-Caveat Lector- http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,32593,00.html
Expanding the DNA Database by Declan McCullagh 3:00 a.m. Nov. 17, 1999 PST US police may soon have the cash they need to accelerate their DNA fingerprinting efforts, courtesy of the federal government. A new bill in Congress provides over US$45 million in federal funds to spur police into taking more DNA samples and using them in criminal investigations. The FBI in late 1998 finished constructing a massive DNA database with about a million entries, but local and state police have a backlog of samples taken from criminal suspects and crime scenes and have been slow in adding them to the system. Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) hopes to change this. His proposal, cosponsored by Jim Ramstad (R-Minn) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich), allows the Justice Department to write checks to state and local police forces so they can buy "state-of-the-art testing methods." Gilman's bill expands the database to allow samples to be taken not just from adults convicted of criminal offenses, but also from minors guilty of "acts of juvenile delinquency." It also includes violent criminals in the District of Columbia. "The legislation will give money to states to get caught up with the DNA registry," a spokesman for Gilman said. "The problem is there have been so many DNA samples." Privacy advocates charge that collecting more information is unwise. "The problem is that a great deal of the backlog is caused by a number of these states demanding DNA samples from just about everyone. A number of states -- Louisiana and New York -- are moving toward collecting DNA samples from every single individual arrested, no matter how minor the crime," says David Banisar, co-author of the Electronic Privacy Papers. "[You shouldn't] give them endless pots of money to do this. Politicians are afraid of doing the right thing for fear of looking soft on crime," Banisar said. If the bill becomes law, anyone in prison, on parole, or on probation who's guilty of certain serious crimes must give DNA samples to the police -- if they haven't already -- or be found guilty or a misdemeanor. The measure allows "the use of such means as are necessary to restrain and collect a DNA sample from an individual who refuses to cooperate in the collection of the sample." DNA carries each individual's unique genetic code. Samples taken from blood -- the most common method -- or other body fluids can be used to match suspects to evidence at crime scenes. The FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) is a huge database that -- as of its launch in October 1998 -- was installed in 94 laboratories in 41 states and Washington DC. The National DNA Index is part of CODIS and records information submitted by participating states. A 1994 law called the DNA Identification Act allows the FBI to include information about people convicted of crimes, samples recovered from crime scenes, and samples recovered from unidentified human remains. Another bill, HR3087, includes a similar provision. It gives the Justice Department $30 million to eliminate the database backlog. In April, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) introduced a bill to limit federal DNA databases. Copyright � 1994-2001 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved. ---------- http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:4:./temp/~c107O8k7In:: DNA Database Completion Act of 2001 (Introduced in the House) HR 2680 IH 107th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2680 To authorize the grant program for elimination of the nationwide backlog in analyses of DNA samples at the level necessary to completely eliminate the backlog and obtain a DNA sample from every person convicted of a qualifying offense. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 31, 2001 Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- A BILL To authorize the grant program for elimination of the nationwide backlog in analyses of DNA samples at the level necessary to completely eliminate the backlog and obtain a DNA sample from every person convicted of a qualifying offense. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the `DNA Database Completion Act of 2001'. SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF DNA BACKLOG GRANTS AT LEVEL NECESSARY TO COMPLETELY ELIMINATE BACKLOG AND OBTAIN DNA SAMPLES FROM ALL PERSONS CONVICTED OF QUALIFYING OFFENSES. Subsection (j) of section 2 of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-546; 114 Stat. 2726; 42 U.S.C. 14135) is amended to read as follows: `(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General for grants under subsection (a) $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2006.'. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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