Feeney Upholds Property Rights Protections

Feeney Upholds Property Rights Protections

(Washington, D.C.) - Today, U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Oviedo) voted in support of H.R. 4128, the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005, which defends the rights of property owners across the United States.

"In a unprecedented ruling the Supreme Court recently abandoned Constitutional principal and two centuries of legal precedent to allow government seizure of private property if the new owners can make a 'more productive use' of it. While our Founding Fathers recognized the need to acquire land for legitimate public need such as building a road or hospital, property owners maintained protection from this type of blatant government land grab by the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment," stated Feeney.

"The Judicial Branch failed to uphold the Constitution and Congress has now been forced to act. Today the House defended private property protections guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment and a shielded an American freedom that the government should not be able to arbitrarily take away."

The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment clearly states "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation," yet the Supreme Court ruling lets local government's desire to increase its tax base trump the rights of private property owners.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/fl24_feeney/PropertyRightsAct.html