SENATORS GO INTO HIDING, APPROVE FEDERAL ZONING

LandRightsNetwork ^ | 4/29/2002 | LandRightsNetwork

[goody2shooz]

Federal Zoning Act passed in Committee by stealth!

The United States Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW Committee) yesterday, April 25, met IN SECRET and voted to approve S. 975, the Federal Zoning Act!!!

Because of growing public opposition to S.975, the committee leadership decided to HIDE from the public and meet in a closed session!!!!!!

This is the SAME committee that hid from the public last December and approved S. 990, the "Son of CARA" land acquisition bill. When the public doesn't like what they are doing, the EPW Committee shuts out the public and votes in secret!

HOWEVER, this time around, information has leaked out about how it happened. Here is the story of this disgraceful episode, along with ACTION ITEMS below: 8:00am, Thursday, April 25:

The general public and lobbyists start lining up outside the door of Room 406 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. This is where the EPW Committee gave public notice several days ago that the "markup"-the final debate and committee vote-on S. 975 would be held, at 9:30am that morning.

For controversial bills like S. 975, it is usually a good idea to get in line early, because there is sure to be a big crowd and there is limited seating. 9:15am:

A committee staff person announces to the people in line that the committee "markup," due to start at 9:30, has been moved. He was asked WHERE and said, "I don't have room number." He was asked WHEN and said, "I don't know, sometime after 10 o'clock." He was asked WHY and said, "The Senators are busy."

He finally admitted that the meeting was being moved to a small office in a part of the Capitol Building that was CLOSED to the general public!!! But he still insisted that it was a public meeting, just being held in a room that was closed to the public. Yes ladies and gentlemen, this kind of doubletalk does go on in Washington, DC on a daily basis!

The EPW Committee, at about 10:30am, met IN SECRET and voted to approve S. 975, the Federal Zoning Act. The vote was twelve in favor to seven against. We were able to get ahold of the roll call vote, even though the committee leadership wanted to keep it secret and hide their actions from the public. Here it is:

TWELVE IN FAVOR of S. 975:

Senator Jim Jeffords, Vermont Senator Harry Reid, Nevada Senator Max Baucus, Montana Senator Bob Graham, Florida Senator Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Senator Barbara Boxer, California Senator Ron Wyden, Oregon Senator Tom Carper, Delaware Senator Hillary Clinton, New York Senator Jon Corzine, New Jersey Senator Lincoln Caffee, Rhode Island Senator Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania

SEVEN OPPOSED to S. 975:

Senator Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma Senator Bob Smith, New Hampshire Senator John Warner, Virginia Senator Kit Bond, Missouri Senator George Voinovich, Ohio Senator Mike Crapo, Idaho Senator Pete Domenici, New Mexico

HEROES AND ZEROES:

FORTUNATELY, there are some HEROES who tried to stop this sham and defend local government and private property rights.

NUMBER ONE HERO: Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma. Inhofe objected to the last minute switch from open to the public to a secret session, but was overruled. He was also the only Senator who filed a written statement objecting to S. 975.

ACTION ITEM: Please THANK Senator James Inhofe!!! See his excellent statement below. Here is his contact information:

Senator James Inhofe 453 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-4721 phone 202-228-0380 fax james_inhofe@inhofe.senate.gov

ZEROES:

Here are the three Senators who conspired to jam S. 975 through the Environment and Public Works Committee in secret and attempted to avoid having a roll call vote in order to hide their actions. Their top level staff people who are responsible for this sham are listed here.

ACTION ITEM: Tell these three Senators and their top staff what you think about the federal government mandating local zoning codes, and what you think about them canceling the public meeting at the last minute and holding the votes in secret!!!

Senator Jim Jeffords (Independent of Vermont). Phone 202-224-5141, fax 202-224-1273 ken_connolly@epw.senate.gov, sean_donohue@epw.senate.gov

Senator Harry Reid (Democrat of Nevada). Reid is THE WORST of them. Reid led the charge to sneak the "Son of CARA" Land Grab bill out of the EPW committee in secret last December, and he is primarily responsible for arranging this secret meeting as well. Phone 202-224-3542, fax 202-224-7327 susan_mccue@reid.senate.gov, nathan_taylor@reid.senate.gov, david_mccallum@reid.senate.gov

Senator Lincoln Chaffee (Republican of Rhode Island). Phone 202-224-2921, fax 202-228-2853 david_griswold@chaffee.senate.gov, jeff_neal@chaffee.senate.gov, deborah_brayton@chaffee.senate.gov

You may call any Senator at the Capitol Switchboard -- (202) 224-3121 or the temporary FREE NUMBER (800) 648-3516.

