Whereas there is no greater expression of freedom and
liberty than the defense of the God-given right of an individual to hold,
possess, and use private property;
Whereas John Locke, the great political philosopher lauded
by so many of the Founders of this Nation, stated, the preservation of
property [is the reason] for which men enter into society
and that
no [government] hath a right to take their [property], or any part of
it, without their own consent, for this would be in effect to leave them no
property at all.
;
Whereas William Blackstone, whose lectures shaped and
helped inspire the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and primal laws
of America, wrote: So great moreover is the regard of the law for
private property, that it will not authorize the least violation of it; no, not
even for the general good of the whole community.
;
Whereas Samuel Adams, the political writer, statesman, and
signer of the Declaration of Independence, declared that our rights included:
First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property;
together with the right to support and defend them.
;
Whereas John Adams, diplomat, signer of the Declaration of
Independence, and President of the United States, firmly proclaimed: The
moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the
laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect
it, anarchy and tyranny commence.
and that Property is surely a
right of mankind as real as liberty.
;
Whereas John Adams also affirmed: Property must be
secured or liberty cannot exist.
;
Whereas James Madison, author of the Constitution, and
President of the United States, announced: Government is instituted to
protect property. … This being the end of government, that alone is a just
government, which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his
own.
;
Whereas John Dickinson, signer of the Constitution,
stated: Let these truths be indelibly impressed on our minds: (1) that
we cannot be happy without being free; (2) that we cannot be free, without
being secure in our property; (3) that we cannot be secure in our property, if,
without our consent, others may, as by right, take it away.
;
Whereas Thomas Jefferson, the mind behind the Declaration
of Independence, and President of the United States, wrote: The true
foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his
person and property and in their management.
and The first
foundations of the social compact would be broken up were we definitely to
refuse to its members the protection of their persons and property while in
their lawful pursuits.
;
Whereas Thomas Jefferson also affirmed: Charged
with the care of the general interest of the nation, and among these with the
preservation of their lands from intrusion, I exercised, on their behalf, a
right given by nature to all men, individual or associated, that of rescuing
their own property wrongfully taken.
;
Whereas Noah Webster, the Father of American
Scholarship and Education
, stated: It is admitted that all men
have an equal right to the enjoyment of their life, property and personal
security; and it is the duty as it is the object, of government to protect
every man in this enjoyment.
;
Whereas John Jay opined: No power on earth has a
right to take our property from us without our consent.
; and
Whereas Fisher Ames, framer of the Bill of Rights and
Massachusetts Representative to the first four Congresses, said: The
chief duty and care of all governments is to protect the rights of
property.
: Now, therefore, be it
That—
(1)these ideals did motivate and continue to
justify the drafting of article 1, section 8 of the United States Constitution,
which states that it is the responsibility of Congress to promote the
Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors
and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and
Discoveries
, and the writing of the 5th Amendment to our Constitution,
which clearly states: No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for
public use, without just compensation.
;
(2)since every Member of this body has sworn
or affirmed to both support and defend the entire Constitution and to
bear true faith and allegiance to the same
, any act not in accordance
with that oath is both a betrayal of the United States Constitution and a
violation of Federal law; and
(3)in the constant pursuit of a more perfect
union, all citizens of the United States should remain secure in the possession
of private property, and no court, legislature, or executive shall, by
predatory law or tyrannical force, obtain the property of any citizen of the
United States for the benefit of another private citizen or corporation.