OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Providing for Consideration of S.J. Res. Termination of National Emergency Declared By the President on February 2019

Floor Speech

Date: Sept. 26, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Criminal Justice

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Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Woodall), for his tremendous service and for yielding to me this time to talk about this very pressing and important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so that the House of Representatives can finally debate and vote on the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act.

While my colleagues on the other side of the aisle play partisan games on border security and impeachment, critical programs authorizing the testing of DNA evidence across the country are set to expire in just 4 days, on September 30.

Along with my colleague Carolyn Maloney, I introduced and am the lead Republican sponsor on the Debbie Smith Act, with the support of the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network.

Debbie Smith programs provide funding to crime labs to process DNA evidence and strengthen the national DNA database that provides justice to victims.

The legislation requires that States like mine, Missouri, create plans for the reduction of backlogs and the testing of rape kits and other DNA evidence.

Since this program was created on a bipartisan basis, nearly 200,000 DNA matches have been made in criminal cases, since 2005, providing justice to the victims in cases that may otherwise have gone unsolved. The number of DNA samples collected is skyrocketing, sadly, and we need the Debbie Smith programs now more than ever.

The Senate has already unanimously sent their version of the legislation over to the House, but House leadership continues to refuse to bring it to the floor. This, Mr. Speaker, is unconscionable.

Every Member of the House Republican Conference is demanding that we bring the Debbie Smith Act to the floor, but our pleas for justice for victims of sexual violence are being ignored.

Mr. Speaker, I beg of my colleagues to please join me in defeating the previous question and urge House leadership to put politics aside and reauthorize these critical programs to convict dangerous predators and help end sexual violence in our country.

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