[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H1854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FIGHTING CARGO THEFT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell my colleagues and the 
country about a problem that has plagued our country for some 30 years, 
but continues unabated today. It is a problem that travels our highways 
and threatens our interstate commerce. It is a problem that affects our 
entire country and demands a Federal response. The problem is the crime 
of cargo theft.
  Every year, tens of billions of dollars are lost due to cargo theft, 
by one estimate, up to $60 billion a year in losses. But there are 
indirect costs as well. This huge amount of business and profit 
translates into the loss of at least 300,000 mid-level manufacturing 
jobs. Prices are increasing due to higher insurance premiums. People 
are losing their jobs and consumers are paying higher prices because of 
cargo theft. Making matters worse, law enforcement officials estimate 
60 percent of cargo theft incidents go unreported, so these costs could 
be even greater.
  Typical targets for cargo theft often include shipments of clothing, 
prescription drugs, computers, and jewelry. A truckload of computer 
microprocessors can be worth millions of dollars. A truckload of 
cigarettes, just another common target, can be worth up to $2 million.
  Cargo thieves employ creative and highly efficient means to prey on 
cargo carriers and have managed to stay one step ahead of our 
authorities. Thieves know what they want, where they can find it, and 
how they can get it.
  And let us not forget that cargo theft is a national security issue. 
We know that terrorists can make a lot of money stealing and selling 
cargo, not to mention the fact that terrorists have a proven record of 
using trucks to either smuggle weapons of mass destruction or as an 
instrument of delivery.
  Make no mistake about it, cargo theft is a big business, and business 
is booming.
  But despite the incredible costs and high stakes involved, we still 
have not been able to come up with an effective way to fight cargo 
theft. The trouble is, cargo theft is not well-known or a high-profile 
issue. And one of the reasons that cargo theft does not receive the 
attention it deserves is because very little information exists 
concerning the problem. For example, there currently is no all-
inclusive database that collects, contains, or processes distinct 
information and data regarding cargo theft.
  In order to combat the growing problem of cargo theft, I have 
introduced legislation, the Cargo Theft Prevention Act, which proposes 
commonsense solutions to this widespread crime. My legislation would 
require the creation of just such a database, providing a valuable 
source of information that would allow State and local law enforcement 
officials to coordinate reports of cargo theft. This information could 
then be used to help fight this theft in everyday law enforcement and 
estimating, and very importantly, estimating the exact cost of this 
crime.
  My act, the Cargo Theft Prevention Act, proposes that cargo theft 
reports be reflected as a separate category in the Uniform Crime 
Reporting System, or the UCR, the data collection system that is used 
by the FBI today. Currently, no such category exists in the UCR, 
resulting in ambiguous data and the inability to track and monitor 
trends.
  The last thing my bill does is have the United States Sentencing 
Commission take a look at whether criminals who commit cargo theft 
deserve stiffer penalties. This needs to be done because the high 
value-to-volume ratio of hi-tech and high-profit goods cargo theft has 
encouraged criminals previously involved in drug dealing to move into 
this area of activity, where they run less risk of detection and suffer 
less penalties if they are caught.
  As it now stands, Mr. Speaker, punishment for cargo theft is a 
relative slap on the wrist. Throw in the fact that cargo thieves are 
tough to catch, and what we have here is a low-risk, high-reward crime 
that easily entices potential criminals. We need to determine what 
sentencing enhancements and increases must be made, if at all.
  Members in this Chamber need to be made aware of this problem, a 
problem not only specific to the large port cities of this country, but 
a problem specific to all of our congressional districts. Billions of 
dollars are being sapped from our economy and this body is doing little 
to stop it. It is time that we get aggressive and make our highways 
again safe for commerce.
  The Cargo Theft Prevention Act proposes to finally give law 
enforcement officials and lawmakers the commonsense tools they need to 
combat the costly and growing crime of cargo theft. I urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation.

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