On September 10, the House Judiciary Committee approved, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 3036) that would reauthorize the Department of Justice through FY2006. The measure, introduced by Chair James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) would authorize appropriations for the Justice Department at the levels requested by the President, including $22.7 billion for FY2004.
Under the bill, the Byrne Grant Program and the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant would be combined into a new program known as the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program authorized at $1.1 billion.
H.R. 3036 would make technical clarifications about how states and local authorities may use grants provided under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In addition, grants that are used to enforce domestic violence cases would be expanded to include sexual assault cases.
During consideration of the bill, the committee adopted, by voice vote, an amendment by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) that would include DNA samples from individuals convicted of violent felonies in an existing national DNA database of violent sex offenders. The amendment also would expand the circumstances under which states can check defendant DNA data against the database.
Rep. Schiff also offered an amendment that would have narrowed the scope of the AMBER bill (P.L. 108-21) to include sentencing guideline provisions only related to sex offenders who victimize children. The amendment was ruled not germane.
During the same mark-up session, the Judiciary Committee approved, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 2714) that would authorize $7 million annually through FY2008 for the State Justice Institute (SJI).
