Sponsors (3)
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Creates a new grant provision in Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to support improvements in forensic activities, and directs the Attorney General to deliver a report to Congress within two years describing existing grants and practices and addressing the use and implementation of forensic genetic genealogy in publicly funded forensic laboratories. The required report must be prepared in consultation with the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Laboratory Needs Working Group and include recommendations on implementation, anticipated funding needs, and needed regulations. The bill does not include the text of the added grant provision (no amounts, eligibility, or deadlines are provided), so key details about grant scope and funding are unspecified. Agencies, forensic labs, law enforcement, victims, and privacy stakeholders are likely to be affected by the new grant authority and by any recommendations or regulations resulting from the mandated report.
Amend Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 by adding at the end a new provision titled 'Grants to improve forensic activities.' The section as provided contains the heading and the statement that the amendment is to be added, but it does not include the substantive text of the new provision.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Forensic Laboratory Needs Working Group of the National Institute of Justice, shall submit to Congress a report.
The report must include information on the awards and practices reported by the Attorney General under section 3064 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by this Act.
The report must address forensic genetic genealogy technologies and how best to implement forensic genetic genealogy into publicly funded forensic laboratories.
The report must include recommendations for implementing forensic investigative genetic genealogy technology, including expected funding needs.
Primary direct impacts: publicly funded forensic laboratories and forensic personnel (laboratory managers, forensic chemists, DNA analysts) would be the intended beneficiaries of grants to improve forensic activities; they may receive funding, training, equipment, or technical assistance if and when the grant program is defined and funded. State and local law enforcement agencies that rely on forensic lab outputs could see improved case processing, reduced backlogs, and potentially different investigative capabilities. Crime victims and the justice system may benefit from more timely or accurate forensic results, but adoption of advanced techniques like forensic genetic genealogy also raises privacy and civil‑liberties concerns for individuals whose genetic data may be used or referenced. The Attorney General, DOJ components, and the NIJ will bear administrative responsibilities to prepare the mandated report and to interpret/report on section 3064 awards and practices. Because the bill does not specify funding or eligibility, the scale and distribution of benefits and burdens depend on later implementing actions. Possible indirect impacts include state/local decisions about adopting forensic genetic genealogy policies, investment needs for lab upgrades, and potential requirements for regulatory or procedural safeguards to address privacy and legal concerns. Overall, the bill initiates federal attention and planning for expanding forensic capacity and the controlled use of forensic genetic genealogy, but it leaves final design and funding decisions to follow‑on actions informed by the required report.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced May 22, 2025 by John Cornyn · Last progress May 22, 2025
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Carla Walker Act
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in Senate