stephanie is the commander of the miami dade police crime laboratory bureau. as head of the lab she oversees forensic labs that test control substances, trace evidence, biological evidence, firearms, and tool marks. she is a nationally recognized leader in forensic science and has lectured before the american prosecutors research institutes, the national institute of justice, and the international association chiefs of police. she has also taught as an adjunct professor at the international research institute at florida international university and is a current board member of the american society of crime laboratory directors. she received her bachelors of science from florida university and her master's from florida international university. >> good morning, members of the committee. as stated, my name is stephanie, i am the crime laboratory director at miami dade police department and i am responsible for the managing operation of a full service laboratory. in addition to my duties as crime laboratory director i also sit on the board of the american society

she's the commander of the miami-dade police crime laboratory bureau. as head of the lab, she oversees forensic labs that test control substances, trace evidence, biological evidences, firearms. she's a nationally-recognized leader and has lectured the american prosecutors research institute, the national institute of justice, and the international association chiefs of police. she has also taught as an adjunct professor of forensic biology at florida international university and is a current board member of the american society of crime laboratory directors. she received her masters from florida international university. stephanie. >> good morning. i would say, mr. chairman, members of the committee, as stated my name is stephanie stoilo,ff, and i am responsible for the managing operation of a full-service laboratory. in addition to my duties as crime laboratory directer, i also sit on the board of the american society of crime laboratory directors which represents the interests of over 500 crime laboratory directors throughout the united states and ov

>>Ñi we have over 35 municipalities in miami-dade county, so i can only address what happens with ourency. i have no idea how they track evidence in the other agencies. we do have an in-house system which is a laboratory information management system. what that does is actually track. we know what we have in-house. as far as what's in the property room, even i don't know that from years ago. we have been doing cold cases since 2001, reviewing cold sexual assaults and cold homicides. we have pretty much covered everything with our own agency as far asÑi what's been collect and stored. unfortunately, i agree with what steve said, there are issues that need to be addressed so there are uniform best practices with other agencies, too. >> i want to highlight the experience in some of the jurisdictions that have chosen as a default to test all or nearly all rape kits. these jurisdictions have seen their arrest rates for rape increase by as much as 30 percentage points and had thousands of cold hits. our national -- our average national arrest rape in jurisdictions that have implemented a te

stephanie is the commander of the miami dade police crime laboratory bureau. as head of the lab she oversees forensic labs that test control substances, trace evidence, biological evidence, firearms, and tool marks. she is a nationally recognized leader in forensic science and has lectured before the american prosecutors research institutes, the national institute of justice, and the international association chiefs of police. she has also taught as an adjunct professor at the international research institute at florida international university and is a current board member of the american society of crime laboratory directors. she received her bachelors of science from florida university and her master's from florida international university. >> good morning, members of the committee. as stated, my name is stephanie, i am the crime laboratory director at miami dade police department and i am responsible for the managing operation of a full service laboratory. in addition to my duties as crime laboratory director i also sit on the board of the american society

to extend my sincere thanks to a distinguished south floridian and a faithful public servant, miami-dade police director robert "bobby" parker. it is truly with great sadness that we see such a fine and dedicated police officer retiring. in 2004, bobby's long and successful career with miami-dade police department culminated in the directorship of the department. under his leadership, the department saw the implementation of unique and cutting edge programs such as the mortgage fraud task force and the gun bounty program. bobby's foresight and hard work have consistently had a profound and positive impact on all of south florida. he's always made the greatest efforts for the others. it is with pleasure that i join bobby's family, friends and peers as they honor the many accomplishments of his outstanding career. bobby's lasting legacy will certainly be an inspiring, countless officers to match his selflessness and performance. i thank my good friend, miami-dade police director, bobby parker, for all that he has done for our community in south florida, and i truly wish him all the best in

[applause] >> and i want to acknowledge this fantastic miami-dade college, one of the greatest institutions of our country and the world. and i think president and his staff for all of their hospitality here. [applause] >> i am al gore. i used to be the next president of the united states of america. [laughter] >> i don't think that's funny. you know, i came here to miami on a book tour when i wrote earth in the balance back in 1991, and before joining bill clinton, six, eight months after that. it seems like a long time that i have been speaking and writing about this issue, climate crisis. i was reminded recently of how long it's been when i was with a friend, we worked through lunch and went back to the airport, and stopped at a little place called souping damages are and i went to the line and got a bowl of soup and sat down on a plastic chair, plastic table. and i was eating my soup, and a woman walk by in front of this table just staring at me as she walked past. and i didn't think anything about that until a few moments later out of the corner my eye i saw the same woman coming in th

