Ted Poe: “Today, I urge the House to pass the Justice for All Reauthorization Act to improve crime victims access to justice…”

“Today, I urge the House to pass the Justice for All Reauthorization Act to improve crime victims access to justice, support law enforcement, exonerate the innocent, and strengthen and improve our criminal justice system. In the House, I would like to thank Representative Jim Costa for joining me in introducing this important legislation. I would also like to thank Senator John Cornyn and Senator Patrick Leahy for sponsoring this bill in the Senate. The Justice for All Act of 2004 enhanced protection for crime victims, provided resources to expand the use of DNA and forensic technology to capture and convict criminals, and established safeguards to reverse wrongful convictions. This legislation reauthorizes these important programs and also increases crime victims access to restitution and improves housing protections for domestic violence victims. Under this legislation, states will be encouraged to test unexamined DNA evidence in criminal cases to ensure that innocent people are not imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. But one of the most important things this law will do is tackle the national rape kit backlog by providing critically important resources to forensic labs. A victim of rape is sentenced to a lifetime of mental turmoil, but as rape victim Debbie Smith can attest, also knowing that your attacker is still on the streets is far worse. Debbie was at home doing laundry one afternoon in Williamsburg, Virginia.…”