Elizabeth Dole: “as I have traveled around the country over the past year, time and again I have heard from the people that Congress must…”

“as I have traveled around the country over the past year, time and again I have heard from the people that Congress must do more to stop the tide of infringement on private property rights. I believe Members on both sides of the aisle have heard this message. Even President Clinton has said that he wants to ``put people first.'' One way he can do this is to ensure that government mandates and government bureaucrats do not run over individual citizens and individual rights. Today, Senator Heflin and I are introducing the Private Property Rights Act of 1994. Now, a lot has been said on this floor regarding private property rights. I think many of us agree on the need to protect private property. The question is--How do we best vote and get government out of peoples backyards? This bill is very simple. The legislation would require Federal agencies to conduct a takings impact assessment when promulgating any agency policy, regulation, guideline, or recommending legislative proposals to Congress.”