native of dade county 23 career titles. four grand slam titleses. >> you have to watch a little bit further down the line. he play this had ball crosscourt from your forehand corner, yet he hadn't really come back too far and he found the winner. >> there is an intensity in the stadium that i'm not sure we felt all week. these fans we talked about how satisfactory the carolina tennis fans are and they're hungry for tennis here having never had a regular tour stop and they like this. >> quick serves out of the gate for courier. >> he'd lake toike to challenge it. >> so the lead for jim courier. >> jim, take you on an old flend, an old rival in pete sampras. what's it going to take today? >> it will take great returns, going up against probably the best server of all-time. first and second serve. so no rest for the weary. my second match i'll have to be ready to go. >> do you feel that you have the stuff to get it done and when you take on sam prats, do you look for anything in the serve to get it back? >> i wish i could figu

over 2,200 people participated in the memory walk in my home county of miami-dade and their efforts raisedr $130,000 for research and end to a cure. i was encouraged by the wonderful outpouring of support and participation from our community in south florida. i know from countless personal stories as well as from my own family just how deficient stattings this disease of alzheimer's is. my mom, amanda ross was diagnosed with alzheimer's a year ago. and while i'm blessed to have tremendous family support during this difficult time for her, i recognize how important it is to have organizations such as alzheimer's that can step in and provide families with guidance on how to care for their loved ones. another individual who knows this terrible disease all too well participated in the memory walk in support of his wife of 37 years, maria, who was diagnosed with alzheimer's four years ago at the age of 55. and since that day, her life and tony's lives and lives of children and grandchildren and their entire family has never been its same. it has changed forever. for tony and his wife, there was

well, i can -- aside from the police department we also have 35 municipalities in miami-dade county so i can only address for what happens in our agency and i have no idea to be honest what the laboratory -- you know, how they track evidence in the other agencies. we do have an in-house limb system if you will which is a laboratory information management system. however, what that does is actually track -- we know what we have in-house. as far as what's in the property room, even i don't know that what's actually there from years ago. we are, however, as i said -- we've been doing cold cases since 2001. reviewing cold sexual assaults and cold homicides so we've pretty much covered everything within our own agency as far as what's been collected and stored. but, unfortunately, i agree with what steve said. there are issues that need to be addressed so that there's uniformed best practice with other agencies, too. >> thank you. i want to go -- move on to highlight the experiences some of the jurisdictions that have chosen as a default to test all or nearly all rape kits. these jurisdicti

i recently revisited the leal medical center and their new facility in miami-dade county, where they are providing state of the art first class of care for seniors. not only normal health care, but eyeglasses, hearing aids, dental care, and the constituents that go there, they love it. they are getting the kind of health care you would hope for senior citizens and your family would get. and the principal of the company told me they've saved $70 million in the way that they from their system. and he told me if we continue on these packed with medicare advantage he will not be able to provide these good service is going forward. now there are some fixes to grandfather folks in, but all in all people will be cut and all in all the program will not be as good, and will decline the health care of seniors in florida and across this country. we will cut $15 billion from nursing home care, $40 billion from home health agencies. i spoke to a provider of home health agency practice in florida. he said that these cuts will put half of the home health care agency folks out of business. at the ti

opportunity last week to be back home in florida in palm beach county, in broward county, in miami-dade county, where i talked to doctors, hospital administrators, folks who run medicare advantage plans as well as everyday floridians, spheskly senio--specifically senior citi. and the responses i heard were nearly unanimous. that grave concern about the bill that's being debated on this floor and a general confusion as to why the congress is pursuing on the path that it is. the people of florida don't understand why we're going to cut medicare to create a new program. the people of florida don't understand why we're going to raise taxes to cut a -- to create a new program. the people that i've spoken to in florida do not understand why we would undertake a new $2.5 trillion health care proposal if it wasn't going to reduce the cost of health insurance for the 170 t million to 180 million americans that have health insurance today. why are we embarking on this measure if it is not going to affect most of everyday floridians and everyday americans who are struggling under the high cost of

it is crucial. >> we also have over 35 minutes of penalties in miami-dade county.ddress what happens that our agency. we have an in-house system which is a laboratory information management system. that tracks what we have in house. as far as what is in the property room, even i don't know that. what is there from years ago we have been doing cold cases since 2001. , reviewing a homicide and sexual assaults. on fortunately, i agree that there are issues that need to be addressed so there is uniform best practice with other agencies. >> i want to highlight the experience of some of the jurisdictions that have chosen to test all orderly all of the great kits. they have seen arrest rates for rate increase by as much as 30% and have had thousands of cold hit parade our national -- our average national arrest rate is 22%. jurisdictions that have implemented a test-all kits policy have seen a climb up to 70%. ms halley, what is keeping all jurisdictions from moving toward this model? >> i believe there are three barriersthe nij indicated that local law enforcement agenci

