{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cohen-hails-federal-grant-more-1-million-help-process-rape-kits", "Cohen Hails Federal Grant of More than $1 Million to Help Process Rape Kits", "2017-10-02", "2017", "2017-10", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "[WASHINGTON, DC] \u2013 Congressman Steve Cohen today hailed the announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice that the City of Memphis will be receiving \u00a0more than $1 million to help process unsubmitted rape kits in law enforcement custody.\n\u201cI am pleased that Memphis will be receiving more than $1 million to help ensure that rape kits get processed. \u00a0DNA analysis is a powerful weapon against sexual assailants, but it can\u2019t do any good when rape kits don\u2019t get processed,\u201d said Congressman Cohen. \"This grant will help the City of Memphis and our local law enforcement track down assailants, help victims get justice, and protect individuals from becoming victimized by recidivists. I will continue fighting in Congress to ensure that sexual assailants are brought to justice.\u201d\nThe funding awarded to the City of Memphis comes from the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), which provides grants to address unsubmitted sexual assault kits in law enforcement custody.\u00a0 Memphis will be receiving $1,071,394.\nEarlier this month, the House of Representatives passed an amendment offered by Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) to include an additional $4 million in the Fiscal Year 2018 House appropriations package for SAKI funding nationally.\u00a0 The passage continued a trend in increased national funding for SAKI by Congress.\u00a0 In 2015, Congressman Cohen and Congresswoman Maloney successfully offered an amendment to increase funding for SAKI by $4 million.\u00a0 In 2014, Congressman Cohen successfully offered an amendment to increase funding for SAKI by $5 million.\u00a0 If the recently House-passed amendment becomes law, Congress will have increased SAKI funding nationally from $36 million to $49 million since 2014 \u2013 a 36% increase.\nAt its peak, the backlog reached 12,000 untested kits in Memphis alone with an estimated 400,000 sitting in evidence rooms nationwide. In 2015, Memphis received nearly $2 million from this grant program to reduce its rape kit backlog.\n  \n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cohen-hails-federal-grant-more-1-million-help-process-rape-kits"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8656186982989311, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}