrase what Debbie and Rob Smith said, getting a hit is nice, but ensuring justice is served is even better. And it is, I think, a good amendment to the Debbie Smith Act that we allow these funds to be used for this purpose and close more of these cases that are solved by the DNA testing that was the original purpose of the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, I thank Judge Carter for his fine work on it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this bipartisan piece of legislation, the Justice Served Act, H.R. 4854. As the lead Democrat sponsor of this piece of legislation and co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, I want to thank Judge Carter for authoring this bill.

Currently, funding is available through the Debbie Smith Act to reduce the DNA rape kit backlog. However, these funds do not address the growing backlog in the prosecution pipeline.

Unfortunately, this backlog is occurring because resources are limited and there are not enough funds to reopen every case, even when DNA analysis has identified a suspect. That is not acceptable.

In my home State of New Jersey, we are well familiar with this issue. Due to a lack of resources and regulations, the extent of the untested rape kit backlog in New Jersey is unknown. That itself is unacceptable.

Addressing the rape kit backlog would bring justice for the many rape victims across our State and many others; victims like a 15-year-old girl who was assaulted while working at a deli in New Jersey a few years ago, and whose assaulter was finally brought to justice in 2013 using DNA evidence, but only after he assaulted another young woman.

As a result, many of the rapists going undetected are repeat offenders. Countless assaults could be prevented and trauma spared if we caught these perpetrators the first time.

And addressing the backlog can bring justice to the falsely accused as well. Last year, we learned the story of Rodney Roberts, a New Jersey man who was coerced by his own lawyer to plead guilty for the kidnapping and rape of a 17-year-old girl in 1996, despite professing his innocence.

For 10 years, Roberts appealed to have his DNA tested against the original rape kit, but prosecutors claimed it was nowhere to be found.

Eventually, the rape kit was located and the DNA evidence cleared him of all wrongdoing in 2014, after he served 10 years in jail.

There are too many incidents in which an untested rape kit is lost, prosecutors do not have resources, and innocent people are harmed.

To address this funding gap, the Justice Served Act authorizes the Debbie Smith Act to provide prosecutors with the resources and the funds to reopen, investigate, and close cold cases.

Going forward, I look forward to working with Judge Carter to ensure that the Debbie Smith Act is properly funded so we can keep our promise to survivors of sexual assault.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the National District Attorneys Association, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, and Debbie Smith for their support for H.R. 4854.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the Justice Served Act.