S. 499 · 118th Congress

Debbie Smith Act of 2023

Introduced on Feb 16, 2023 by John Cornyn (R-TX). 16 cosponsors, 9 of them from another party. Latest action (Nov 6, 2023): Held at the desk.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Feb 16, 2023
Cosponsors
16
9 from the other party
Policy area
Crime and Law Enforcement
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

A bill to amend the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to reauthorize the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Assault and harassment offenses
  • Crimes against women
  • Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
  • Criminal justice information and records
  • Evidence and witnesses
  • Genetics
  • Law enforcement administration and funding
  • Medical tests and diagnostic methods
  • Sex offenses
  • Violent crime

Summary

The Congressional Research Service has not summarized this measure yet.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

John CornynR-TXSponsor

Democrats · 9

Republicans · 7

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Feb 16, 2023Introduced in Senate
  2. Feb 16, 2023 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  3. Nov 2, 2023Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  4. Nov 2, 2023 · SenateSenate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  5. Nov 2, 2023 · SenateMeasure laid before Senate by unanimous consent.
  6. Nov 2, 2023Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Voice Vote.
  7. Nov 2, 2023 · SenatePassed Senate with an amendment by Voice Vote.
  8. Nov 6, 2023 · SenateMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
  9. Nov 6, 2023 · HouseReceived in the House.
  10. Nov 6, 2023 · HouseHeld at the desk.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. General Federation of Women's Clubs5 reports
    $50K reported (all issues)
  2. National Fraternal Order of Police5 reports
    $375K reported (all issues)
  3. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.5 reports
    Federal contractor: THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC (ASHEVILLE) LLC$2.2M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  4. Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network4 reports
    $91.4K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: RAPE, ABUSE AND INCEST NATIONAL NETWORK RAINN$6.4M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  5. Sergeants Benevolent Association of New York City1 report
    $40K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2023, 2024.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.