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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, DNA technology is increasingly vital to ensuring
3 accuracy and fairness in the criminal justice system, but is
4 not yet considered a routine tool for criminal identification
5 by law enforcement; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Over 50,000 law enforcement investigations have
7 already been aided nationwide because of DNA matches made
8 through the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), bringing
9 justice to victims and removing criminals from the streets; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The Innocence Project has used DNA in over 200
11 cases to exonerate persons who were wrongfully convicted of
12 crimes; and
 
13     WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and other states throughout
14 the nation have significantly expanded their DNA programs to
15 include a growing number of convicted and/or arrested felons to
16 match against unsolved crimes; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The demand for DNA testing in both violent and
18 non-violent crimes has continued to increase as the reliability
19 of this evidence is proven; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Many laboratories still maintain DNA backlogs of

 

 

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1 six months or longer and are unable to meet the growing demand
2 for DNA testing despite funding commitments from state and
3 local governments; and
 
4     WHEREAS, The Debbie Smith DNA backlog grant program has
5 permitted state and local governments an opportunity to begin
6 to maximize the full potential of forensic DNA through backlog
7 reduction, but much work remains to be done; therefore, be it
 
8     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
9 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
10 strongly urge the United States Congress to reauthorize the
11 Debbie Smith DNA backlog grant program at current or increased
12 levels; and be it further
 
13     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
14 delivered to the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the
15 United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the
16 United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
17 the Illinois congressional delegation.