Posted on 01/08/2002 5:39:17 PM PST by Justanumba
Crapo Spokesman Defends 'CARA' Land Grab!
Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is still in hiding, refusing to explain why he cosponsored and endorsed bill number S. 990, the "Son of CARA."
S. 990 spends up to $600 million per year for two purposes: First, to condemn private property, and Second, to hand out grant money to leftwing environmental and animal rights groups.
S. 990 is nicknamed "Son of CARA" because it is a smaller version of a larger land grab bill called HR 701 - CARA - the Conservation and Reinvestment Act. CARA has been nicknamed the "Condemnation and Relocation Act," because it guarantees $3.1 billion per year to seize private property and finance the environmental movement with taxpayer grant money.
CRAPO HIDES, STAFF MUMBLES
Senator Mike Crapo's home state of Idaho is more than TWO-THIRDS owned by government agencies - 62% by the federal government alone.
And yet Crapo spokesman Susan Wheeler had this to say to CNS News on January 3: S. 990 "is consistent with allowing states to make decisions. There is no federal land acquisition in the bill, it's only at the state level."
Hmmmmm, let's see now. According to Senator Crapo, it is OK to spend $600 million per year to seize private property, as long as it is not the federal government doing it. Even in Idaho, which is already 68% owned by government agencies!
But it gets even stranger - here is what else Senator Crapo's spokesman had to say: "The Senator would have preferred to see more debate on the bill. But no Senator stepped forward to place a hold or seek debate."
IF Crapo wanted more debate on the bill, then WHY didn't HE protect Idaho and step forward and say "whoa, let's take a look at this." ??? WHY did he allow this Land Grab to be sneaked through the Senate by Unanimous Consent in the dark of nite after most Senators had left town in December 20???
DEMAND ANSWERS!!!
Crapo will be in Idaho for the next two weeks - the Senate is in recess, and will not go back into session in Washington, DC till January 23.
Contact or go see Senator Mike Crapo - ask for his schedule - and ask him the question he has so far refused to answer: "WHY did you cosponsor S. 990, the Son of CARA???" (see below for bill specifics)
DEMAND AN ANSWER!! Here are email addresses of key staff people responsible for carrying out this attack on private property rights:
john_hoehne@crapo.senate.gov
will_hollier@crapo.senate.gov
arlen_lancaster@crapo.senate.gov
lindsey_nothern@crapo.senate.gov
jeff_allen@crapo.senate.gov
sarah_bigger@crapo.senate.gov
don_dixon@crapo.senate.gov
leslie_huddleston@crapo.senate.gov
There is an underscore between the first and last names of each person.
Here are Senator Crapo's office addresses in Idaho - everyone FAX and CALL and DEMAND an answer:
WHY did you sponsor S. 990, legislation that hands over $600 million per year to condemn private property and gives taxpayer grant money to environmental groups? Idaho is ALREADY 68% owned by government agencies!!!
Boise Office of Senator Crapo 304 North Eighth Street, Room 338, Boise ID 83702 208-334-1776, fax 208-334-9044
Coeur d'Alene Office 1000 Northwest Blvd. #100, Coeur d'Alene ID 83814 208-664-5490, fax 208-664-0889
Idaho Falls Office 490 Memorial Drive #102, Idaho Falls ID 83402 208-522-9779, fax 208-529-8367
How bad is "Son of CARA"??? Here are a few examples:
FIRST: Up to $600 million per year for five years, that's up to $3 BILLION dollars total can be allocated, for two purposes: land acquisition with no protection against condemnation, and grant money to leftwing environmental and animal rights organizations.
SECOND: The government can grab your land for nearly any reason, including, to quote directly from S. 990, Section 102, "acquisition of an area of land or water that is suitable or capable of being made suitable for feeding, resting, or breeding by wildlife."
Look at the above carefully. Any property "that is suitable or capable of being made suitable" for any wildlife activity can be subject to eminent domain proceedings. But other bill language is even more broad, to give maximum latitude to the land grabbers:
Again, to quote directly from S. 990, Section 104, your taxpayer funds can be used "to address the unmet needs for wildlife and the habitats on which the wildlife depend."
"Unmet needs" ??? In other words, private property can be condemned for nearly any reason that can be cooked up by extreme preservationists and their allies.
THIRD: S. 990 exempts government land acquisition agents from FACA, the Federal Advisory Committee Act!!!!! Despite scandals and misappropriation of funds with Pittman-Robertson money in the past few years!!! And despite the current case of federal and state agents working together to plant lynx hairs in a national forest in order to "find" an endangered species and eliminate access, S. 990 proposes to exempt these very same agents from public scrutiny under the FACA law!!!
To quote directly from S. 990, Section 106: "Coordination with State fish and game department personnel or with personnel of any other state agency under this Act shall not be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act."
ACT NOW! Your property may be at stake!!
PLEASE MAKE SURE EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST RECEIVES THIS MESSAGE. THANK YOU.
American Land Rights Association - Land Rights Network PO Box 400 - Battle Ground WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 - Fax: 360-687-2973 - Email:
http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 508 First St SE - Washington DC 20003 Phone: 202-210-2357 - Fax: 202-543-7126 - Email: landrightsnet@aol.com
IF Crapo wanted more debate on the bill, then WHY didn't HE protect Idaho and step forward and say "whoa, let's take a look at this." ??? WHY did he allow this Land Grab to be sneaked through the Senate by Unanimous Consent in the dark of nite after most Senators had left town in December 20???
One thing I still recall from Civics class is that while the Senators and Congressmen are representative of their constituents interests, that interest must be tempered by the interests of the rest of the populous throughout the land; indeed that was the reason for the greatness of the American governance. While that is extremely idealistic, I believe that the past forty years has seen a total balkanization of interests in Congress, to where the only interests they serve is their own.
Declaration of Independence needs to be re-presented to these clowns.
The people have got to be ready to back it up. Freedom has to live in the hearts of the people, before we will be able to turn things around. Unfortunately, most Americans are all too willing to give it up.
How did "Son of CARA" sneak thru?
The bad guys won a round in the United States Senate late Thursday night, as Senate Bill 990 - S. 990 - the "Son of CARA" - was approved. S. 990 is a $600 million per year land grab, much smaller than the Big Daddy "CARA" Land Grab legislation also being considered by Congress.
QUESTION: What happened? What was the vote? Who voted with us and against? Who spoke out during debate?
ANSWER: There was no vote. There were no amendments. There was no debate.
It happened in the dark of night, on the final day of the 2001 session of Congress, when other business was finished and many Senators had already left the Capitol.
Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, working with Senator Bob Smith, Republican of New Hampshire, brought S. 990 to the floor of a nearly empty Senate chamber. Reid asked for "Unanimous Consent" that the bill be approved on the spot, with no debate, no amendments and no recorded vote.
ALL Senators had been notified just a few days before that Reid would make a Unanimous Consent request - and NONE, not even one Senator, stuck around to defend private property rights!
If even ONE, just ONE Senator had objected, then consideration of S 990 would have been put off for several weeks. Amendments and debate would have been allowed, and a recorded vote taken.
How did this happen? Two reasons:
For the rest of the story, here's the link LINK
Regards
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