A host of additional witnesses offered compelling testimony to the subcommittee: Hon. Carolyn Maloney, U.S. House of Representatives, 14th District, NY; Hon. Anthony P. Weiner, U.S. House of Representatives, 9th District, NY; Hon. Adam Schiff, U.S. House of Representatives, 29th District, CA; Hon. Jerrold L. Nadler, U.S. House of Representatives, 8th District, NY; Kym L. Worthy, Wayne County Prosecutor, Detroit, MI; D. Christian Hassell, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Laboratory Division Federal Bureau of Investigation U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Jeffrey S. Boschwitz, Ph.D., Vice President, North American Sales and Marketing Orchid Cellmark, Inc., Princeton, NJ; and Peter M. Marrone, Director Virginia Department of Forensic Science, Richmond, VA.

To read all witnesses' written testimony, or to watch the entire hearing, click here. To view the hearing, your computer will need the QuickTime application. For instructions and a free download, click here.

In a statement released on May 20, Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, said:

"Testing a rape kit can identify the attacker, confirm that a suspect had sexual contact with a victim, or corroborate the victim's account of the sexual assault. And, it can help exonerate innocent people… Testing every rape kit gives sexual assault survivors the peace of mind that their case is being pursued by law enforcement and that there is a chance their attacker will be taken off the streets." Read Congressman Conyers' entire statement.

Other witnesses present were: Hon. Carolyn Maloney, U.S. House of Representatives 14th District, NY; Hon. Anthony P. Weiner, U.S. House of Representatives, 9th District, NY; Hon. Adam Schiff, U.S. House of Representatives, 29th District, CA; Hon. Jerrold L. Nadler, U.S. House of Representatives, 8th District, NY; Kym L. Worthy, Wayne County Prosecutor, Detroit, MI; D. Christian Hassell, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Laboratory Division Federal Bureau of Investigation U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Jeffrey S. Boschwitz, Ph.D., Vice President North American Sales and Marketing Orchid Cellmark, Inc., Princeton, NJ; and Peter M. Marrone, Director Virginia Department of Forensic Science, Richmond, VA.

To read all witnesses' written testimony or to watch the entire hearing, click here. To view the hearing, you will need QuickTime. For instructions and a free download, click here.

In a statement released on May 20, Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, said:

"Testing a rape kit can identify the attacker, confirm that a suspect had sexual contact with a victim, or corroborate the victim's account of the sexual assault. And it can help exonerate innocent people… Testing every rape kit gives sexual assault survivors the peace of mind that their case is being pursued by law enforcement and that there is a chance their attacker will be taken off the streets."

Read Congressman Conyers' entire statement.

Congressman Bobby Scott, Chairman of the Subcommittee, argued for rape kit testing and noted:

"Studies have shown that when a rape kit is collected, tested, and contains offender DNA, it is significantly more likely that the case will be prosecuted than in cases where no rape kit is collected."

Congressman Ted Poe of Texas offered sharp criticism of the status quo and called for reforms:

"Without forensic evidence…juries question the case, they question the prosecution, even though it may exist. And Juries never understand why a rape kit was performed, the case is tried, and that evidence is not in the courtroom. You cannot explain that to a jury…

"There are a lot of crimes, but… [sexual assault] is the worst crime in my opinion, because of what the perpetrator tries to do to the victim's spirit. And we, as a culture, need to recognize that that those are special victims that need to be treated special [sic] in our court system…because victims in the system continue to be victimized by the system; we have to end that.…Backlogs have to be dealt with. There should be no backlog."

Mariska brought Joyful Heart's message of a changed awareness surrounding the issue of sexual violence to a larger audience. She used the moment to advocate-literally "to call out"-on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of victims who await justice.

"So many times the shame is with the victim as opposed to the perpetrator... It takes so much for a survivor to come forward, and to muster that courage to come forward, and to then have nothing done about it-what are we saying? What are we telling them? Who are we protecting? We're saying you don't matter."

Joyful Heart is committed to eliminating the backlog of untested rape kits in this country, and to ensuring that, in the future, victims can have their kits tested and can have access to information about the status of their kits. As this issue continues to evolve, Joyful Heart will continue to advocate for change.

We encourage you to write to your Senator and Representatives and tell them the time for action has arrived. Click here to find your Congressperson.

In addition, you may also choose to write to the following Senators and Representatives to thank them for their continued leadership on this issue:

Senate
Senator Patrick Leahy (Chairman of the Judiciary Committee) Sen Bennet, Michael F. [CO] Sen Burr, Richard [NC] Sen Casey, Robert P., Jr. [PA] Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] Sen Franken, Al [MN] Sen Grassley, Chuck [IA] Sen Hagan, Kay [NC] Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ] Sen Merkley, Jeff [OR] Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. [MD]	Bobby Vassar, Chief Counsel to Subcommittee Chairman, Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, Mariska, and Chairman Bobby Scott after the hearing.
House
Rep Conyers, John [MI-14] (Chairman, Judiciary Committee) Rep Scott, Bobby [VA-3] (Chairman, Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security) Rep Gohmert, Louie [TX-1] (Ranking Member, Judiciary Subcommittee) Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] (introduced 11/19/2009) Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43] - 12/1/2009 Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] - 12/8/2009 Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 2/23/2010 Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 11/19/2009 Rep Chu, Judy [CA-32] - 11/19/2009 Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] - 12/1/2009 Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] - 11/19/2009 Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7] - 3/12/2010 Rep Delahunt, Bill [MA-10] - 11/19/2009 Rep Edwards, Donna F. [MD-4] - 12/11/2009 Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17] - 11/19/2009 Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 11/19/2009 Rep Hall, John J. [NY-19] - 11/19/2009 Rep Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-23] - 5/24/2010 Rep Heller, Dean [NV-2] - 11/19/2009 Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2] - 12/1/2009 Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12] - 11/19/2009 Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 11/19/2009 Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. [IL-2] - 12/1/2009	Rep Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [GA-4] - 12/9/2009 Rep Kennedy, Patrick J. [RI-1] - 11/19/2009 Rep Kildee, Dale E. [MI-5] - 1/13/2010 Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 12/1/2009 Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 11/19/2009 Rep Moore, Dennis [KS-3] - 11/19/2009 Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 11/19/2009 Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC] - 11/19/2009 Rep Pastor, Ed [AZ-4] - 5/24/2010 Rep Perriello, Thomas S.P. [VA-5] - 11/19/2009 Rep Poe, Ted [TX-2] - 4/29/2010 Rep Quigley, Mike [IL-5] - 12/3/2009 Rep Richardson, Laura [CA-37] - 11/19/2009 Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 1/27/2010 Rep Roybal-Allard, Lucille [CA-34] - 5/18/2010 Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29] - 11/19/2009 Rep Speier, Jackie [CA-12] - 11/19/2009 Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13] - 11/19/2009 Rep Titus, Dina [NV-3] - 12/1/2009 Rep Watson, Diane E. [CA-33] - 11/19/2009 Rep Waxman, Henry A. [CA-30] - 11/19/2009 Rep Weiner, Anthony [NY-9] Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 12/2/2009

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