AfA Pushes House to Fold Cargo Theft Bill CORCA Into FY27 NDAA

A bill the House already passed 348 to 60 is now one negotiation away from becoming law — and the Airforwarders Association (AfA) wants it attached to the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) before Congress lets the moment slip.

The AfA has called on the House of Representatives to include the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) in the final FY2027 NDAA as lawmakers return to Washington following the midterm elections. The NDAA passes annually and sets defense and spending priorities. It is also, routinely, the vehicle for other measures that enjoy bipartisan support. That makes it the fastest route on the table for a cargo theft bill that already cleared the House by a margin of 348 votes to 60 in May.

"Congress has already shown overwhelming bipartisan support for tackling organized cargo crime, and the job now is to turn that support into law," said Steve Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the Airforwarders Association.

What would CORCA actually build?

The core of the bill is institutional. CORCA would establish an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center inside Homeland Security Investigations. Its job: strengthen information sharing and coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement, and bring the private sector into that loop.

That structure answers the specific pain forwarders describe. Criminal networks operate across state lines and exploit the gaps between jurisdictions, which is precisely where investigations stall. A coordination center gives legitimate businesses a single federal partner instead of a patchwork.

"Forwarders are dealing with organized criminal networks that operate across state lines and exploit gaps between jurisdictions, so this is an issue where Republicans and Democrats should continue working together to give law enforcement and legitimate businesses the tools to route them out," Smith said.

Why forwarders are pressing now

The AfA's members have had opportunities to explain to stakeholders and politicians firsthand how cargo theft hits their operations — specifically through fraudulent pickups, carrier impersonation and identity fraud. Those are not edge cases. They are the standard toolkit of organized freight fraud, and they've grown more sophisticated.

The association also runs its own defense. The AfA's Cargo Theft Committee brings members together to share intelligence, examine vulnerabilities and shape practical responses to cargo crime. It is, in effect, the industry doing the coordination work that CORCA would formalize at federal level.

"Forwarders are seeing how sophisticated these crimes have become and how difficult they can be to investigate when activity crosses jurisdictions," said David King of AB&M Logistics, who chairs the committee.

"The industry can help by sharing what is happening on the ground, but we also need law enforcement agencies to be able to act on it. CORCA is an opportunity to improve that coordination and give legitimate businesses a stronger federal partner in tackling organized cargo crime."

What does this change for shippers and forwarders?

Not immediately. Until the NDAA conference produces a final text, CORCA remains a passed-but-parked bill. If it lands in the final act, shippers and forwarders gain a standing federal coordination mechanism against theft rings that currently slip between state lines — and a clearer channel for reporting fraud before losses compound.

The watchpoint now is the NDAA negotiation itself: whether House and Senate conferees keep CORCA in the final FY2027 package, and whether the 348-60 May vote translates into statute rather than a stalled talking point.