Senator announces committee assignments

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, joined Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, Mike Braun, R-Indiana, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, in introducing the Preventing Auto Recycling Thefts Act.

This bipartisan legislation is aimed at ensuring that new vehicles’ catalytic converters are fitted with a traceable identification number and would make the theft of catalytic converters a criminal offense.

The legislation is also supported by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and U.S. Rep. Bob Young, R-Ohio, who are working to address this issue at the state level.

“This legislation offers a commonsense solution to the rampant problem of catalytic converter theft,” Vance said. “In Ohio, our law enforcement community is reporting these crimes at a shocking frequency and small businesses are being forced to incur preventative costs. I’m proud to introduce this bill with my colleagues and provide our law enforcement with some much-needed assistance to get this problem under control.”

“Catalytic converters are easy to steal, tough to track and hard to replace,” Yost said. “This proposal would give law enforcement more effective tools to curb the ridiculous number of converter thefts and better protect Ohioans.”

Vance announced on Wednesday his Senate committee assignments.

Vance will serve on the Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs, Commerce, Science and Transportation committees, as well as the Joint Economic Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging.