Sherwood Boehlert: “Mr. Chairman, for those who say that my substitute guts the bill, I would point out that my substitute retains section 3…”

“Mr. Chairman, for those who say that my substitute guts the bill, I would point out that my substitute retains section 3 and 4 of the manager's amendment. Are the sponsors saying that those sections of the bill are meaningless? I do not think so. To the previous speaker who says there is a choice, do we have power to the Government or power to the people? I say the choice is, do we have all power vested in Washington, DC, in the Federal Government, or do we leave to State and local governments power that they so jealously guard that they want to preserve, the power to make the decisions at the local level about local zoning issues? Should the Federal Government determine whether or not we will have a pornographic parlor on some corner in some small hamlet in some State in America? I do not think so. I think the local communities can deal very effectively with that issue. I would point out that the National Governors Association has spoken eloquently to this bill. Let me read an excerpt from their letter which has been addressed to all of our colleagues here: We are writing to express our strong opposition, strong opposition, to H.R. 1534, the so-called Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 1997. Continuing, the Governors letter says, the result will be substantially more Federal involvement in decisionmaking on purely local issues.…”