Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and John Cornyn (R-TX) are urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to fully implement the SAFER Act to help state and local governments eliminate the national backlog of untested rape kits. The provisions of the legislation, signed into law in 2013, have yet to be fully enacted to help state and local law enforcement agencies audit and process rape kits that could lead to the prosecution and resolution of sexual assault cases across the country.
In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the senators wrote, "[T]he SAFER Act helps ensure the timely and appropriate processing of DNA evidence collected from sexual assault crimes and provides grants for state and local governments to conduct one-year audits of all untested rape kits in their possession. Through these audit grants, law enforcement agencies would be better-equipped to assist victims of rape and solve these horrific crimes...We must help local law enforcement reduce backlogs of rape kits and bring criminals to swift justice. We ask for your collaboration in enforcing the law and fulfilling all requirements of the SAFER Act. Victims of sexual assault should not have to wait unnecessarily for justice."
The bill, first introduced in 2012 by Bennet and Cornyn, requires that at least 75% of Debbie Smith Act funds be spent directly on either analyzing untested DNA evidence or increasing the capacity of labs. It also provides state and local governments with funding to conduct one-year audits of the untested sexual assault evidence in their possession. Finally, it creates a national reporting system to help track these audits, prioritize the analysis of untested rape kits, and better target existing Debbie Smith Act appropriations.
Full Text of the Letter:
June 22, 2015
Dear Attorney General Lynch:
We write to urge the Department of Justice (DOJ) to fully implement the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting (SAFER) Act as expeditiously as possible. The SAFER Act became law in March 2013 as part of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (P.L. 113-4). This legislation will help state and local governments to eliminate the national backlog of untested rape kits and strengthen the FBI's interstate CODIS database. We are deeply concerned with the continued backlog of DNA evidence from unsolved rape cases and believe DOJ must promptly implement the key provisions of the SAFER Act.
As you know, the SAFER Act helps ensure the timely and appropriate processing of DNA evidence collected from sexual assault crimes and provides grants for state and local governments to conduct one-year audits of all untested rape kits in their possession. Through these audit grants, law enforcement agencies would be better-equipped to assist victims of rape and solve these horrific crimes.
With the full implementation of the SAFER Act, rape kits would be promptly analyzed consistent with all proper testing practices. The SAFER Act's national reporting system for forensic evidence from sexual assault cases would help the federal government to more effectively target resources to jurisdictions experiencing the largest backlogs. It would also increase the transparency in the DNA rape kit testing process. It is imperative that we fully implement all aspects of the SAFER Act in order to address the DNA backlog aggressively.
It is our hope that DOJ will complete implementation of the SAFER Act as soon as possible. We must help local law enforcement reduce backlogs of rape kits and bring criminals to swift justice. We ask for your collaboration in enforcing the law and fulfilling all requirements of the SAFER Act. Victims of sexual assault should not have to wait unnecessarily for justice.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Michael F. Bennet
United States Senator
John Cornyn
United States Senator
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