STEARNS' CARGO THEFT PREVENTION ACT INCLUDED IN PATRIOT ACT

Washington, Mar 7, 2006 - "Cargo theft is a growing problem throughout the nation and especially in Florida given our ports in Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami," stated Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Ocala). "I am pleased that the provisions of my Cargo Theft Prevention Act are included in the PATRIOT Act reauthorization."

The House today approved the USA PATRIOT Act Additional Reauthorizing Amendments, joining the Senate in voting for reauthorizing the act and making changes to protect civil liberties. The PATRIOT Act removed major legal barriers which prevented the law enforcement, intelligence, and national defense communities from coordinating their work; allowed law enforcement to conduct surveillance of more terror-related activities and allowed the authorization of nationwide search warrants; updated the law to reflect new technologies and new threats; and increased penalties for those who commit acts of terrorism and those who harbor terrorists. The amendments provide 30 additional civil liberties safeguards, including allowing recipients of search requests or National Security Letters to seek legal counsel for appealing the decision to a special federal court, and mandated reporting to the public and Congress on the use of National Security Letters, data mining, and delayed notice search warrants.

The PATRIOT Act also includes the main provisions from Stearns' H.R. 785, the Cargo Theft Prevention Act. "These provisions increase the criminal penalties for cargo theft and create an all-inclusive database regarding cargo theft to allow state and local law enforcement to coordinate reports of cargo theft," explained Stearns. "In addition, cargo theft will be reflected as a separate category in the Uniform Crime Reporting System used by the FBI, enabling the valuable tracking and monitoring of trends in this crime. "