[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24382]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS

  (Mr. CARTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CARTER. Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court of the United States made 
one of the worst opinions it has ever made in its history in Kelo v. 
The City of New London when they announced that they would allow other 
private individuals to use eminent domain to seize private property to 
enhance tax dollars for a community.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a taking of property totally outside of the 
Constitution of the United States. I have tried hundreds of these 
cases. No one is happy when their property is taken; but they realize 
they are taken for schools, it is taken for highways. Even a highway 
they want, they do not like to see their property taken. But now we 
have got a law that says that they can come in because it makes more 
money for a community.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an abomination that we will address this week in 
this House. It is overtime to address it. I urge my colleagues to join 
hands across the aisle and stop this horrible taking of property that 
is the result of this Supreme Court activist opinion.

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