March 29, 2000 Volume 3, Issue 6

Catherine Ellis, Editor

Time is running out to kill H.R. 701, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (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.

A recent Washington Post editorial reported, "When introduced last year, the bill proposed creating a $1.4 billion annual pot of money that would be exempt from the appropriations process and divided into three trust funds. The legislation attracted almost 140 cosponsors, or about $10 million per cosponsor. The House Resources Committee ratcheted this up to $3 billion flowing into seven trust funds when it approved the bill in November. Behold, the number of cosponsors shot up to nearly 300!" The ultimate conclusion? "The price of pork-barrel legislating certainly has risen over the past decade."

Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage has issued an alert to all opponents of H.R. 701 to turn up the heat on Capital Hill now. It is expected to come to the floor for a vote sometime in mid-April. Rep. Chenoweth-Hage said we must call Speaker Dennis Hastert to oppose H.R. 701, the Land Grab Bill, and ask him to not bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Time is running out and our voices need to be heard in the House now more than ever!

1. Call your Representative in opposition to CARA (H.R. 701), the billion-dollar land acquisition bill. If your representative says he/she is already a cosponsor let him/her know they are acting against private property owners and the spirit of the U.S. Constitution. If they try to convince you otherwise, tell them they have been misinformed about the bill. Capitol Hill House Switchboard 202-225-3121.

2. Call Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (202-225-0600) Majority Leader Dick Armey (202-225-4000) and Majority Whip Tom DeLay (202-225-0197) to voice your opposition to CARA. Tell them not to bring the Land Grab bill to a floor vote.

3. Sign the E-mail petition to defeat H.R. 701. Log on to http://www.onedemocracy.com/cara. The deadline for signing is March 31, at which time it will be presented to the House of Representatives leadership. Please send this to all of your e-mail contacts!

Last Thursday the House of Representatives voted on and passed H.R. 2372, "The Property Rights Implementation Act of 2000" sponsored by Rep. Charles Canady (R-FL). This bill will reform our court system so property owners have the same access to federal court as other constitutional claimants. Property owners whose Fifth Amendment rights have been infringed upon by the Endangered Species Act, or other laws, will no longer be forced to take their case through years of state administrative and court battles before getting access to federal court.

The action now moves to the Senate where it has been referred to the Judiciary Committee. Further alerts will be issued as the information becomes available.

H. R. 73, The Citizenship Reform Act of 1999

Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA) is the sponsor of H.R. 73, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny citizenship at birth to children born in the United States of parents who are not citizens or permanent resident aliens.

With the laws on the books today, pregnant illegals have incentive to race across the border in time to give birth to their children. Once done, they not only can stay legally in the country, but they can also receive free prenatal care, free delivery of the baby in the hospital of their choice and join the welfare rolls. The entire American system opens up to them just for having a baby, now a citizen of this nation. If Congress does away with the automatic citizenship of babies born in this nation to those illegal aliens, the magnet that draws illegal aliens to our borders will vanish. It’s a simple, logical answer to a needless crisis that’s being used as an excuse to create Big Brother-control over us all.

1. Call your Congressman and urge him to cosponsor and support H.R. 73, the Citizenship Reform Act of 1999. This bill is an effective way to curb illegal immigration.

2. Call the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims at 202-225-5727 and urge Chairman Lamar Smith to hold hearings on H.R. 73.