Arlen Specter: “As the Senator knows, a second requirement for States to qualify for these grants is that--whether by State statute…”

“As the Senator knows, a second requirement for States to qualify for these grants is that--whether by State statute, State or local rule, regulation or practice--they preserve biological evidence in a reasonable way. Do the Senators from Delaware and Utah agree with me that States would qualify so long as they preserve evidence in a way sufficient to permit the testing provided for in their State statutes? For example, if a State law provides a three year time limit on post-conviction DNA testing, a practice of preserving evidence throughout those three years would qualify as ``reasonable'' under this legislation. Thus, for example, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio and Utah would qualify.”