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II
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 1339
To amend the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to ensure crime victims are
not denied compensation because of rape kit backlogs, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL 22, 2021
Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. TOOMEY) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to ensure
crime victims are not denied compensation because of
rape kit backlogs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for Rape Kit
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Backlog Survivors Act of 2021’’.
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SEC. 2. CRIME VICTIM COMPENSATION.
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Section 1403(b) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984
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(34 U.S.C. 20102(b)) is amended—
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(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
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end;
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•S 1339 IS
(2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-
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graph (10); and
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(3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-
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lowing:
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‘‘(9) beginning not later than 3 years after the
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date of enactment of this paragraph, such pro-
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gram—
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‘‘(A) provides a waiver for any application
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filing deadline imposed by the program for a
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crime victim if—
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‘‘(i) the crime victim is otherwise eligi-
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ble for compensation; and
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‘‘(ii) the delay in filing the application
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was a result of a delay in the testing of,
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or a delay in the DNA profile matching
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from, a sexual assault forensic examination
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kit or biological material collected as evi-
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dence related to a sexual offense; and
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‘‘(B) does not require the crime victim to
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undergo an appeals process to have the applica-
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tion of the crime victim considered for a filing
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deadline waiver under subparagraph (A); and’’.
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Æ
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