Political Quotes

“Thank you. Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that demonstrates that members of different parties with different philosophies can come together when the cause is so clear and straightforward, and we come here today, supporting the 4-year reauthorization of three programs established under the Debbie Smith Act of 2004. These programs facilitate a holistic approach to the use of DNA in sexual assault cases by providing Federal grants to address the huge DNA backlogs and to provide DNA training and technical assistance to States and local law enforcement agencies. The Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program is named for Debbie Smith who, as my dear friend Mr. Scott has indicated, was kidnapped from her home and was raped in nearby woods. The attacker remained unidentified for more than 6 years until a DNA sample, collected from a convicted person who was serving time in a Virginia State prison for other crimes, revealed his identity as her attacker. The delay in identifying her attacker caused Debbie Smith untold psychological and emotional torture. I am very pleased by the fact that, along with Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Mr. Scott and Judge Poe, we were able to meet with Mrs. Smith and her husband, who honor us by witnessing this proceeding that is now going on. I want to commend not only the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Mr.…”