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Georgia Congressman Seeking Funding to Test Rape Kit Backlog

A Georgia Congressman is seeking funding to address the sexual assault kit backlog. Earl “Buddy” Carter has requested funds for the Department of Justice’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

A media release states Carter and several colleagues are asking the House Appropriations Committee for $49 million for FY2019, the same amount approved for FY2018.  

Carter states that hundreds of thousands of rape kits sit untested in police department and crime lab storage facilities across the country in what is known as the rape kit backlog.

The initiative seeks to work with other federal programming that targets the rape kit backlog with the goal of resolving the case. The National Sexual Assault initiative was launched in 2015.