[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9160]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES PASSES BILL TO PURCHASE BACA RANCH IN NEW MEXICO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, today the Committee on Resources passed a 
bill to purchase the Baca Ranch in New Mexico. This is a very bad deal 
for the taxpayers.
  The family that owns this ranch bought it in 1961 for $2.1 million. 
Now, under the bill passed out of committee today, the Federal 
Government is going to pay $101 million for this property, almost 50 
times the original purchase price.
  I would bet almost everyone in this Nation would like to sell their 
property for 50 times what they paid for it.

                              {time}  1845

  This is a colossal rip-off of the taxpayers. My office yesterday 
asked the Congressional Research Service to run the numbers for us. 
According to CRS, there has been a 452 percent inflation since 1961. 
Adjusted for inflation, this property should be worth $11.7 million, or 
about 5\1/2\ times the original purchase price.
  We definitely should not be paying $101 million for property that was 
bought for $2.1 million, and today adjusted for inflation should be 
worth $11.7 million. This is welfare for the rich, a windfall for the 
wealthy.
  However, it will be passed by a huge margin, because it has strong 
bipartisan support in New Mexico. I watched a tape about this property. 
It is beautiful; however, the most overused word in this Congress is 
the word pristine. We are constantly told that we have to buy this 
property or that property, because it is beautiful and pristine, but if 
the Federal Government tried to buy every beautiful, pristine piece of 
property in this country, it would bankrupt our government and shatter 
our economy, besides the Federal Government already owns 37 percent of 
New Mexico, millions of acres.
  The Federal Government certainly does not need any more of New 
Mexico; it has too much already. Private property is one of the main 
foundations of our prosperity. It is one of the cornerstones of our 
freedom. Private property is one of the main things that has set us 
apart from socialist and Communist nations.
  Already the Federal Government owns 30 percent of the land in this 
Nation. State and local governments and quasigovernmental units own 
another 20 percent, half the land in some type of public ownership.
  Also we keep putting more and more restrictions, limitations, rules, 
regulations, redtape on the land that does remain in private hands. If 
we keep doing away with private property, we are going to drive up 
prices for homes and cause much serious damage to our economy. We will 
hurt the poor and working people the most and those of middle income.
  We should not waste the taxpayers money in this way. We should not 
rip off the taxpayers in this way. $101 million for property bought for 
$2.1 million is more than 4,000 percent higher than what it should be 
when adjusted for inflation. We should not take money from lower- and 
middle-income Americans to pay a family almost 50 times what they paid 
for their property.
  Mr. Speaker, $101 million for property originally bought for $2.1 
million is simply too much. The Baca Ranch purchase will pass this 
Congress overwhelmingly; but I repeat, Mr. Speaker, this is a colossal 
rip-off of the taxpayers of this Nation.

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