The infusion, which could top $800 million during the next five years, is aimed at clearing up old crimes and helping police and prosecutors solve new ones. The current and proposed spending reflects an unprecedented commitment to DNA technology by the administration. In contrast, Congress appropriated $106 million for DNA testing from 2000 through 2003.

"It's outstanding that some significant funds are finally starting to be put into the (DNA) system," says Mark Stolorow, director of Orchid Cellmark laboratories of Germantown, Md., which performs DNA tests for government. "That's the only way to ensure justice for hundreds of thousands of rape victims and other crime victims who are still waiting to be helped by (DNA) technology."

One source of controversy in the administration's DNA spending is the omission of significant funding aimed at exonerating the innocent or preventing wrongful convictions. Such measures are key elements of a DNA bill stalled in the Senate since last fall.

DNA, a cellular acid that is unique for each individual, can be used to solve crimes when blood, semen and other biological evidence found at crime scenes are matched with a suspect's DNA. Since 1992, the FBI has maintained a national database that stores DNA profiles of convicted felons and matches them with crimes.

As of last month, the FBI had more than 1.6 million DNA profiles and had scored matches in more than 12,000 cases. There are no statistics on how many convictions have resulted.

In January, President Bush approved $100 million in DNA spending for the current fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. About $60 million of that amount is to help state and local governments test evidence from unsolved crimes and for taking DNA samples from convicts. Most of the rest is for crime lab improvements and training. The money was part of an omnibus spending bill approved by Congress.

The administration proposes spending nearly $177 million for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. If Bush is re-elected this fall, the administration plans to spend equal or greater amounts each year through 2008, said Glenn Schmitt, deputy director of the National Institute of Justice, the Justice Department's research arm.

Barry Scheck, a New York City lawyer who specializes in exonerating convicts through DNA evidence, said the administration's decision to bypass provisions that could free the innocent was "truly unfortunate." The Innocence Project, which Scheck co-founded, has used DNA tests to exonerate 142 convicts.