Statement of Senator James Inhofe on S. 975, Federal Zoning Act:

INHOFE: I would like to express my strong opposition to S. 975. I believe this bill raises potential constitutional questions under the Tenth Amendment, where powers not expressly granted to the federal government in the Constitution, like zoning and land-use decisions, are reserved to the local and state governments. This legislation threatens to usurp local jurisdictions ability to make their own decision on economic development, housing and transportation - all of these being unique to different localities.

By voting this legislation out of committee we are saying it is "OK" for the federal government to get involved in state, local and tribal land use planning and further more local land use planning is not important. This sets a dangerous precedent.

I have grave concerns with the notion of the Secretary of Commerce evaluating a state's need for federal funds and then prescribing the criteria for the content of the state plan, an area where the Secretary of Commerce can claim no particular expertise or authority.

In the "findings" section of this bill it states that "comprehensive land use planning and community development should be supported by the Federal, State, and tribal governments." There is no mention of support by local governments. For those of us who were local elected officials we must recognize that successful community development and comprehensive planning needs to be supported and driven by the local government. As a former Mayor this type of statement concerns me deeply.

The federal government should respect the authority and expertise of these localities to make land-use decisions without dangling a "carrot" so that they adopt planning legislation acceptable to the federal government.

THANK YOU SENATOR INHOFE!!!

Current situation:

S. 975 is now ready to go to the Senate floor, to be voted on by the entire Senate. It is unclear when that may happen. It will be at least a few weeks, and may be put off for several months, depending on how strong support and opposition becomes.

Please forward to your entire list. Thank you.

American Land Rights Association - Land Rights Network PO Box 400 - Battle Ground WA 98604 360-687-3087 360-687-2973 fx alra@landrights.org 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

[Rudder]

Thanks for the reply. I still remained uninformed about this issue. Apparently this is not for general consumption.

[Rudder]

Thanks. I guess I should not have read this since it is not intended for general consumption, but just for those in the know, so to speak.

[Liberty Belle]

Read THIS one...and weep - or rage.

[NoCurrentFreeperByThatName]

The United States Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW Committee)

I never even knew this beast existed.

[backhoe]

Here's a Note to Activists:

Want to do something? Go here:

Ignorance Making You Ill? Cure It!

for links, tools, & instructions about how to contact a pile of different people, and how to send a link to this story right here ( or anywhere else ) to a "mass email" using Outlook Express.

And on a personal note:

US Term Limits
... US Term Limits 10 G St., NE — Suite 410 Washington, DC 20002 Toll Free
(800) 733-6440, Voice (202) 379-3000 Fax (202) 379-3010. .
Description: National activist organization which asks candidates for the US Congress to sign a pledge limiting...
Category: Society > Politics > Campaigns and Elections > Election Reform > Term Limits
www.termlimits.org/ - 21k - 21 Mar 2002 - Cached - Similar pages

[SpyderTim]

It is most certainly for general consumption! The legislation would give the federal government the power to fund local and state zoning decisions, thereby, giving it the ability to force localities and states to comply with whatever such requirement the feds want to attach. In other words, if you want some extra dough, you got to use it the way we want. Its a scheme to get localities and states hooked on federal funding for zoning. Not that they aren't already, of course!

[SpyderTim]

bttt...This is one battle we must win!

[goody2shooz]

HOO-RAW! For Gov. Owens and his fellow Republican Coloradans. That is exactly the kind of action needed to defang the haters of liberty.

[MissAmericanPie]

The only way I see to stop this, is for the "hero's in congress to pass a law making secret votes, voice votes, tagging bills onto other bills, illegal. I have called trying to force Ron Pauls bill to the floor demanding that all laws voted on pass constitutional muster. That dropped off the map never to be heard from again.

