[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 133 (Wednesday, October 19, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S11568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ENSIGN (for himself, Mr. Inhofe, and Mr. DeMint):
  S. 1895. A bill to return meaning to the fifth amendment by limiting 
the power of eminent domain; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of every person in 
America who owns property and to speak on behalf of everyone working 
toward the American dream of homeownership. That dream is being 
threatened today, and that threat comes from our own government and 
court system. Since the birth of our Nation, property ownership has 
been a fundamental and guarded right. The Founding Fathers went to 
great lengths to protect citizens from the heavy and greedy hand of 
government. This is why the Bill of Rights includes the fifth 
amendment's ``takings clause.''
  Unfortunately, 200 years of upholding property rights was not enough 
to protect some Americans from the excessive use of government power. 
In Kelo v. City of New London, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that 
economic development was a sufficient reason to take a person's 
property. In this case, the city of New London, CT wanted to tear down 
private homes and redevelop private property into an industrial 
complex. It is important to understand that the city did not want to 
tear down these homes because the neighborhood was blighted. The city 
did not want to redevelop the property because the homes were being 
used by drug dealers. The homeowners were middle-class families living 
in a middle-class neighborhood. So why would the city want to redevelop 
these properties? City officials believed this would create jobs and 
increase the city's tax revenue. When the homeowners refused to sell to 
the city, the city began condemnation proceedings. The homeowners sued 
the city and argued that this ``taking'' violated their fifth amendment 
rights.
  The fifth amendment states that private property cannot be taken 
except for a ``public use'' and only then if the owners are justly 
compensated. The owners believed, as I do, that creating jobs and 
increasing tax revenue is not a public use. The Supreme Court, despite 
the plain meaning of the fifth amendment, ruled against the homeowners. 
As bad as that is, it gets worse for these homeowners. The city of New 
London is demanding that the homeowners, those who fought to protect 
their fifth amendment rights, must now pay back rent. For the Kelo 
family, that means $57,000 in rent owed to the city.
  This cannot be what the Founding Fathers intended when they adopted 
the Bill of Rights. The Kelo decision has highlighted a serious problem 
with how government has taken more power at the expense of the people. 
The Supreme Court's decision favors big corporations and persons with 
political clout over homeowners and regular people.
  Congress is partly to blame. Congress has created incentives for 
government to redevelop property in a never-ending quest for more and 
more tax dollars. New London, CT is the perfect example of these 
incentives. To Americans, the Kelo decision means that no matter how 
hard you work and no matter how hard you save, government can come in 
and take it all away from you. No person's home will be safe if 
Congress does not act to restore the fifth amendment. The property 
owners who lost their homes as a result of the Kelo decision paid their 
Federal taxes, paid their State taxes, and paid their local taxes. They 
played by the rules. Ironically, it was these taxes that made it 
possible for their government to steal their homes. As a result, 
Congress must step in to limit the use of Federal dollars.
  Just as our country's Founders sought to protect private property by 
amending the Constitution, I feel Congress must act to protect those 
rights. That is why I am introducing the Private Property Rights 
Protection Act, legislation to protect and preserve the American dream. 
This bill will curb government power and return it where it belongs, to 
the people.
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