Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 1038, legislation that settles a Federal land boundary dispute in the Mountainaire subdivision in Coconino County, Arizona. This legislation is a commonsense solution to an incomprehensible Federal land situation. In 1961, the Federal Government conducted a survey in which several acres of the United States Forest Service land were misidentified as private property. It was not until 2007, when the Federal Government contracted another private survey, that the mistakes were realized, and the residents of the Mountainaire neighborhood were informed of these errors. Until the 2007 survey, many of these residents had maintained these parcels and had developed them as their own for years and, in some cases, decades. In essence, the Federal Government seized lands that residents had maintained, developed, and paid taxes on for years. So what does this mean? On some of these parcels, the revised boundary goes right through the portions of the residents' homes, literally right through people's homes. Can you imagine the Forest Service, if they told you we own half of your living room? Questions associated with the land ownership have plummeted property values in the neighborhood and prevented a number of owners from selling their homes. For years, the residents of this neighborhood have tried to work individually with the Forest Service to settle the situation administratively. It did not work.…”