[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12514-12515]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE KELO v. CITY OF NEW LONDON DECISION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD W. POMBO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 22, 2006

  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of 
one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in recent memory, Kelo v. City 
of New London. One year ago, the Court struck a blow against property 
owners everywhere and delivered the government's long-standing assault 
on property rights on farms and ranches in rural America right to the 
doorsteps of American suburbs.
  The Kelo decision expanded the traditional understanding of ``public 
benefit''--roads, bridges, schools, etc.--to include more abstract 
benefits like tax revenue. If a local bureaucrat decides that your 
house, local church, or business would be more productive if it were 
torn down to make room for a shopping center, the Court now says this 
is ok.
  The 5th Amendment guarantees that private property shall not be taken 
by the government for public use without just compensation. These 
safeguards have been under assault for decades and until this decision, 
the typical victims were family farmers and ranchers in the West. Now 
we know no one is safe. In the past year, more than 5,700 properties 
have been threatened or taken by eminent domain, not to build roads or 
schools, but for private development. This is unconscionable and goes 
against everything our Nation stands for.
  This terrible ruling did have a silver lining--it brought great 
public attention and outrage to an issue some of us in Congress have 
been fighting for our entire careers. In the wake of the decision, the 
House of Representatives passed H.R. 4128, the Private Property Rights 
Protection Act. Using Congress' power of the purse, we made a strong, 
bipartisan statement to State and local governments that the abuse of 
eminent domain for private purposes would not be tolerated. Any use of 
eminent domain for private benefit would result in a two-year loss of 
federal economic development funds. Similar restrictions were placed on 
funds in the FY06 Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban 
Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.
  The fight has also been taken up at the local level, with 25 states 
passing legislation

[[Page 12515]]

aimed at curbing eminent domain abuse. This was a heartening response, 
but there is much more to be done. The Senate must act on similar 
legislation. And, we can further what we have started by introducing 
more legislation to protect private property. While the initial public 
outcry over this decision has died down, these abuses are still 
occurring every day, and we must keep up the fight.
  Mr. Speaker, property rights are the heart of individual freedom and 
the foundation for all other civil rights guaranteed to Americans by 
the Constitution. Without the freedom to acquire, possess and defend 
property, all other guaranteed rights are merely words on a page. As we 
look back on one year of life under Kelo, we must never forget the 
simple truth. We must be steadfast in our defense of the rights of 
property owners.

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