Bonnie Watson Coleman: “This is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill…”

“This is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended. We are here because our Constitution provided for a body that would represent the interests of the people. There are 435 of us, and our mandate is to represent the interests of individuals from coast to coast, and beyond to our territories, ensuring that our laws help each of them work toward the American Dream. For many Americans, owning property is the pinnacle of that dream. Once they have achieved it, that is not something we, the Federal Government, should take away lightly, and that is a principle upon which I think my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would be particularly willing to agree. It is certainly not something that we should be letting companies impede upon. Yet, current law allows pipeline companies, with authorization of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, to circumvent landowner opposition and to use eminent domain to acquire people's lands so that they can build pipelines, even if the product of those pipelines ends up being used overseas. Why would we allow private companies, shipping our resources overseas for a profit, with no benefit to us here at home, to take away privately owned land from owners who don't want to lose their property?…”