[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 785 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 785

To coordinate cargo theft crime data collection and to amend title 18, 
   United States Code, to make improvements relating to cargo theft 
                  prevention, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 10, 2005

 Mr. Stearns introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To coordinate cargo theft crime data collection and to amend title 18, 
   United States Code, to make improvements relating to cargo theft 
                  prevention, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cargo Theft Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. CARGO THEFT DATA COLLECTION.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General shall, within 18 months of 
enactment of this Act, issue regulations to--
            (1) allow for the reporting of cargo theft offenses to the 
        Attorney General by a carrier, facility, or cargo owner 
        promptly after such carrier, facility, or cargo owner becomes 
        aware of the offense, with such reports to contain information 
        regarding the offense as specified in regulations, including 
        the origin and destination of the shipment, the commodities 
        stolen, the time and location of the theft, and other 
        information regarding cargo theft, to the extent such 
        information is available to the reporting party;
            (2) create a database to contain the reports made under 
        paragraph (1) and integrate them, to the extent feasible, with 
        other noncriminal justice and intelligence data;
            (3) prescribe procedures for access to the database created 
        under paragraph (2) by appropriate Federal, State, and local 
        governmental agencies, while protecting the privacy of the 
        information in accordance with other applicable Federal laws; 
        and
            (4) share the results and analysis of the information 
        collected in paragraphs (1) and (2) with the appropriate 
        Federal, State, and local government agencies, for the purpose 
        of assisting in the investigation of cargo theft and in the 
        arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of cargo theft.
    (b) Creation of Databases.--
            (1) In general.--United States Government agencies with 
        significant regulatory or law enforcement responsibilities with 
        respect to cargo theft, to the extent feasible, modify their 
        information databases to ensure the collection and 
        retrievability of data relating to crime and terrorism and 
        related activities affecting cargo transportation.
            (2) Designation of covered agencies.--The Attorney General, 
        after consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        shall designate the agencies included within the requirement of 
        paragraph (1).
    (c) Outreach Program.--The Attorney General, in consultation with 
the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Transportation, the 
National Maritime Security Advisory Committee established under section 
70112 of title 46, United States Code, and appropriate Federal and 
State agencies, shall establish an outreach program to--
            (1) work with State and local law enforcement officials to 
        harmonize the reporting of data on cargo theft among the 
        States, localities and with the United States Government's 
        reports; and
            (2) disseminate cargo theft information to appropriate law 
        enforcement officials.
    (d) Annual Report.--The Attorney General shall submit an annual 
report on the implementation of this section to the Committees on the 
Judiciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Attorney General and Transportation Security 
Administration of the Department of Homeland Security such sums as are 
necessary for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 2007 to carry out 
the requirements of this section, such sums to remain available until 
expended.
    (f) Limitation on Disclosure of Reports and Data.--Any reports made 
pursuant to section 1(a)(1) and the data contained in the database 
created under section 1(a)(2) shall be exempt from disclosure under the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).

SEC. 3. THEFT OF INTERSTATE OR FOREIGN SHIPMENTS OR VESSELS.

    (a) Theft of Interstate or Foreign Shipments.--Section 659 of title 
18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the first undesignated paragraph--
                    (A) by inserting ``trailer,'' after 
                ``motortruck,'';
                    (B) by inserting ``air cargo container,'' after 
                ``aircraft,''; and
                    (C) by inserting ``, or from any intermodal 
                container, trailer, container freight station, 
                warehouse, or freight consolidation facility,'' after 
                ``air navigation facility'';
            (2) in the fifth undesignated paragraph, by striking ``one 
        year'' and inserting ``3 years''; and
            (3) by inserting after the first sentence in the eighth 
        undesignated paragraph the following: ``For purposes of this 
        section, goods and chattel shall be construed to be moving as 
        an interstate or foreign shipment at all points between the 
        point of origin and the final destination (as evidenced by the 
        waybill or other shipping document of the shipment), regardless 
        of any temporary stop while awaiting transshipment or 
        otherwise.''.
    (b) Stolen Vessels.--
            (1) In general.--Section 2311 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ```Vessel' means any watercraft or other contrivance used or 
designed for transportation or navigation on, under, or immediately 
above water.''.
            (2) Transportation and sale of stolen vessels.--Sections 
        2312 and 2313 of title 18, United States Code, are each amended 
        by striking ``motor vehicle or aircraft'' and inserting ``motor 
        vehicle, vessel, or aircraft''.
    (c) Review of Sentencing Guidelines.--Pursuant to section 994 of 
title 28, United States Code, the United States Sentencing Commission 
shall review the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to determine whether 
sentencing enhancement is appropriate for any offense under section 659 
or 2311 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by this Act.
    (d) Annual Report of Law Enforcement Activities.--By December 31, 
2006, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to 
Congress a report, which shall include an evaluation of law enforcement 
activities relating to the investigation and prosecution of offenses 
under section 659 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by this 
Act. The Attorney General's report shall include an assessment of the 
effectiveness of the cargo theft data collection program provided for 
in section 1 thereof.
    (e) Reporting of Cargo Theft.--The Attorney General shall take the 
steps necessary to ensure that reports of cargo theft collected by 
Federal, State, and local officials are reflected as a separate 
category in the Uniform Crime Reporting System, or any successor 
system, by no later than December 31, 2005.
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