Cornyn addressed a small crowd Wednesday at the Midland Police Department. With city leaders present and a rape victim Lennah Frost, Cornyn outlined the bill.
Research shows that more than 400,000 rape kits are currently sitting in lockers and labs waiting to be tested. Due to the backlog, rapes are going unsolved and criminals aren't being documented.
Frost was raped in 1994, for 14 years, her rape kit sat untested.
"I'll be honest with you, for about the first three years it was awful," said Frost.
Frost spoke to audience members outlining her attack. "Somebody put their hands over my mouth said they had a knife, put it to my throat and said they would kill me if I didn't go along with what they wanted," she said.
It was only when after another rape in 2008 was Frost's rape kit tested and was linked to another rape victim. By then, any prosecution in Frost's case wasn't possible. The statute of limitations prevented it.
That's where Cornyn's Safer Act Bill comes into play. The government already allocates $125 Million to testing rape kits; however, only 40 percent of those funds are being used for its purpose.
If the bill goes through further legislation, that could change.
"What this legislation would do is increase that percentages to at least 75 percent minimum which would mean more of the money would be used for the intended purpose of actually testing these kits," said Cornyn.
Although the bill hasn't been approved through the senate to go into law, Cornyn believes with the high bi-partisan support the legislation is likely to go through.
