NEW YORK -- Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass H.R. , "The Advancing Justice through DNA Technology Act," legislation which Lifetime and its viewers actively have been championing in order to put more rapists behind bars.

The bill would provide $1 billion in funding to eliminate the enormous backlog of DNA evidence from unsolved rape cases, which is currently sitting on shelves and waiting to be tested for an average of more than eighteen months. If the backlog of untested rape kits is cleared, it is estimated that 50,000 to 100,000 rape and murder cases would be solved. Lifetime Television says it is grateful to the U.S. House of Representatives for taking this important step forward and helping to bring relief to countless victims of sexual assault, like rape survivor Debbie Smith, for whom part of the legislation is named.

Lifetime has been working with Debbie Smith and leading advocacy organizations like the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) and RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) to draw attention to the problem of the DNA rape kit backlog. Lifetime has been raising awareness with on-air public service messages and launched an online petition at Lifetimetv.com to give a voice to viewers who want Congress to take action. More than 100,000 Lifetime viewers have signed the petition and the television network has been delivering those signatures to every member of Congress, which has helped build the momentum leading to today's vote.

Source: Lifetime Television