II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 139 

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 Homeland 

Security and Governmental Affairs 

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 marketplaces. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Organized Retail 

5 Crime Center Authorization Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) organized retail crime, a crime involving 

2 groups of individuals specifically targeting retail 

3 stores, often by using violence or threats of violence 

4 to subdue employees and shoppers while robbing 

5 stores of their most valuable and easily diverted 

6 merchandise, has been a growing concern to retail7 ers, industry, and law enforcement; 

8 (2) retailers have seen a dramatic increase in 

9 occurrences of organized retail crime, costing retail10 ers approximately $720,000 per every 

11 $1,000,000,000 in sales in 2019, representing more 

12 than a 50-percent increase in such losses since 2015. 

13 Further, according to the National Retail Federa14 tion, the use of violence or aggression is increasing 

in the commission of these crimes, with 2 15 ⁄3 of retail16 ers reporting an increase of violence during the com17 mission of retail theft; 

18 (3) organized retail crime— 

19 (A) threatens the safety and liberty of in20 dividuals in the United States when those indi21 viduals engage in commerce; 

22 (B) erodes the retail economy for cus23 tomers and businesses alike; and 

24 (C) finances transnational criminal organi25 zations that use the proceeds of those thefts to 


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1 support the criminal goals of the criminal orga2 nizations; and 

3 (4) it has become necessary for Congress to di4 rect the executive branch to create a central coordi5 nation center to align Federal, State, local, terri6 torial, and Tribal efforts to combat organized retail 

7 crime. 

8 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CENTER TO COMBAT ORGA9 NIZED RETAIL CRIME. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Trade Facilitation 

11 and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4341 et 

12 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 305 the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 305A. ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME COORDINATION 

15 CENTER. 

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) CENTER.—The term ‘Center’ means the 

18 Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center estab19 lished pursuant to subsection (b)(1). 

20 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME.—The term 

21 ‘organized retail crime’ includes— 

22 ‘‘(A) any crime described in section 2314 

23 or 2315 of title 18, United States Code; and 

24 ‘‘(B) aiding or abetting the commission of, 

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1 therance of a violation of a crime referred to in 

2 paragraph (1). 

3 ‘‘(b) ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME COORDINATION

4 CENTER.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of the Organized Re7 tail Crime Center Authorization Act of 2023, the 

8 Secretary of Homeland Security shall direct the Ex9 ecutive Associate Director of Homeland Security In10 vestigations to establish the Organized Retail Crime 

11 Coordination Center. 

12 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The duties of the Center shall 

13 include— 

14 ‘‘(A) coordinating Federal law enforcement 

15 activities related to organized retail crime, in16 cluding investigations of national and 

17 transnational criminal organizations that are 

18 engaged in organized retail crime; 

19 ‘‘(B) establishing relationships with State 

20 and local law enforcement agencies and organi21 zations, including organized retail crime asso22 ciations, and sharing information regarding or23 ganized retail crime threats with such agencies 

24 and organizations; 


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1 ‘‘(C) assisting State and local law enforce2 ment agencies with their investigations of orga3 nized retail crime groups; 

4 ‘‘(D) establishing relationships with retail 

5 companies, sharing information with such com6 panies regarding organized retail crime threats, 

7 and providing mechanisms for the receipt of in8 vestigative information on such threats; 

9 ‘‘(E) establishing a secure system for shar10 ing information regarding organized retail 

11 crime threats by leveraging existing information 

12 systems at the Department of Homeland Secu13 rity and the Department of Justice; 

14 ‘‘(F) tracking trends with respect to orga15 nized retail crime and releasing annual public 

16 reports on such trends; and 

17 ‘‘(G) supporting the provision of training 

18 and technical assistance in accordance with sub19 section (c). 

20 ‘‘(3) LEADERSHIP; STAFFING.— 

21 ‘‘(A) DIRECTOR.—The Center shall be 

22 headed by a Director, who shall be— 

23 ‘‘(i) an experienced law enforcement 

24 officer; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) appointed by the Director of 

2 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce3 ment; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) in the Senior Executive Service 

5 (as defined in section 3132 of title 5, 

6 United States Code). 

7 ‘‘(B) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The Director of 

8 the Center shall be assisted by a Deputy Direc9 tor, who shall be appointed, on a 2-year rota10 tional basis, upon request from the Executive 

11 Associate Director of Homeland Security Inves12 tigations, by— 

13 ‘‘(i) the Director of the Federal Bu14 reau of Investigation; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the Director of the United States 

16 Secret Service; or 

17 ‘‘(iii) the Chief Postal Inspector. 

18 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL STAFF.—The staff of the 

19 Center shall include— 

20 ‘‘(i) Special Agents and Analysts from 

21 Homeland Security Investigations; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) detailed criminal investigators, 

23 analysts, and liaisons from other Federal 

24 agencies who have responsibilities related 


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1 to organized retail crime, including 

2 detailees from— 

3 ‘‘(I) U.S. Customs and Border 

4 Protection; 

5 ‘‘(II) the United States Secret 

6 Service; 

7 ‘‘(III) the United States Postal 

8 Inspection Service; 

9 ‘‘(IV) the Bureau of Alcohol, To10 bacco, Firearms and Explosives; and 

11 ‘‘(V) the Drug Enforcement Ad12 ministration. 

