Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc.
Action Alert:
REPS. YOUNG AND TAUZIN MAY PUSH CARA TO AN EARLY VOTE
Letters, Telephone Calls and Faxes to Congress Urgently Needed
In Brief:
Please urgently contact your Representative to ask him to oppose CARA. Telephone calls, letters, faxes, even visits, to the District Office as soon as possible are needed. Do not send e-mails. Tell your Representative that CARA threatens private property ownership and the future of rural communities. It does not matter whether the funds are spent by the federal or the state governments! Nor does it matter whether the federal or state government ultimately owns the land. Private property will be eliminated under each ownership scheme. Be sure to tell your Representative that conservation easements, which are a major feature of CARA, threaten the future of private property ownership.
Background:
Two powerful committee chairmen, Reps. Don Young (R - Alaska) and Billy Tauzin (R - La.), may push the $45 billion Conservation and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 701) to a vote on the House floor as early as September 15, to avoid the growing dissent and efforts by the House leadership to bottle it up. The pork-barrel bill would automatically funnel $3.1 billion annually into an untouchable trust fund to buy up private land and preserve natural resources.
The grassroots private property rights movement is united against the bill, ironically battling two Republications who could once have been relied upon to take the lead on behalf of private property rights. The two Congressmen designed the legislation so that over half the pork goes to their two states.
There are internal divisions about CARA both among the House Republicans and inside the Administration, however, and opposition is gathering strength. The Administration and House leadership fear that the bill could be a "party-splitting keg of political dynamite," according to NewsMax.com.
Last year, one of the most important factors in the defeat of CARA was the concern by Appropriations leadership that the bill moved too much money outside the normal budgetary purview of Congress. This year a more basic budgetary concern is gathering steam: The dwindling surplus means that CARA may be unaffordable. The bill could make the President and Republicans look like big spenders if he signs on to it. This issue is not merely theoretical; the opposition by National Taxpayers Union to CARA is already being noticed.
A separate battle has heated up with the NRA over CARA. This disagreement between the property rights movement and big gun owners' and sportsmen's lobbies has been a sleeper for many years. The NRA has consistently taken the position supporting federal land acquisition, with CARA no exception. Last year, however, G. Ray Arnett, a former executive vice president of the NRA, penned a widely circulated letter citing the State of New York's acquisition of the Champion International lands, where all 298 hunting camps are to be demolished, as an example of the threat of government land acquisition to sportsmen. This year, Rep. Richard Pombo (R- Cal.) read Ray Arnett's letter opposing CARA into the official House Resources Committee hearing record on July 25. As letters pour in criticizing the NRA, another weak spot in support for CARA is growing.
The American Land Rights Association has been pummeling CARA effectively for three years, bringing in diverse coalitions to oppose the bill. As a result, Citizens Against Government Waste, a major watchdog group in Washington, D. C.; Gun Owners of America; and 60 Plus, a national senior citizens group concerned about the diversion of funds needed to protect Social Security, have officially pronounced their opposition to CARA.
The American Land Rights Association, the best source of information in the country about CARA, constantly e-mails updates to activists across the country with the latest news. Their web site is www.landrights.org
Your Action Needed:
Please telephone, fax, or write your Member of Congress as soon as possible urging him to oppose CARA! You might also visit the district office if you have time! Ask local organizations to send letters opposing CARA. Do not send e-mail.
Address:
[Your Congressman], U. S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515
Main U. S. Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121
See Also (On PRFA Web Site):
Government Land Ownership and Control
Conservation Easements
Land Trusts
Wildlands
Champion International Lawsuit
For Latest Updates on CARA:
American Land Rights Association Web Site: www.landrights.org
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