Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in support of the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act. Katie's Law is named for Katie Sepich, a bright, vivacious 22-year- old from New Mexico who was brutally assaulted, raped, and murdered in 2003. Police were able to extract the DNA profile of her killer from underneath Katie's fingernails, but they got no match in the offender database. When they finally did get a hit on the attacker's DNA 3 years later, they discovered that the murderer had been arrested repeatedly after 2003, but because he was never convicted, he was not required to submit a DNA sample for the database. Had New Mexico required arrestees to submit a DNA sample, Katie's killer would have been apprehended and taken off the street years earlier. Katie's Law applies the lesson that New Mexico and now 24 States across the country have learned: arrestee testing works. This bill would create a new category of grants for States that collect DNA from arrestees for certain felonies. By joining the 25 States, plus the Federal Government, that already collect DNA from arrestees, additional State participation will make the national DNA index system more effective in helping to solve violent crimes. It does so without authorizing any new spending and while protecting civil liberties by putting in place strong expungement requirements. We passed very similar legislation in 2010 with an overwhelming bipartisan majority.…”