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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is no doubt that small businesses are often the victims of crime all across the country. Whether it is small retailers being victims of shoplifting, the local restaurant traumatized by hate crimes, or the countless businesses on the frontlines of our nation’s devastating gun violence epidemic, the impact of crime on small firms can take many forms.

These acts can take a significant toll on small businesses, their employees, and their potential customer base. And unfortunately, small businesses are often more vulnerable, either lacking adequate security to deter criminals, or the technical expertise to protect their information from cybercrime. I’m certainly supportive of efforts to train business owners on how to handle these threats and in law enforcement holding criminals accountable.

Businesses should be able to compete in a fair, competitive environment, and nobody should feel unsafe going to work or to shop at their local stores. I extend my deepest sympathy to those affected and traumatized by senseless acts of crime and violence.
However, as policymakers, we must make our decisions based on complete and accurate data. My concern is that when it comes to topics like organized retail crime and shoplifting, a very real issue is being politicized to upend good faith efforts at criminal justice reform.

As we move forward from the era of mass incarceration and broken windows policing, it is crucial we do not lose sight of the very real negative impacts these policies had on low-income communities and communities of color. And so, I urge my colleagues not to engage in knee-jerk reactions that set back our real progress toward creating a more equitable criminal justice system.

Instead, with accurate data, swift action, and increasing the certainty that a crime will be caught, we can make real progress at crime prevention. Efforts to increase the punishments for certain crimes will result in higher prison populations and disproportionate effects on vulnerable communities.

With that said, I would be remiss if I did not point out that crime is, in fact, not on the rise. The most recent quarterly report from the FBI shows precipitous drops in both violent and property crime nationally.

Larceny-theft is almost uniformly dropping across the country, and homicides are showing one of their largest drops on record.

Yet, when it comes to retail theft, overall shrink has held steady in recent years, and retail crime is actually dropping in most of the country.

That is not to say this isn’t a problem, and criminals should absolutely be prosecuted. However, proposals to change laws should be made based on accurate and complete data.

Lastly, one thing I think we can all agree on is that the rise in hate crimes and harassment directed toward minority-owned businesses is unacceptable. Whether it is toward Jewish or Muslim owned businesses resulting from the war in Gaza, or Asian-owned businesses in the aftermath of the pandemic, hate crimes directed toward business owners should be rooted out at all levels.

I am open to working with my colleagues on this Committee to address hate crimes directed at businesses, whether it is motivated by race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

I hope we can engage in an honest, open, and reasonable dialogue on ways to combat crime that is affecting small businesses.

With that, I ask unanimous consent that this article from Vox, “The Shoplifting Scare Might Not Have Been Real, but its Effects Are.” Into the record.