Political Quotes

“Mr. Conyers, I want to thank you for not only granting me this time but for being my friend for many years. It is odd for me to be on the opposite side of you. This may be the first time, certainly, in my career that we have ever disagreed on anything. Mr. Sensenbrenner is correct in that this will be the only time we will probably come together around an issue, but we've been together on this one for a long time. With that, Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1433, the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2012. This legislation on which I joined with Representative Sensenbrenner will restore the property rights of all Americans and prevent the Federal Government or any authority of the Federal Government from using economic development as a justification for exercising its power of eminent domain. Economic development condemnations have all too often been used by powerful interest groups to acquire land at the expense of the poor and politically weak. As the dissent in the Kelo case pointed out: To reason, as the Court does, that the incidental public benefits resulting from the subsequent ordinary use of private property render economic development takings ``for public use'' is to wash out any distinction between private and public use of property. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.…”