Sherwood Boehlert: “I am offering this amendment in the nature of a substitute with the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt) in an…”

“I am offering this amendment in the nature of a substitute with the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt) in an effort to remove the most glaring fault, one might almost say 'sin', in this bill: its interference in local zoning processes. Here is what the substitute would do. It would strike Section 2 of the bill, the section that deals with local zoning matters, and it would preserve Sections 3 and 4 of the bill, which deal with land disputes involving the Federal government. It would preserve those sections in the forms in which they came to the floor in 1997. Our substitute is identical to the one I offered at that time. I have been hearing a few different arguments against the substitute, all of which are disingenuous. Let me deal with just one of them for now. We are told that the substitute is unnecessary because Section 2 is simply an innocent attempt to ensure that local zoning cases move forward, a small and technical change that would be employed only in rare circumstances. That is what we are told. I am afraid that the supporters of this bill are inviting us to enter an Alice-in-Wonderland world where words can mean anything they want them to mean. The actual fact is that Section 2 would fundamentally alter the balance of power in zoning cases.”