HR 1046 108th Congress House Crime and Law Enforcement Administrative procedure Arrest Authorization Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues Congress Congressional reporting requirements Criminal investigation Criminal justice information DNA Data banks Department of Justice Drug abuse Economics and Public Finance Education Emergency Management Emergency medicine Employee training Evidence (Law) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Debbie Smith Act of 2003

Introduced: March 4, 2003 See on congress.gov

Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

May 5, 2003

Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Mar 4, 2003

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Mar 4, 2003

Introduced in House

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Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Debbie Smith Act of 2003 - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) survey Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement jurisdictions to assess the amount of DNA evidence from sexual assault crimes that has not been subjected to testing and analysis; (2) review national, State, local, and tribal government protocols on the collection and processing of DNA evidence at crime scenes; and (3) make grants for sexual assault examiner programs, examiner training and certification, acquisition or improvement of forensic equipment, and other training.

Amends the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to: (1) ensure that DNA testing and analysis of samples from rape kits and non-suspect cases are carried out in a timely manner; (2) reauthorize grants; (3) make local governments eligible for grants; (4) direct the Attorney General to give priority to a State or local governmental unit that has a significant rape kit or non-suspect case backlog; and (5) expand the scope of DNA samples subject to privacy protections.

Amends: (1) the Federal criminal code and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to authorize "John Doe" DNA indictments for sexual abuse (allows describing a person as an unknown individual who has a particular DNA profile if the identity of the accused or defendant is unknown); and (2) the DNA Identification Act of 1994 to authorize appropriations to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to carry out a redesign of the Combined DNA Index System.

What's happening now May 5, 2003

Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Related & companion bills 2

Bill text 1 version

Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 2

Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee
House of Representatives · subcommittee of Judiciary Committee
Judiciary Committee
House of Representatives

Cosponsors 21

Velázquez, Nydia M.

New York · May 21, 2003

Kaptur, Marcy

Ohio · May 15, 2003

Markey, Edward J.

Massachusetts · Apr 3, 2003

Thompson, Mike

California · Mar 27, 2003

Davis, Danny K.

Illinois · Mar 20, 2003

Case, Ed

Hawaii · Mar 12, 2003

Lofgren, Zoe

California · Mar 12, 2003

McGovern, James P.

Massachusetts · Mar 12, 2003

Smith, Adam

Washington · Mar 12, 2003

Baldwin, Tammy

Wisconsin · Mar 4, 2003

DeLauro, Rosa L.

Connecticut · Mar 4, 2003

Lynch, Stephen F.

Massachusetts · Mar 4, 2003

McCollum, Betty

Minnesota · Mar 4, 2003

Nadler, Jerrold

New York · Mar 4, 2003

Norton, Eleanor Holmes

District of Columbia · Mar 4, 2003

Sánchez, Linda T.

California · Mar 4, 2003

Sanders, Bernard

Vermont · Mar 4, 2003

Schakowsky, Janice D.

Illinois · Mar 4, 2003

Schiff, Adam B.

California · Mar 4, 2003

Scott, Robert C. "Bobby"

Virginia · Mar 4, 2003

Van Hollen, Chris

Maryland · Mar 4, 2003

Cite this page click to expand

APA

U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 1046: Debbie Smith Act of 2003. 108th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1046/

MLA

"H.R. 1046: Debbie Smith Act of 2003." 108th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1046/.

Bluebook (legal)

H.R. 1046, 108th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1046/.

Markdown link

[H.R. 1046: Debbie Smith Act of 2003](https://openamerica.io/bill/108-HR-1046/)