Senate Passes Wagner Bill to Fund Rape Kit Testing

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO) released the following statement after the Senate passed her Debbie Smith Act, legislation that provides funding to law enforcement to analyze untested rape kits. The Debbie Smith Act reauthorizes the DNA Backlog Elimination Program through 2029:

“Victims of sexual violence deserve the full support of law enforcement as they fight for justice.  The backlog of untested rape kits nationwide is an unconscionable failure that must be immediately addressed.  My Debbie Smith Act will provide essential funding so law enforcement can test rape kits and identify perpetrators so they can be put behind bars where they belong.  I appreciate the Senate for unanimously passing my legislation and I hope the President quickly signs this bill into law.”

Background
H.R. 1105, the Debbie Smith Act of 2023, would reauthorize the DNA Backlog Elimination Program from FY2024 through FY2029. This program provides support to law enforcement and crime labs in all 50 states to analyze untested rape and sexual assault kits, improve law enforcement’s timely collection of DNA evidence, and enhance prosecutors' capacity to bring this evidence to trial.

According to the Department of Justice, since it was first enacted in 2004, this program has directly supported the analysis of over 1.6 million DNA cases, resulting in more than 328,000 hits in the federal DNA criminal database—representing 47% of all DNA matches.