March 1, 2000 Volume 3, Issue 4
Catherine Ellis, Editor
Good News! The calls you made to your Senators in support of S.
1931, The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, has made an impact. Two
key Senators, Ted Kennedy and Bob Smith, have indicated that they will
vote in favor of this bill that will restore the basic rights guaranteed
us with the 4th Amendment!
The vote is expected this Thursday, March 2. We need to flood the
Senate phone lines with calls and their computers with email in support of
S. 1931. If your Senator is on the Judiciary Committee as supporting the
bill or as undecided (see list below) we need your help most! If your
Senator is not on the committee, your call requesting their co-sponsorship
is still important.
It is the whisper on Capitol Hill that if S. 1931 gets through
committee, it will be passed by the full Senate on a floor vote. Of the 18
Senators who sit on the Judiciary Committee, six are in favor of the bill,
five against and seven are undecided.
Immediate Action is Required! For more information on Civil Asset
Forfeiture legislation visit www.forfeiture.org.
ACTION TO TAKE
1. If your Senators are on the "support" list below, call
and/or email them to thank them for their support of S. 1931. If they are
"undecided" call and/or email them to vote for S. 1931. Pass
this alert on to your friends in the state! Capitol Hill Senate
Switchboard (202) 224-3121. Email your Senator through the www.forfeiture.org
web site.
Supportive Judiciary Committee Members: Hatch (UT), Leahy (VT),
Grassley (IA), Feingold (WI), Kennedy (MA) and Smith (NH)
Undecided Judiciary Committee Members: Specter (PA), Kyl (AZ), DeWine
(OH), Ashcroft (MO), Abraham (MI), Kohl (WI) and Torricelli (NJ)
2. If your Senators are not on the Judiciary Committee, call or
email them and urge them to cosponsor S. 1931. Capitol Hill Senate
Switchboard (202) 224-3121. Email your Senator through the www.forfeiture.org
web site.
CARA Land Grab Bill Takes Center Stage
This week various interest groups in favor of H.R. 701, The
Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA), are planning mass rallies and
visits on Capitol Hill in hopes of pressuring Congress to pass this
atrocious bill. Those of us who champion property rights and liberty must
counter their efforts.
We must flood Capitol Hill with email, phone calls and letters in
opposition of H.R. 701 and S. 25. Our representatives must know we will
support their "NO" vote and oppose their "YES" vote.
They must defend our property rights from CARA, a bill that seeks to
use nearly one billion tax dollars per year for condemnation of private
property, enabling federal and state agencies to force landowners off
their own land.
House leaders have promised that they would not allow a floor vote on
H.R. 701 unless a majority of Republicans cosponsor it. To date, there are
107 out of 222 Republicans who have signed on to the bill. Nine
Congressmen who sit on the Resources Committee have filed a
"dissenting view" in open defiance against H.R. 701:
Chenowith-Hage (ID), Radonovich (CA), Cubin (WY), Simpson (ID), Doolittle
(CA), Schaffer (CO), Gibbons (NV), Thornberry (TX) and Peterson (PA). (To
access the dissenting view, go to
