[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 8, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H4872-H4873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
KELO V. NEW LONDON
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Reed) for 5 minutes.
Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to highlight an issue that
I believe we must pay closer attention to in this Chamber and in this
Congress. You see, on June 23, Mr. Speaker, we marked the tenth
anniversary of an important Supreme Court case. That case was Kelo v.
New London.
Now, the title of the case really means nothing. But I point to
Susette Kelo, who I have here depicted in this picture. She was the
plaintiff in that case. And what happened in that case was this, Mr.
Speaker, a real tragedy:
She was told by her government that they were going to take her home
and give it to another private owner for development. You heard me
right, Mr. Speaker. She was told that her home was going to be taken by
our government because they were picking the winners and losers because
they felt they knew best how to utilize her property and give it to
another private owner to develop it the way that private owner wanted
to do.
Well, Mr. Speaker, Susette Kelo stood up. She fought this fight. She
was told by her friends, she was told by her real estate agents, she
was told by her lawyers: Just roll over. The government always wins,
and they are going to win this battle.
But she fought it all the way to the Supreme Court. And what
happened, however, is that that advice from her friends and from her
real estate agent and her lawyers came true. The government won.
But that day we all lost, as American citizens. Because here is what
happened after that case. She lost her home. And this is a picture of
her property--well, no longer her property--but that property, as it
exists today. They demolished her home. They took her property. She
lost her piece of the American Dream. And the result of it is a vacant
lot that sits in New London.
Mr. Speaker, I highlight this case today because it reminds us of an
issue that we must fight for, and that is a fundamental freedom that we
all enjoy as American citizens, to own and to use our property.
It is something that is fundamental to our U.S. Constitution. It is
something fundamental to us as American citizens. And it is time for us
to unite, as Republicans and Democrats, and say enough is enough. We
must push back on Big Government. We must stand with individuals.
This land belongs to them, not our government. And that is something
that I am afraid that started 10 years ago and continues to this day
with actions of Big Government day in and day out, where government
regulations, government overreach--local, Federal, State level--act in
a way that takes away these fundamental property rights that so many
have fought for.
So in Congress I have led the fight. I formed the Private Property
Rights Caucus, with Members from Maine to Alabama to California. I have
sponsored and authored the Defense of Property Rights Act to say enough
is enough. We are going to stand with individuals, and we are going to
fight this Big Government overreach.
Mr. Speaker, these hard-fought rights have come at the expense of so
many, the blood of those who fought to preserve our freedoms, the blood
of our Founding Fathers and the vision they
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set forth in our Constitution. And this Kelo case was a moment in time
at a drop of a gavel when those fundamental rights were threatened and
lost.
So I stand today and ask my colleagues and all of the people across
America to stand with us, to stand with me, to make sure we coordinate
our efforts to make sure that our fundamental property rights are
protected and individuals like Susette Kelo are rewarded for her
bravery in taking the fight.
Though she may have lost that battle, I stand with her to win this
war to protect our fundamental property rights that so many have fought
for over the years.
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