Steve Chabot: “I want to, first, thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for his leadership and his cosponsorship of this bill, also the 35…”

“I want to, first, thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for his leadership and his cosponsorship of this bill, also the 35 other cosponsors and the 234 Members of this body that voted for it. It passed just the other day by a margin of 60 votes. Now, it needed two-thirds, so that is the reason for our being here today. But there is really overwhelming support. I also want to thank the gentleman from Tennessee, Bart Gordon, for his leadership as well in support of this legislation. Just to address a couple of the points that were made before I get into the bulk of my speech here, the gentleman from Michigan mentioned that this elevates property owners above all other constitutional rights and individuals who are trying to establish their constitutional rights. It doesn't do that at all. It puts them on the same level as other people who have a constitutional right that they are trying to enforce. And they should under existing law already have their constitutional rights. This is a fifth amendment right in the Bill of Rights. A person cannot have their property taken without just compensation, without due process of law, and this is just putting them on the same level with all the other constitutional rights that we enjoy in this country.”