Wagner Applauds House Passage of Her Debbie Smith Act

Washington, D.C.  – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO) released the following statement after the House passed her Debbie Smith Act, legislation that provides funding to law enforcement to analyze untested rape kits:

“Survivors of sexual violence must have confidence that law enforcement will help them get the justice they need and deserve. That means identifying, apprehending, and prosecuting the attackers to the fullest extent of the law.

“One of the most important methods of investigating these crimes is through DNA analysis.  The Debbie Smith Act will reauthorize a vital program that provides support in all fifty states to help police collect and test that evidence in a timely manner, and improve the capacity of state and local prosecutors to bring these cases to court.  Funding from the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Elimination Program has directly resulted in nearly 1.8 million DNA cases analyzed and processed, including over 600,000 crime scenes and rape kits.  We must continue supporting this incredibly important program.  I appreciate my colleagues for overwhelmingly voting for this bipartisan legislation and helping victims in their time of need.”

Watch Congresswoman Wagner’s speech in support of this bill here. 

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.

Since it was first enacted in 2004, this program has directly supported the analysis of over 1.79 million DNA cases, resulting in more than 308,000 hits in the federal DNA criminal database—representing 56% of all DNA matches.