For immediate release

Contact: Jeff Lungren/Terry Shawn

October 6, 2004

202-225-2492

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House today by a 393-to-14 margin overwhelmingly approved landmark crime victims and DNA legislation. H.R. 5107, the “Justice for All Act,” is bipartisan legislation introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.). The “Justice for All Act of 2004” now moves to the Senate for consideration. This legislation includes some changes to the Senate crime victims legislation, S. 2329, which passed the Senate by a 96-to-1 margin on April 22, 2004.

Chairman Sensenbrenner commented, “The time has come for the Senate leadership to schedule this bill on the Senate floor. Many of us have been working on this legislation for four years and bent over backwards to address the concerns of a few in the Senate and the Justice Department, but the time for dilly-dallying is up. Make no mistake: if this landmark bipartisan legislation fails, the blame will squarely fall at the feet of the Senate and the Justice Department.”

“The ‘Justice for All Act’ will comprehensively improve our criminal justice system by enhancing the rights and protections of all persons involved. This legislation enhances the rights of crime victims as well as improves public safety through a better utilization of DNA technology that can both take guilty criminals off the streets and free those innocent of crimes,” added Chairman Sensenbrenner.

“This serious crime prevention bill provides the tools to catch sexual predators across the country while restoring public confidence in the American justice system,” remarked Representative William D. Delahunt (D-Mass.), a cosponsor and leader on H.R. 5107.

Specifically, H.R. 5107 includes: (1) a new set of statutory victims' rights that are both enforceable in a court of law and supported by fully-funded victims' assistance programs; and (2) a comprehensive DNA bill that seeks to ensure that the true offender is caught and convicted for the crime

H.R. 5107 includes $755 million to enact President Bush’s initiative to reduce the backlog of unanalyzed DNA evidence. Experts believe hundreds of thousands of rape kits and other DNA evidence remains unanalyzed in crime labs across the country.

H.R. 5107 also incorporates the Innocence Protection Act, including authorizing $350 million over five years to improve the legal representation in death penalty cases. This legislation also includes greater access to post-conviction DNA testing as well as over $200 million over the next five years in additional grant money to train law enforcement, correctional, court, and medical personnel on the use of DNA evidence. This legislation funds research to improve forensic technology and authorizes $10 million per year in grants to states, local governments, and tribal governments to eliminate forensic backlogs.