Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, June 13, 2024:
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that includes funding for a task force that would address supply chain fraud and cargo theft.
A report on the details of the bill notes that the Appropriations Committee “remains concerned with the alarming rise in supply chain fraud and theft through interstate commerce, particularly in the rail, motor carrier, and intermodal systems, including attempted burglary, theft of merchandise, or possession of merchandise stolen from a railcar and/or motor carrier.”
To combat these issues, the bill includes a provision to allocate $2 million to establish a so-called “Supply Chain Fraud and Theft Task Force (SCFTTF)” within DHS.
The committee said that Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and other major theft task forces would consult with state, local, tribal, territorial and federal law enforcement agencies to ensure that the task force “employs a coordinated, multi-agency, intelligence-based, and prosecutor-led approach to identifying, disrupting, and dismantling organizations primarily responsible for the theft and theft-related violence in the American supply chain.”
The bill passed the Appropriations Committee by a 33-26 vote and will move to the full House for a vote.
