II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1512

To amend section 659 of title 18, United States Code.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 9, 1997

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. D’AMATO, Mr. MOYNIHAN, and Mr.

TORRICELLI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend section 659 of title 18, United States Code.

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 ‘‘Cargo Theft Deter5 rence Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. INTERSTATE OR FOREIGN SHIPMENTS BY CARRIER.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 659 of title 18, United

8 States Code, is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘with intent to convert to his

10 own use’’ each place that term appears;

11 (2) in the first undesignated paragraph—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘trailer,’’ after

2 ‘‘motortruck,’’;

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘air cargo container,’’

4 after ‘‘aircraft,’’; and

5 (C) by inserting ‘‘, or from any intermodal

6 container, trailer, container freight station,

7 warehouse, or freight consolidation facility,’’

8 after ‘‘air navigation facility’’;

9 (3) in the fifth undesignated paragraph—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘one year’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘3 years’’; and

12 (B) by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the

14 court may, upon motion of the Attorney Gen15 eral, reduce any penalty imposed under this

16 paragraph with respect to any defendant who

17 provides information leading to the arrest and

18 conviction of any dealer or wholesaler of stolen

19 goods or chattels moving as or which are a part

20 of or which constitute an interstate or foreign

21 shipment.’’;

22 (4) in the penultimate undesignated paragraph,

23 by inserting after the first sentence the following:

24 ‘‘For purposes of this section, goods and chattel

25 shall be construed to be moving as an interstate or
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1 foreign shipment at all points between the point of

2 origin and the final destination (as evidenced by the

3 waybill or other shipping document of the shipment),

4 regardless of any temporary stop while awaiting

5 transshipment or otherwise.’’; and

6 (5) by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘It shall be an affirmative defense (on which the de8 fendant bears the burden of persuasion by a preponder9 ance of the evidence) to an offense under this section that

10 the defendant bought, received, or possessed the goods,

11 chattels, money, or baggage at issue with the sole intent

12 to report the matter to an appropriate law enforcement

13 officer or to the owner of the goods, chattels, money, or

14 baggage.’’.

15 (b) FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINES.—Pursuant

16 to section 994 of title 28, United States Code, the United

17 States Sentencing Commission shall amend the Federal

18 sentencing guidelines to provide a sentencing enhancement

19 of not less than 2 levels for any offense under section 659

20 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by this sec21 tion.

22 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Attorney General

23 shall annually submit to Congress a report, which shall

24 include an evaluation of law enforcement activities relating

25 to the investigation and prosecution of offenses under sec-
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1 tion 659 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by

2 this section.

3 SEC. 3. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON CARGO THEFT.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a Com6 mittee to be known as the Advisory Committee on

7 Cargo Theft (in this section referred to as the

8 ‘‘Committee’’).

9 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—

10 (A) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall

11 be composed of 6 members, who shall be ap12 pointed by the President, of whom—

13 (i) 1 shall be an officer or employee of

14 the Department of Justice;

15 (ii) 1 shall be an officer or employee

16 of the Department of Transportation;

17 (iii) 1 shall be an officer or employee

18 of the Department of the Treasury; and

19 (iv) 3 shall be individuals from the

20 private sector who are experts in cargo se21 curity.

22 (B) DATE.—The appointments of the ini23 tial members of the Committee shall be made

24 not later than 30 days after the date of enact25 ment of this Act.
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1 (3) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—

2 Each member of the Committee shall be appointed

3 for the life of the Committee. Any vacancy in the

4 Committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be

5 filled in the same manner as the original appoint6 ment.

7 (4) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 15 days

8 after the date on which all initial members of the

9 Committee have been appointed, the Committee shall

10 hold its first meeting.

11 (5) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet,

12 not less frequently than quarterly, at the call of the

13 Chairperson.

14 (6) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of

15 the Committee shall constitute a quorum, but a less16 er number of members may hold hearings.

17 (7) CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall select

18 1 member of the Committee to serve as the Chair19 person of the Committee.

20 (b) DUTIES.—

21 (1) STUDY.—The Committee shall conduct a

22 thorough study of, and develop recommendations

23 with respect to, all matters relating to—

24 (A) the establishment of a national com25 puter database for the collection and dissemina-
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1 tion of information relating to violations of sec2 tion 659 of title 18, United States Code (as

3 added by this Act); and

4 (B) the establishment of an office within

5 the Federal Government to promote cargo secu6 rity and to increase coordination between the

7 Federal Government and the private sector with

8 respect to cargo security.

9 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Committee shall

11 submit to the President and to Congress a report,

12 which shall contain a detailed statement of results of

13 the study and the recommendations of the Commit14 tee under paragraph (1).

15 (c) POWERS.—

16 (1) HEARINGS.—The Committee may hold such

17 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take

18 such testimony, and receive such evidence as the

19 Committee considers advisable to carry out the pur20 poses of this section.

21 (2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

22 The Committee may secure directly from any Fed23 eral department or agency such information as the

24 Committee considers necessary to carry out the pro25 visions of this section. Upon request of the Chair-
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1 person of the Committee, the head of such depart2 ment or agency shall furnish such information to the

3 Committee.

4 (3) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Committee may

5 use the United States mails in the same manner and

6 under the same conditions as other departments and

7 agencies of the Federal Government.

8 (4) GIFTS.—The Committee may accept, use,

9 and dispose of gifts or donations of services or prop10 erty.

11 (d) PERSONNEL MATTERS.—

12 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—

13 (A) NON-FEDERAL MEMBERS.—Each

14 member of the Committee who is not an officer

15 or employee of the Federal Government shall be

16 compensated at a rate equal to the daily equiva17 lent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed

18 for level IV of the Executive Schedule under

19 section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for

20 each day (including travel time) during which

21 such member is engaged in the performance of

22 the duties of the Committee.

23 (B) FEDERAL MEMBERS.—Each member

24 of the Committee who is an officer or employee

25 of the United States shall serve without com-
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1 pensation in addition to that received for their

2 service as an officer or employee of the United

3 States.

4 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the

5 Committee shall be allowed travel expenses, includ6 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author7 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of

8 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while

9 away from their homes or regular places of business

10 in the performance of services for the Committee.

11 (3) STAFF.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the

13 Committee may, without regard to the civil

14 service laws and regulations, appoint and termi15 nate an executive director and such other addi16 tional personnel as may be necessary to enable

17 the Committee to perform its duties. The em18 ployment of an executive director shall be sub19 ject to confirmation by the Committee.

20 (B) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of

21 the Committee may fix the compensation of the

22 executive director and other personnel without

23 regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub24 chapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United

25 States Code, relating to classification of posi-
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1 tions and General Schedule pay rates, except

2 that the rate of pay for the executive director

3 and other personnel may not exceed the rate

4 payable for level V of the Executive Schedule

5 under section 5316 of such title.

6 (4) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—

7 Any Federal Government employee may be detailed

8 to the Committee without reimbursement, and such

9 detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil

10 service status or privilege.

11 (5) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER12 MITTENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Com13 mittee may procure temporary and intermittent serv14 ices under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States

15 Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed

16 the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay

17 prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule

18 under section 5316 of such title.

19 (e) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall terminate

20 90 days after the date on which the Committee submits

21 the report under subsection (b)(2).

22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

24 appropriated such sums as may be necessary to the

25 Committee to carry out the purposes of this section.
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1 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any sums appropriated

2 under the authorization contained in this section

3 shall remain available, without fiscal year limitation,

4 until expended.

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