13 ‘‘(D) STATE AND LOCAL STAFF.—The 

14 staff of the Center may include detailees from 

15 State and local law enforcement agencies, who 

16 shall serve at the Center on a nonreimbursable 

17 basis. 

18 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall co20 ordinate its activities, as appropriate, with 

21 other Federal agencies and centers responsible 

22 for countering transnational organized crime 

23 threats. 

24 ‘‘(B) SHARED RESOURCES.—In estab25 lishing the Center, the Executive Associate DiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139

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1 rector of Homeland Security Investigations may 

2 co-locate or otherwise share resources and per3 sonnel, including detailees and agency liaisons, 

4 with— 

5 ‘‘(i) the National Intellectual Property 

6 Rights Coordination Center established 

7 pursuant to section 305(a)(1); or 

8 ‘‘(ii) other existing interagency cen9 ters within the Department of Homeland 

10 Security. 

11 ‘‘(C) AGREEMENTS.—The Director of the 

12 Center, or his or her designee, may enter into 

13 agreements with Federal, State, local, and Trib14 al agencies and private sector entities to facili15 tate carrying out the duties described in para16 graph (2). 

17 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION SHARING.—Subject to 

18 the approval of the Director of the Center, in19 formation that would otherwise be subject to 

20 the limitation on the disclosure of confidential 

21 information set forth in section 1905 of title 

22 18, United States Code, may be shared if such 

23 disclosure is operationally necessary. The Direc24 tor may not delegate his or her authority under 

25 this subparagraph. 


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1 ‘‘(5) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 

4 year after the date of the enactment of the 

5 Organized Retail Crime Center Authoriza6 tion Act of 2023, the Secretary of Home7 land Security shall submit a report regard8 ing the establishment of the Center to— 

9 ‘‘(I) the Committee on the Judi10 ciary of the Senate; 

11 ‘‘(II) the Committee on Home12 land Security and Governmental Af13 fairs of the Senate; 

14 ‘‘(III) the Committee on the Ju15 diciary of the House of Representa16 tives; and 

17 ‘‘(IV) the Committee on Home18 land Security of the House of Rep19 resentatives. 

20 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—The report required 

21 under clause (i) should include a descrip22 tion of— 

23 ‘‘(I) the organizational structure 

24 of the Center; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the agencies and partner 

2 organizations that are represented 

3 within the Center; 

4 ‘‘(III) any challenges that had to 

5 be addressed while establishing the 

6 Center; 

7 ‘‘(IV) any lessons learned from 

8 establishing the Center, including suc9 cessful prosecutions resulting from the 

10 activities of the Center; 

11 ‘‘(V) recommendations for ways 

12 to strengthen the enforcement of laws 

13 involving organized retail crime; 

14 ‘‘(VI) recommendations for ways 

15 to include organized retail crime with16 in a holistic supply chain security en17 forcement framework; 

18 ‘‘(VII) the intersections and com19 monalities between organized retail 

20 crime organizations and other orga21 nized theft groups, including supply 

22 chain diversion and theft; and 

23 ‘‘(VIII) the impact of organized 

24 theft groups on the scarcity of vital 

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1 sonal protective equipment, and infant 

2 formula. 

3 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning on the 

4 date that is 1 year after the submission of the 

5 report required under subparagraph (A), the 

6 Director shall submit an annual report that de7 scribes the activities of the Center during the 

8 previous year to the congressional committees 

9 listed in subparagraph (A)(i). 

10 ‘‘(c) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) EVALUATION.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of the Organized Re13 tail Crime Center Authorization Act of 2023, the 

14 Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney 

15 General shall conduct an evaluation of existing Fed16 eral programs that provide grants, training, and 

17 technical support to State, local, and Tribal law en18 forcement to assist in countering organized retail 

19 crime. 

20 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION SCOPE.—The evaluation re21 quired under paragraph (1) shall evaluate, at a min22 imum— 

23 ‘‘(A) the Homeland Security Grant Pro24 gram at the Federal Emergency Management 

25 Agency; 


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1 ‘‘(B) grant programs at the Office of Jus2 tice Programs within the Department of Jus3 tice; and 

4 ‘‘(C) relevant training programs at the 

5 Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. 

6 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 45 days after 

7 the completion of the evaluation required under 

8 paragraph (1), the Secretary of Homeland Security 

9 and the Attorney General shall jointly submit a re10 port to the congressional committees listed in sub11 section (b)(5)(A)(i) that— 

12 ‘‘(A) describes the results of such evalua13 tion; and 

14 ‘‘(B) includes recommendations on ways to 

15 expand grants, training, and technical assist16 ance for combating organized retail crime. 

17 ‘‘(4) ENHANCING OR MODIFYING TRAINING AND

18 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Not later than 45 days 

19 after submitting the report required under para20 graph (3), the Secretary of Homeland Security and 

21 the Attorney General shall jointly issue formal guid22 ance to relevant agencies and offices within the De23 partment of Homeland Security and the Department 

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1 priate, the prioritization of training and technical as2 sistance designed to counter organized retail crime.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 for the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 

5 2015 (Public Law 107–296) is amended by inserting after 

6 the item relating to section 305 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 305A. Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center.’’. 

Æ 


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