Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is backing calls for increased police presence and public safety measures amid the recent wave of retail robberies in San Francisco.
During her weekly press conference on Wednesday, Pelosi fervently condemned the recent highly publicized retail thefts in the city, most of which is in Pelosi's congressional district.
"It's absolutely outrageous and it obviously cannot continue," Pelosi said.
"The fact is there's an attitude of lawlessness in our country that springs from I don't know where," she continued. "We cannot have that lawlessness become the norm."
Pelosi said much of the problem stems from thieves stealing merchandise in order to resell them on the black market to make money.
"This isn't like someone stealing from someone because they don't have the money to buy," she claimed. "This is about stealing for profit."
The Senate and House of Representatives have introduced similar resolutions, both of which would require "high-volume third party sellers" in online marketplaces to establish legitimacy about where their products come from. The hope is that this will discourage the thefts since people won't be able to profit from the stolen goods.
"It is out of the question that people think they are able to steal things, profit from them and not have any accountability on it," she said.
The retail industry is pushing its weight behind both bills. Last week, the Retail Industry Leaders Association wrote to congressional leadership calling for legislation to be passed. Executives from Nordstrom, Target and Walgreens signed on to the letter.
The National Retail Federation, which OpenSecrets reported spent nearly $5.4 million lobbying the federal government through the first three quarters of this year, has also repeatedly called on Congress to pass the legislation.
Pelsoi said legislation is "completely in the works," and she hopes it's able to pass soon.
"Some of it is high-level stores, and some of it is your local Walgreens," Pelosi said of retail theft. "But none of it is acceptable."
Pelosi made clear that such crime is not limited to her district, or even the Bay Area, saying that it's occurring throughout "the entire country."
