IV 115th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 909 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 22, 2018 Mr. Joyce of Ohio (for himself, Ms. Speier , Mr. Donovan , Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire , Mrs. Mimi Walters of California , Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania , and Ms. Wasserman Schultz ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need for State legislatures to pass comprehensive sexual assault kit reforms by 2020.

Whereas survivors of sexual assault may undergo an hours-long sexual assault forensic exam to preserve DNA evidence; Whereas many sexual assault kits across the country remain untested; Whereas untested sexual assault kits represent individuals who have been denied the opportunity to seek justice and begin healing; Whereas testing sexual assault kits may help law enforcement officials identify repeat offenders and serial rapists; Whereas the testing of 11,341 sexual assault kits in Detroit has resulted in 2,616 DNA matches and the identification of 850 potential serial rapists so far, and the DNA samples from the kits tested in Detroit are linked to other violent crimes committed in 40 States and the District of Columbia; Whereas ending the sexual assault kit backlog requires the commitment of Federal, State, and local governments and their partners; and Whereas in 2016, the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at Case Western Reserve University, in partnership with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Office, analyzed the cost of testing backlogged sexual assault kits in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and found that each kit tested produces an estimated net savings to the community of $8,893 and testing 4,347 kits produces an estimated net savings of $38,700,000: Now, therefore, be it