Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 140 To combat organized crime involving the illegal acquisition of retail goods for the purpose of selling those illegally obtained goods through physical and online retail marketplaces. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 30, 2023 Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To combat organized crime involving the illegal acquisition of retail goods for the purpose of selling those illegally obtained goods through physical and online retail mar- ketplaces. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Organized 4 Retail Crime Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 140 IS (1) organized retail crime, a crime involving 1 groups of individuals specifically targeting retail 2 stores, often by using violence or threats of violence 3 to subdue employees and shoppers while robbing 4 stores of their most valuable and easily diverted 5 merchandise, has been a growing concern to retail- 6 ers, industry, and law enforcement; 7 (2) retailers have seen a dramatic increase in 8 occurrences of organized retail crime, costing retail- 9 ers approximately $720,000 per every 10 $1,000,000,000 in sales in 2019, representing more 11 than a 50-percent increase in such losses since 2015. 12 Further, according to the National Retail Federa- 13 tion, the use of violence or aggression is increasing 14 in the commission of these crimes, with 2⁄3 of retail- 15 ers reporting an increase of violence during the com- 16 mission of retail theft; 17 (3) organized retail crime— 18 (A) threatens the safety and liberty of in- 19 dividuals in the United States when those indi- 20 viduals engage in commerce; 21 (B) erodes the retail economy for cus- 22 tomers and businesses alike; and 23 (C) finances transnational criminal organi- 24 zations that use the proceeds of those thefts to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 140 IS support the criminal goals of the criminal orga- 1 nizations; and 2 (4) it has become necessary for Congress— 3 (A) to amend title 18, United States Code, 4 to ensure that law enforcement has the legal 5 tools necessary to combat organized retail crime 6 in the same capacity as law enforcement is able 7 to combat theft and diversion from other por- 8 tions of the supply chain; and 9 (B) to direct the executive branch to create 10 a central coordination center to align Federal, 11 State, local, territorial, and Tribal efforts to 12 combat organized retail crime. 13 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE. 14 Part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 15 (1) in section 982(a)(5)— 16 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C), 17 (D), and (E) as subparagraphs (D), (E), and 18 (F), respectively; 19 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 20 the following: 21 ‘‘(C) section 659 (interstate or foreign ship- 22 ments by carrier; State prosecutions);’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 140 IS (C) in subparagraph (E), as so redesig- 1 nated, by striking ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semi- 2 colon; 3 (D) in subparagraph (F), as so redesig- 4 nated, by striking the period at the end and in- 5 serting a semicolon; and 6 (E) by inserting after subparagraph (F), 7 as so redesignated, the following: 8 ‘‘(G) section 2314 (transportation of stolen 9 goods, securities, moneys, fraudulent State tax 10 stamps, or articles used in counterfeiting); or 11 ‘‘(H) section 2315 (sale or receipt of stolen 12 goods, securities, moneys, or fraudulent State tax 13 stamps).’’; 14 (2) in section 1956(c)(7)(D)— 15 (A) by inserting ‘‘section 659 (interstate or 16 foreign shipments by carrier; State prosecu- 17 tions),’’ after ‘‘section 658 (relating to property 18 mortgaged or pledged to farm credit agen- 19 cies),’’; and 20 (B) by inserting ‘‘section 2314 (transpor- 21 tation of stolen goods, securities, moneys, 22 fraudulent State tax stamps, or articles used in 23 counterfeiting), section 2315 (sale or receipt of 24 stolen goods, securities, moneys, or fraudulent 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 140 IS State tax stamps),’’ after ‘‘section 2281 (relat- 1 ing to violence against maritime fixed plat- 2 forms),’’; 3 (3) in section 2314, in the first paragraph— 4 (A) by inserting ‘‘or by using any facility 5 of interstate or foreign commerce,’’ after ‘‘com- 6 merce’’; 7 (B) by inserting ‘‘or of an aggregate value 8 of $5,000 or more during any 12-month pe- 9 riod,’’ after ‘‘more,’’; 10 (C) by inserting ‘‘, embezzled,’’ after ‘‘sto- 11 len’’; and 12 (D) by inserting ‘‘, false pretense, or other 13 illegal means’’ after ‘‘fraud’’; and 14 (4) in section 2315, in the first paragraph— 15 (A) by inserting ‘‘or of an aggregate value 16 of $5,000 or more during any 12-month pe- 17 riod,’’ after ‘‘$5,000 or more,’’; and 18 (B) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and inserting ‘‘, or 19 have been stolen, unlawfully converted, or taken 20 by the use of any facility of interstate or foreign 21 commerce in the commission of said act; or’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 140 IS SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CENTER TO COMBAT ORGA- 1 NIZED RETAIL CRIME. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Trade Facilitation 3 and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4341 et 4 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 305 the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘SEC. 305A. ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME COORDINATION 7 CENTER. 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) CENTER.—The term ‘Center’ means the 10 Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center estab- 11 lished pursuant to subsection (b)(1). 12 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME.—The term 13 ‘organized retail crime’ includes— 14 ‘‘(A) any crime described in section 2314 15 or 2315 of title 18, United States Code; and 16 ‘‘(B) aiding or abetting the commission of, 17 or conspiring to commit, any act that is in fur- 18 therance of a violation of a crime referred to in 19 paragraph (1). 20 ‘‘(b) ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME COORDINATION 21 CENTER.— 22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 23 after the date of the enactment of the Combating 24 Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023, the Secretary 25 of Homeland Security shall direct the Executive As- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 140 IS sociate Director of Homeland Security Investigations 1 to establish the Organized Retail Crime Coordina- 2 tion Center. 3 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The duties of the Center shall 4 include— 5 ‘‘(A) coordinating Federal law enforcement 6 activities related to organized retail crime, in- 7 cluding investigations of national and 8 transnational criminal organizations that are 9 engaged in organized retail crime; 10 ‘‘(B) establishing relationships with State 11 and local law enforcement agencies and organi- 12 zations, including organized retail crime asso- 13 ciations, and sharing information regarding or- 14 ganized retail crime threats with such agencies 15 and organizations; 16 ‘‘(C) assisting State and local law enforce- 17 ment agencies with their investigations of orga- 18 nized retail crime groups; 19 ‘‘(D) establishing relationships with retail 20 companies, sharing information with such com- 21 panies regarding organized retail crime threats, 22 and providing mechanisms for the receipt of in- 23 vestigative information on such threats; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 140 IS ‘‘(E) establishing a secure system for shar- 1 ing information regarding organized retail 2 crime threats by leveraging existing information 3 systems at the Department of Homeland Secu- 4 rity and the Department of Justice; 5 ‘‘(F) tracking trends with respect to orga- 6 nized retail crime and releasing annual public 7 reports on such trends; and 8 ‘‘(G) supporting the provision of training 9 and technical assistance in accordance with sub- 10 section (c). 11 ‘‘(3) LEADERSHIP; STAFFING.— 12 ‘‘(A) DIRECTOR.—The Center shall be 13 headed by a Director, who shall be— 14 ‘‘(i) an experienced law enforcement 15 officer; 16 ‘‘(ii) appointed by the Director of 17 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce- 18 ment; and 19 ‘‘(iii) in the Senior Executive Service 20 (as defined in section 3132 of title 5, 21 United States Code). 22 ‘‘(B) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The Director of 23 the Center shall be assisted by a Deputy Direc- 24 tor, who shall be appointed, on a 2-year rota- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 140 IS tional basis, upon request from the Executive 1 Associate Director of Homeland Security Inves- 2 tigations, by— 3 ‘‘(i) the Director of the Federal Bu- 4 reau of Investigation; 5 ‘‘(ii) the Director of the United States 6 Secret Service; or 7 ‘‘(iii) the Chief Postal Inspector. 8 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL STAFF.