Until we put some teeth into punishment or laws to control these Carpet Baggers they will run rough shod over the red areas of the nation with their U.N. agenda.

If Freepers really want to put a stop to it, rally and raise hades.

[goody2shooz]

The answer is really easy: the Constitution of the United States leaves everything not expressly stated in that document, as being the responsibility of the individual states rather than that of the federal government.

Zoning is accomplished at the local level though in some states, such as Oregon, there are statewide statutes covering Land Use Planning and economic zones for timber lands and farm land. In other words, this concerns the feds trampling on states rights. It would eliminate local input by citizens.

By the government essentially offering bribes to the states, people within the government, who have environmental or no-growth agendas, can force states to do what the feds want.

[Free Vulcan]

S.975 is for providing federal funding for Smart Growth. For a basic defintion of Smart Growth see my post here. There is also a link in that post to Smart Growth articles.

The purpose of the bill is to accelerate local and state Smart Growth initiatives (Smart Growth is very expensive to administer, many juridictions can't afford it), and at the same time roll it under federal control to ultimately create a socialist, centrally planned economy.

[SpyderTim]

An additional article. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/676527/posts

[Darnright]

Bump

[pattycake]

BUMP BUMP BUMP Why do we continue to let the politicians make our lives miserable? We need to run our own reps.

[SpyderTim]

However, I'd advise anyone and everyone not to simply take my or anyonelses word for it. I'm only commenting on what it appears to be, and from a limited understanding of the entire issue. I'm as ignorant as the next person about this. If you are looking for some opposing info, I'd suggest looking at such sites as American Farmland Trust, Smart Growth America, etc.

[SpyderTim]

Community Character Act of 2000 The Community Character Act of 2000 was introduced by Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) on July 27, 2000, and is intended to assist States with land use planning in order to promote improved quality of life, regionalism, sustainable economic development, and environmental stewardship, and for other purposes. Congress has found that inadequate planning at the state level contributes to increased public and private capital cost for infrastructure development, loss of community character, and environmental degradation. This bill would allow state and local governments to participate in comprehensive planning and community development with the support of the Federal Government. Through this legislation States would be eligible to receive grants for: Development or revision of land use planning legislation in States that currently have inadequate or outmoded land use planning legislation. Creation or revision of State comprehensive land use plans or plan elements in States that have updates land use planning legislation. Conducting workshops, educating and consulting policy makers, and involving citizens in the planning process. Integrating State and regional concerns and land use plans with Federal land use plans. To be eligible to receive a grant, a State must submit an application that is consistent with, among others, the following: A land use plan containing implementation elements including a timetable for action, and a definition of the respective roles and responsibilities of agencies, local governments, and other stakeholders. Comprehensive planning that encourages land uses that promote sustainable economic development and social equity, enhance community character, coordinate transportation, housing, education, and other infrastructure development, conserve historic resources, scenic resources, and the environment, and sustainably manage natural resources.

[SpyderTim]

and another bump

[mommadooo3]

What would REALLY be needed is a 'form letter', written by one of our freepers that explains this proposed federal zoning bull**it. AND NAMES the names of those mini-commies who want to gut the Constitution and property ownership.

Such a letter would be 'short and sweet' and easily e-mailed and understood by everyone on everyone's e-mail list.

By e-mailing this to our family and friends and telling them to PASS IT ON, we can make an impact and 'raise hell' for the mini-commies. We might EVEN cost them their jobs come election times!!!

ANY 'AUTHORS'????

[goody2shooz]

Gosh, it was so thoughtful of you to volunteer, mommadooo3.

[cgbg]

Comprehensive planning that encourages land uses that promote sustainable economic development and social equity, enhance community character, coordinate transportation, housing, education, and other infrastructure development, conserve historic resources, scenic resources, and the environment, and sustainably manage natural resources

This sounds like a babelfish translation of French translated into Arabic translated into politically correct English ;-)

Interestingly, conserving historic resources, scenic resources and the environment is almost certainly in direct conflict with "social equity".

Basically, this Agenda 21 ^%*&6%& would allow a few wealthy politically connected folks to have huge estates with beautiful vistas while the rest of us are supposed to live crammed together like sardines in transportation corridors.