Crime statistics for 1979 show a continuing upward trend in auto thefts in all geographic regions of the country. This national problem has been largely created by the heavy involvement of organized crime in the marketing of parts from stolen vehicles. H.R. 4178 could do much to attack this problem on a national basis. This legislation will give the Secretary of Transportation authority to issue standards that will improve the security of motor vehicles and their parts, and it authorizes the placement of additional identification numbers on major motor vehicle components. This would provide law enforcement a means for identifying parts after they have been removed from a stolen vehicle. This placement of numbers should be made by the vehicle manufacturers at the time of assembly. The bill further gives the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the authority to develop standards to improve vehicle security systems. Title III of the bill provides law enforcement with needed legal tools to combat professional vehicle theft. This includes making it a crime to remove, obliterate, or tamper with a federally mandated vehicle identification number. Further, the bill provides for a $25,000 fine or up to 10 years imprisonment, or both, for trafficking in motor vehicles or their parts which have had identification numbers removed or altered. The bill also attacks the exporting of stolen vehicles by requiring exporters to record the identification number of a vehicle and to file the export declaration with Customs before sailing. The adoption of H.R. 4178 would create standards which States could adopt and expand upon, so as to provide law enforcement agencies with many of the tools they have needed to counter vehicle theft on an interstate and an international level. Graphic and tabular data on auto thefts are provided.