—The staff of the 9 Center shall include— 10 ‘‘(i) Special Agents and Analysts from 11 Homeland Security Investigations; and 12 ‘‘(ii) detailed criminal investigators, 13 analysts, and liaisons from other Federal 14 agencies who have responsibilities related 15 to organized retail crime, including 16 detailees from— 17 ‘‘(I) U.S. Customs and Border 18 Protection; 19 ‘‘(II) the United States Secret 20 Service; 21 ‘‘(III) the United States Postal 22 Inspection Service; 23 ‘‘(IV) the Bureau of Alcohol, To- 24 bacco, Firearms and Explosives; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 140 IS ‘‘(V) the Drug Enforcement Ad- 1 ministration. 2 ‘‘(D) STATE AND LOCAL STAFF.—The 3 staff of the Center may include detailees from 4 State and local law enforcement agencies, who 5 shall serve at the Center on a nonreimbursable 6 basis. 7 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall co- 9 ordinate its activities, as appropriate, with 10 other Federal agencies and centers responsible 11 for countering transnational organized crime 12 threats. 13 ‘‘(B) SHARED RESOURCES.—In estab- 14 lishing the Center, the Executive Associate Di- 15 rector of Homeland Security Investigations may 16 co-locate or otherwise share resources and per- 17 sonnel, including detailees and agency liaisons, 18 with— 19 ‘‘(i) the National Intellectual Property 20 Rights Coordination Center established 21 pursuant to section 305(a)(1); or 22 ‘‘(ii) other existing interagency cen- 23 ters within the Department of Homeland 24 Security. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 140 IS ‘‘(C) AGREEMENTS.—The Director of the 1 Center, or his or her designee, may enter into 2 agreements with Federal, State, local, and Trib- 3 al agencies and private sector entities to facili- 4 tate carrying out the duties described in para- 5 graph (2). 6 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION SHARING.—Subject to 7 the approval of the Director of the Center, in- 8 formation that would otherwise be subject to 9 the limitation on the disclosure of confidential 10 information set forth in section 1905 of title 11 18, United States Code, may be shared if such 12 disclosure is operationally necessary. The Direc- 13 tor may not delegate his or her authority under 14 this subparagraph. 15 ‘‘(5) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 16 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 18 year after the date of the enactment of the 19 Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 20 2023, the Secretary of Homeland Security 21 shall submit a report regarding the estab- 22 lishment of the Center to— 23 ‘‘(I) the Committee on the Judi- 24 ciary of the Senate; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 140 IS ‘‘(II) the Committee on Home- 1 land Security and Governmental Af- 2 fairs of the Senate; 3 ‘‘(III) the Committee on the Ju- 4 diciary of the House of Representa- 5 tives; and 6 ‘‘(IV) the Committee on Home- 7 land Security of the House of Rep- 8 resentatives. 9 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—The report required 10 under clause (i) should include a descrip- 11 tion of— 12 ‘‘(I) the organizational structure 13 of the Center; 14 ‘‘(II) the agencies and partner 15 organizations that are represented 16 within the Center; 17 ‘‘(III) any challenges that had to 18 be addressed while establishing the 19 Center; 20 ‘‘(IV) any lessons learned from 21 establishing the Center, including suc- 22 cessful prosecutions resulting from the 23 activities of the Center; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 140 IS ‘‘(V) recommendations for ways 1 to strengthen the enforcement of laws 2 involving organized retail crime; 3 ‘‘(VI) recommendations for ways 4 to include organized retail crime with- 5 in a holistic supply chain security en- 6 forcement framework; 7 ‘‘(VII) the intersections and com- 8 monalities between organized retail 9 crime organizations and other orga- 10 nized theft groups, including supply 11 chain diversion and theft; and 12 ‘‘(VIII) the impact of organized 13 theft groups on the scarcity of vital 14 products, including medicines, per- 15 sonal protective equipment, and infant 16 formula. 17 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning on the 18 date that is 1 year after the submission of the 19 report required under subparagraph (A), the 20 Director shall submit an annual report that de- 21 scribes the activities of the Center during the 22 previous year to the congressional committees 23 listed in subparagraph (A)(i). 24 ‘‘(c) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 0001 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]