Zoe Lofgren: “I believe in the fifth amendment and the minority believes in the fifth amendment. I believe there ought to be…”

“I believe in the fifth amendment and the minority believes in the fifth amendment. I believe there ought to be compensation when there is a taking, and there ought to be due process. There is no dispute about that. But what we dispute is this remedy. We have heard a lot of discussion about widows who have been abused by the heavy-handed Government. But we need to get beyond that appealing image to what is really going on here. Zoning protects neighborhoods, zoning protects homeowners, and what this bill does is allow developers rights that are much greater than those that would attach to neighborhoods and to homeowners. These rights will attach, whether it is 20,000 housing units being built, or whether a town is trying to regulate the hours of operation of a topless bar or pornographic bookstore. That is what is so terribly flawed with this legislation. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to oppose this and to search for a more rational response to this problem.”