Joyce’s bipartisan bill aims to ‘curb the dangerous trend of large-scale theft’

U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) on Feb. 9 signed on as an original cosponsor of a bipartisan bill to combat organized crime involving the illegal acquisition of retail goods that get sold through physical and online retail marketplaces.

“Organized retail crime creates nearly $100 billion in losses for businesses in Ohio and around the country,” Rep. Joyce said on Tuesday. “Congress must do more to address this issue; we can no longer allow these criminal operators to run rampant.”

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023, H.R. 895, which U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) sponsored on Feb. 9 with two other original cosponsors, including U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV), would establish an Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center under the authority of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

The coordination center would include experts from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies along with retail crime associations who would work to create a cohesive strategy to combat organized retail crime, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Joyce’s staff. 

Additionally, H.R. 895 would state that organized retail crime threatens the safety and liberty of individuals in the United States when those individuals engage in commerce; erodes the retail economy for customers and businesses alike; and finances transnational criminal organizations that use the proceeds of those thefts to support the criminal goals of the criminal organizations, says the text of the bill.

Therefore, according to the bill, “it has become necessary for Congress to amend title 18, United States Code, to ensure that law enforcement has the legal tools necessary to combat organized retail crime in the same capacity as law enforcement is able to combat theft and diversion from other portions of the supply chain,” and to create the central coordination center.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association, the National Retail Federation, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the PASS (Protect America’s Small Sellers) Coalition endorsed the bill.

H.R. 895 is companion legislation to the same-named S. 140, introduced on Jan. 30 by U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).