Reject Mass Surveillance: Remove CORCA from National Defense Authorization Act

I urge you to oppose the inclusion of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) in the National Defense Authorization Act as both chambers work toward final passage. While CORCA is marketed as a retail theft prevention measure, it represents a dangerous expansion of federal surveillance powers that should not be attached to essential defense legislation. CORCA would grant the Department of Homeland Security unprecedented authority to collect, store, and coordinate vast amounts of consumer data through a centralized federal system. Rather than targeting only organized theft, the legislation would funnel personal information on innocent shoppers and individuals accused of crimes directly to DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This mass surveillance provision has no place in defense authorization. The concerns are not speculative. More than 120 criminal justice, immigration, and civil rights organizations, including the Vera Institute of Justice, have formally opposed CORCA precisely because it operates as a "Trojan horse" to expand DHS authority without meaningful safeguards or oversight. The House passed its version on July 22, 2026, and the Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version on June 10. As both chambers move toward conference committee negotiations to reconcile differences, this is the critical moment to remove CORCA before the final bill reaches your desks for a vote. Retail theft is a real challenge, and retailers and transportation companies concerns are understandable, but the constitutional right to privacy must prevail over generalized surveillance. Preventing retail theft does not require a federal approach dismantling privacy protections or embedding controversial surveillance measures in defense bills. Local law enforcement and prosecutors are better positioned to address organized retail crime than federal agencies. Alternative approaches—such as improving store staffing and investing in mobile crisis response teams—can address the root causes of theft while respecting constitutional protections. Even former prosecutors and law enforcement leaders have warned that CORCA repeats mistakes made with similar legislation, notably the the Laken Riley Act, ultimately undermining public trust in government. I urge you to use, and encourage your colleagues to use, the conference committee process to strike CORCA from the NDAA entirely. Protect constitutional privacy rights by rejecting this surveillance expansion.