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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States has pending
3 before it the reauthorization of the Debbie Smith DNA backlog
4 grant program, part of the Justice of All Act of 2004 (PL
5 108-405), at current or increased levels, thereby assisting in
6 the reduction of DNA backlogs and improvement of the
7 utilization of DNA in the criminal justice system in the State
8 of Illinois and every state throughout the nation; and
 
9     WHEREAS, DNA technology is increasingly vital to ensuring
10 accuracy and fairness in the criminal justice system, but is
11 not yet considered a routine tool for criminal identification
12 by law enforcement; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Over 50,000 law enforcement investigations have
14 already been aided nationwide because of DNA matches made
15 through the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), bringing
16 justice to victims and removing criminals from the streets; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The Innocence Project has used DNA in over 200
18 cases to exonerate persons who were wrongfully convicted of
19 crimes; and
 
20     WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and other states throughout
21 the nation have significantly expanded their DNA programs to

 

 

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1 include a growing number of convicted or arrested felons to
2 match against unsolved crimes; and
 
3     WHEREAS, The demand for DNA testing in both violent and
4 non-violent crimes has continued to increase as the reliability
5 of this evidence is proven; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Many laboratories still maintain DNA backlogs of 6
7 months or longer and are unable to meet the growing demand for
8 DNA testing despite funding commitments from state and local
9 governments; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The Debbie Smith DNA backlog grant program has
11 permitted state and local governments an opportunity to begin
12 to maximize the full potential of forensic DNA through backlog
13 reduction, but much work remains to be done; therefore, be it
 
14     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
16 urge the Congress of the United States of America to
17 reauthorize the Debbie Smith DNA backlog grant program at
18 current or increased levels this year; and be it further
 
19     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
20 delivered to the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the
21 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and each member

 

 

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1 of the Illinois congressional delegation.