May 18, 2023

Policy Update

Backing the Blue

No matter the situation, our men and women in blue answer the call of duty and risk their lives daily for all of us. They are true American heroes. In recognition of National Police Week, the House passed legislation aimed at supporting those who have devoted their lives to keeping our communities and families safe.

We passed the POLICE Act, or the Protect Our Law Enforcement with Immigration Control and Enforcement Act. With the unprecedented border crisis on our hands, violence against law enforcement officers is on a steep climb. The goal of this bill is to protect America’s officers and make it easier to remove immigrants who have assaulted a law enforcement officer.

We also passed a bill to allow federal law enforcement officers in good standing to purchase a retired service weapon at salvage value from a federal agency. As it stands now, federal law enforcement agencies must destroy their weapons after they retire from official use. These destructions account for about 20,000 firearms, at a cost of roughly $8 million—and guess who’s on the hook for that wasted federal funding—the American taxpayer. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay twice for the same firearm—first, when it is originally purchased, and second, when it is needlessly destroyed.

Finally, we shared our support for local law enforcement officers and condemned the recent efforts from the far left to defund or dismantle law enforcement agencies. The dangerous “defund the police” rhetoric and corresponding policy shifts have proved to demoralize the law enforcement community, at a time when crime is at record highs. “Voluntary resignations” by police officers in 2020 increased by an alarming 279%. Our law enforcement officers are unflinching in their mission to keep us safe, and it’s our duty to step in to protect those who serve to protect us.

The House saluted our men and women in blue this week by passing these bills. These guardians stand on the front lines – regardless of the peril to themselves – not for praise, not for glory – but to protect our citizens and uphold law and order. I’m eternally grateful for all those who wear the badge and keep the Third District safe. Thank you for your dedicated service.

Combating Organized Retail Crime Gangs

I joined legislation this week to bolster federal response to the disturbing explosion of organized retail crime across the nation. These criminals conspire to target retail stores by stealing items and selling them for a profit. The cost of such a multi-jurisdictional crime has increased 50% since 2015 and now costs retailers $720,000 for every $1 billion in sales. Law enforcement officials need to be equipped to combat organized retail crime in the same capacity as law enforcement officials working to combat theft and diversion from other portions of the supply chain.

H.R. 895, the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, does 3 main things:

• Establishes an Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center, located within Homeland Security Investigation, that will coordinate with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and establish a secure sharing platform to track organized retail crime trends.
• Allows for judges to order criminal forfeiture after convictions of organized retail theft related crimes.
• Amends the criminal code to strengthen money laundering statutes to target the illegal proceeds of organized crime rings and allow federal prosecutors to use an aggregate total of $5,000 or more over a 12-month period as a predicate for charging the transportation or sale of the receipt of stolen goods.

This issue is near and dear to Arkansas’ 3^rd because we’re home to a booming retail community. I was proud to support this critical, bipartisan legislation to put a stop to future crimes, recover stolen goods and property, and punish the criminals responsible.

Some picture highlights:

From the front...

Congressman Steve Womack
Arkansas Third District