Justice for All Reauthorization Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. 463, S. 2577.
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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on this measure.
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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, by way of explanation, that final piece of legislation represents the passage of the Justice for All Reauthorization Act. This is legislation the Judiciary Committee has considered, as the Presiding Officer knows, which Senator Pat Leahy, the ranking member, and I have been working on for some time.

It would improve victims' rights by increasing access to restitution and reauthorize programs that support crime victims in court, and it would increase resources for forensic labs to reduce the rape kit backlog. That last measure is something that has been a concern of mine for a number of years. Congress has appropriated a significant amount of money, under the Debbie Smith Act, to test forensic evidence in rape kits to identify the offenders in sexual assault cases. Unfortunately, over time, more and more of that money had been used for administrative and not testing purposes. If reports are to be believed, as many as 400,000 untested rape kits either sat in evidence lockers or in labs untested, thus denying those victims, whom those kits represent, resolution of their issues of closing the circle on their grief. We need to also make sure we have done everything we can in keeping our commitment to pursue the offender who has committed those sexual assaults.

Since my days as attorney general of Texas, protecting the rights of crime victims has been close to my heart, but I know we always worry about whether there is enough money to be able to adequately fund law enforcement. We have also previously--particularly on the issue of trafficking--made sure we created a crime victims fund that takes the money from the fines and penalties paid by the procurers, or the people who are charged with purchasing sexual services from trafficking victims, puts that money into the fund that will then be used to help the victims heal. In particular, we need to get rid of this rape kit backlog.

I have been working with one of my personal heroes, Debbie Smith. She has worked very hard to make sure we don't forget these victims, just as she courageously talks about her own terrible experience. It is very important that we get more of these rape kits inventoried so we know exactly what the scope of the problem is and we get more of them tested.

Some cities like Houston, TX, have waited around for the Federal Government. Thanks to former Mayor Parker, Houston has cleared its rape kit backlog by testing all of them. It is incredible what sort of evidence they have been able to produce by creating hits on the DNA testing matchup and being able to solve previously unsolved crimes. Of course, DNA being as powerful as it is can also make sure that people who are falsely accused of a crime are exonerated.

I appreciate the work of the senior Senator from Vermont, Mr. Leahy, who joined me in introducing the bill, and I appreciate his commitment to seeing it through. As always, I thank Senator Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for his leadership in helping shepherd this bipartisan bill through the committee. This is now ready to go to President Obama and be signed into law.
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