. >> i have the honor to introduce ourçç next guest. çóshe is the commander of the miami dade police a national leader of forensic science and has lectured at the international çassociation chief of police. she has taught as a professor of forensic biology at the international research institute at florida international university and is a board member of the crime laboratory directors. she received her master's from florida international university. >> good morning. my name is stephanie. i in the crime laboratory director and i am the -- i am the crime director. i also sit on the board of the american society of crime laboratory directors which represents the interests of 500 directors to wrathy country and place a great role in the credibility of these services. i am honored to be asked to speak to you about insuring the effective use of dna evidence to effective use of dna evidence to solve rape cases. ti+ the role of crime laboratories is to provide leads to remove dangerous offenders or exonerate innocent suspects and provide roles -- provide results in a court of law. there ar

my home county of miami-dade ranks second among large metropolitan areas for people living with aids with over 32,000 currently diagnosed. these individuals need our assistance. they are fighting this disease. on october 21 of this year with a bipartisan majority we voted in congress to re-authorize the ryan white hiv-aids treatment extension act. the ryan white program has been the largest supplier of services for those living with hiv-aids in the united states. in the united states over 500,000 people a year benefit from the ryan white program. florida alone received over $209 million in funding with ryan white funds in 2009 and has been able to assist countless low income americans living with hiv-aids. fully appreciative of the challenges here at home i am proud to have supported petfar since its insection. to date it has proven to be a highly effective and results-oriented program. for example, more than half of the four million people receiving life saving drugs in low and middle income countries around the world are directly supported through petfar. petfar has supported care

can you go from something as large as dade county, going down to the smaller jurisdictions, which are the majority of jurisdictions? will the national training program on dna evidence, will this be helping them? >> the program with help from the perspective of law enforcement. this is the small agency, that is not aware of what dna can do. this is on the side of what we can do, to know what to correct or cement. you had one chance to submit everything. that does not mean that this is analyzed right away, but this is preserved. i think that there should be some training with what the capabilities are. there is a lack of understanding, whether you have the expression, but the old- school police, who believe that the investigation will solve every crime, and with the physical evidence can do, that is one part of this. this should be mandated. >> before my time, you see the point of view of the prosecutor. this is part of the uniformed standard, with the dna handed over to the laboratories. these things are helpful. >> i think some kind of national standard would be something that would b

when we pass this bill, 31 million americans who dade have no health insurance will have health insurance. at long last. that means they no longer will have to put off the surgery they need or be able to finally use their prescriptions as prescribed, not a half a pill every day, a whole pill every day. it means that 31 million americans will have a decent shot at a healthy life. but if we don't act, if we less misinformation confuse us or less distractions divert us or refuse to answer the american people's call to action, many more will suffer. in nevada, like every other state, health insurance costs continue to climb. if we don't act, in just six years the typical nevada family will spend more than 31% of its income on health care premiums. almost a third of every nevadan's paycheck will go right to his or her health care coverage. that number is even higher on average throughout the country, but only if we do nothing. second, let's talk for just a little bit, mr. president, about today, the present. right now every 31 minutes insurance companies terminate the insurance for 300 america

florida devised a formula which protects a lot of folks in his state especially in broward county, miami-dade county and palm beach but don't protect very many other folks, so maybe this is the definition of good versus bad. there are few that are protected in colorado, maryland, oklahoma, and texas. for example, in my home state of arizona, with a lot of retirees, very few are exempted from the cuts. this is not going to go over well. to exempt only a few in certain key areas and none of the others. again, what happened to the promise that everyone gets to keep what they have? mr. president, my bottom line here is in supporting the hatch amendment is that we should not punish seniors who have signed up to have the choice of medicare advantage. there are better ways to reform health care. we've talked about those ways. our senior citizens have paid into the program, they have asked us for this program. democrats and bottom lines have supported it in the past, and now simply because somehow or other we have to scrape up money for the new entitlements in this legislation, we're going to attack

program from impacting those enrollees who reside primarily in three counties in florida: broward, miami-dadelm beach. it seems unfair that taxpayers would foot a $5 billion provision that provides protection for only some of the medicare advantage beneficiaries. but it certainly proves that there are cuts to medicare advantage benefits in this bill. again, benefits that one out of four beneficiaries in america receives. one of the fastest if not the fastest-growing parts of medicare. instead of preferential treatment for some, why not extend these same protections for medicare advantage to all beneficiaries under medicare? i know that the 60 medicare beneficiaries on medicare advantage in idaho, my home state, want and deserve that same level of protection. that's why, mr. president, that i'm here to support the mccain motion to recommit, and that's what his motion to recommit would accomplish. very plain and very simple. the mccain motion would extend this grandfathering provision to all beneficiaries in the medicare advantage program, so that all seniors in this popular and successful prog

opportunity last week to be back home in florida in palm beach county, in broward county, in miami-dade county, where i talked to doctors, hospital administrators, folks who run medicare advantage plans as well as everyday floridians, spheskly senio--specifically senior citi. and the responses i heard were nearly unanimous. that grave concern about the bill that's being debated on this floor and a general confusion as to why the congress is pursuing on the path that it is. the people of florida don't understand why we're going to cut medicare to create a new program. the people of florida don't understand why we're going to raise taxes to cut a -- to create a new program. the people that i've spoken to in florida do not understand why we would undertake a new $2.5 trillion health care proposal if it wasn't going to reduce the cost of health insurance for the 170 t million to 180 million americans that have health insurance today. why are we embarking on this measure if it is not going to affect most of everyday floridians and everyday americans who are struggling under the high cost of