Providing for Consideration of H.R. Homeland Security Improvement Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act; Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Expressing Sense of the House with Respect to Whistleblower Complaint Made to Inspector General of Intelligence Community; and for Other Purposes
Floor Speech
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, before I came to Congress, I served as a magisterial district judge. I was on the front line of the criminal justice system, and I handled preliminary hearings for sexual assault and rape cases. Let me tell you, these crimes are incredibly heinous, and stories from the victims are absolutely heartbreaking.
Many of these victims went through a grueling evidence collection process in the hopes they would help catch their rapist. Unfortunately, this evidence often sits untested on shelves for months to years while sexual assault victims wait for justice and their rapists roam the streets. This is especially dangerous because those who commit sexual assault are likely to do it again. They are typically habitual offenders. So when we delay the testing of these kits, we do so at the expense and the risk of others being sexually assaulted.
So that is where the Debbie Smith Act comes in. The Debbie Smith Act provides funding for DNA testing and training to eliminate the backlog of untested DNA and rape kit evidence. Since 2004 nearly 200,000 DNA matches have been made thanks to the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program. Again, that is over 200,000 DNA matches since 2004. But without congressional action, this legislation is set to expire on Monday.
The Senate recognized the critical need to reauthorize this bill. They passed this bill back in May and sent it to the House for consideration, but, unfortunately, my Democratic colleagues refuse to bring this bill to the floor. They would rather play politics than put criminals in jail.
This is absolutely despicable. Sexual assault victims have been through enough. We should not hold this up for funding so that Democrats can score cheap political points with their radical, far-left base.
So I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to reexamine their priorities and help us get justice for these crime victims. This issue is too important for partisan games.
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