Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5932, the Organized Retail Theft Investigation and Prosecution Act of 2010. This legislation is an important step in combating a growing threat to retailers and consumers. I am pleased to join my Judiciary Committee colleagues Chairman Conyers, Ranking Member Smith and Chairman Scott as an original sponsor of this legislation, and I thank the gentleman for true bipartisanship in allowing me to catch my breath in order to be able to give these remarks. Organized retail theft is a huge and growing problem in the United States. According to FBI estimates, organized retail theft rings cost businesses more than $30 billion in losses annually. Organized retail theft groups target anything from everyday household commodities to health products to baby formula that can be easily sold through flea markets, swap meets, shady storefront operations, and through online marketplaces. Thieves often travel from retail store to retail store, stealing relatively small amounts of goods from each store but cumulatively stealing significant amounts of goods. Once stolen, these products are sold back to fencing operations, which can dilute, alter, repackage the goods, and then resell them, sometimes back to the same stores from which the products were originally stolen. These goods are also sold at flea markets, pawn shops and increasingly on the Internet.…”