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. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that the House immediately bring the Debbie Smith Act up for consideration before the program expires later this month. As a former prosecutor in Virginia, I know all too well how critical DNA evidence is for achieving justice for victims of sexual violence.

Debbie Smith's courage to share her story with the world has changed the lives of millions, and no person should ever have to experience her trauma firsthand. Thanks to this program, incredible progress has been made to reduce DNA backlogs, and we cannot take a step backward by allowing it to lapse. The importance of DNA evidence in criminal investigations and prosecutions is unquestionable. In my home State of Virginia, the FBI's National DNA Index contains more than 447,000 offender profiles and has aided in over 11,000 criminal investigations.

This program has been reauthorized previously with bipartisan support, and there is no excuse for it to be politicized now. S. 820 has been languishing in the Judiciary Committee for months. This failure to act enables violent criminals to remain at large and in our society.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the Speaker to bring this bill to the floor and put it up for a vote so we can protect people from violent sexual predators and allow justice to be served through our legal system.

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