[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 91 (Friday, July 1, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION ACT

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                    HON. F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR.

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 30, 2005

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing H.R. 3135, the 
Private Property Protection Act.
  On June 23, the Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 decision in Kelo v. City 
of New London, held that ``economic development'' can be a ``public 
use'' under the Fifth Amendment's Takings II Clause. In doing so, the 
Supreme Court allowed the government to take private property from one 
small homeowner and give it to a large corporation for a private 
research facility.
  As the dissent in that case pointed out, under the majority's 
opinion, ``Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another 
private party . . . [T]he government now has license to transfer 
property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The 
Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.''
  In 1795, a Supreme Court more in touch with the true meaning of the 
Constitution declared ``possessing property, and having it protected, 
is one of the natural, inherent, and unalienable rights of man . . . No 
man would become a member of a community, in which he `` could not 
enjoy the fruits of his honest labour and industry. The preservation of 
property then is a primary object of the social compact. . .''
  And Abraham Lincoln often spoke of how at the heart of the evil 
practice of slavery was a denial of property rights: ``It is the same 
tyrannical principle,'' he said. ``It is the same spirit that says, 
`You work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it. ' ''
  Sadly, the Supreme Court imposed such a tyranny on all Americans on 
June 23.
  Today I am introducing the Private Property Rights Protection Act to 
restore the property rights of all Americans the Supreme Court took 
away last week. This legislation will prevent the Federal government 
from using economic development as a justification for taking privately 
owned property. It will also prohibit any State or municipality from 
doing the same thing whenever Federal funds would be involved with the 
project. Federal taxpayers should not be forced to contribute in any 
way to the abuse of government power.
  The NAACP and the AARP have said, ``The takings that result [from the 
Court's decision] will disproportionately affect and harm the 
economically disadvantaged and, in particular, racial and ethnic 
minorities and the elderly.''

  The American Farm Bureau Federation stated ``each of our members is 
threatened by the decision . . . with the loss of productive farm and 
ranch land solely to allow someone else to put it to a different 
private use . . .''
  And the representatives of religious organizations have stated that 
the Supreme Court's decision will ``grant municipalities a special 
license to invade the autonomy of and take the property of religious 
institutions. Houses of worship and other religious institutions are, 
by their very nature, non-profit and almost universally tax-exempt. 
These fundamental characteristics of religious institutions render 
their property singularly vulnerable to being taken under the rationale 
approved by the [Supreme] court.''
  I ask all my colleagues to support this legislation, and to ensure 
that churches, homes, farms, and other private property cannot be 
bulldozed in abusive land grabs that redound to the sole benefit of 
other private individuals whose only claim to that land is that their 
greater wealth will increase tax revenues.

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