[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 5, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         COMBATING CARGO THEFT

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk today about a little 
known crime that has an enormous impact on all of our congressional 
districts.
  Every day our country loses millions of dollars to interstate cargo 
theft, a crime that is occurring on highways across our country. Any 
crime that threatens this flow of goods should be dealt with quickly.
  The fact that cargo theft is now being tied to the funding of terror 
makes it critical that we address this crime on the Federal level. I 
have introduced a bill, the Cargo Theft Prevention Act, which seeks to 
bring this crime out of the shadows and to finally hold criminals 
accountable.
  With stricter criminal penalties and better information sharing, this 
bill will finally give both lawmakers and law enforcement officials the 
tools they need to combat this growing crime. With support from the 
American Trucking Association and multiple law enforcement groups, I 
hope all of you will join me in cosponsoring H.R. 3563, The Cargo Theft 
Prevention Act.

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