{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://susielee.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-lee-joins-local-law-enforcement-and-retail-partners-combat", "Congresswoman Lee Joins Local Law Enforcement and Retail Partners to Combat Organized Retail Crime", "2024-06-07", "2024", "2024-06", "Democrat", "House", "NV", "Susie Lee", "L000590", "susielee.house.gov", "susielee", "https://susielee.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Image\n\nLAS VEGAS \u2013 Today, at the Target on Rainbow Boulevard, Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03) joined the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Retail Association of Nevada, and local retail asset protection teams to discuss ways that they are combatting organized retail crime (ORC) in southern Nevada.\n\nIn Nevada, ORC caused an estimated loss of $85 million in tax revenue in 2021 alone. Last year, a Summerlin beauty store was the victim of ORC and the year before that, Metro uncovered a 30-foot-long trailer of stolen goods from dozens of retailers totaling over $1 million. ORC affects consumers, workers, and businesses \u2014 costing over $1 billion in lost products, higher insurance, increased prices of goods, and unrealized wages in Nevada alone. ORC costs retailers $720,000 for every $1 billion in sales \u2013 up 50 percent since 2015.\n\nLee convened a roundtable discussion with Metro Police Sergeant and supervisor of the department\u2019s Organized Retail Crime Section Patrick Flynn, members of Target\u2019s asset protection team, Walgreens Major Crimes Investigations Manager Jake Crank, and Retail Association of Nevada\u2019s Senior Vice President Bryan Wachter.\n\nIn Congress, Lee is leading the bipartisan Combating Organized Retail Crime Act and the bill has 122 cosponsors. 93% of retailers support the legislation.\n\nThe bipartisan Combating Organized Retail Crime Act would:\n\nEstablish an Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center within Homeland Security.\n\nDesignate ORC a federal crime and equip federal investigators and prosecutors to combat these operations.\n\nRequire the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice to report to Congress on this type of crime and enforcement.\n\n\u201cOrganized retail crime puts all of us in danger, while hurting consumers, taxpayers, and businesses of all sizes. Our local and state law enforcement are doing incredible work, but we need coordination at the federal level to investigate and prosecute these crimes,\u201d said Congresswoman Lee. \u201cThese criminal groups are driving up prices for hardworking Nevadans, and using their stolen goods to fund human trafficking, weapons smuggling, and terrorism. That's why I'm proud to lead bipartisan legislation that will support law enforcement with the tools they need to crack down on these criminal operations.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe just want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Congresswoman Lee for being able to be an original cosponsor of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. This is vital legislation that is going to help our smallest and our largest businesses here in Nevada be able to succeed,\u201d said Retail Association of Nevada\u2019s Senior Vice President Bryan Wachter.\n\nImage\n\nImage\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:11:47Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://susielee.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-lee-joins-local-law-enforcement-and-retail-partners-combat"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6017570160329342, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}