Schroeder Sponsors "Katie's Law", Rothman Comments on Violence in Egypt

During yesterday's meeting of the various Assembly Committies, District 39 Assemblyman Robert Schroeder (R) of Woodcliff Lake along with District 5 Assemblyman Angel Fuentes (D) introduced bill A3763 aka "Katie's Law."

The bill, named after Katie Sepich, a New Mexico State University student who was murdered in 2003, expands the DNA database to include samples from certain arrestees.

The original Katie's Law was enacted in 2006 in New Mexico, three years after her death. Even though traces of DNA were discovered underneath her fingernails, the identity of her killer was not known until three years after her death. At the time of her murder, suspects who were arrested in New Mexico did not have to provide a DNA sample.Gabriel Avila is currently serving a  69-year prison sentence.

The following states have already enacted versions of Katie's Law: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Flordia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont.

In other legislative news, Rep. Steve Rothman issued a statement on the violence in Egypt:

The United States and our allies are all monitoring the situation on a minute by minute basis and encourage a peaceful and democratic resolution to the current Egyptian unrest. My heart goes out to all of those who have been killed or injured during the mass demonstrations in the Egyptian streets.

For the past 30 years, as the most populous of the Arab states, with the largest standing army in the region, Egypt has played a critically important role in protecting America's interests in North Africa and the Middle East. This includes Egypt's cooperation in military, intelligence, and economic matters with our country; and its continuing to preserve the peace with America's most important friend and strategic ally in the region, the Jewish State of Israel. Egypt has also partnered with the U.S., Israel, and our other allies in fighting terrorism.

In the end, we seek an Egypt that remains a strong ally, working with the U.S. in our common fight against terrorism, living at peace with Israel, and creating an increasingly open society to meet the needs of its young and growing population.