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April 5, 2004 Volume 10, Issue 4
A Publication of the American Policy Center
Tom DeWeese, President
50A South Third Street, Suite 2
Warrenton, VA 20186
540-341-8911
FAX: 540-341-8917
Or by visiting our website link
http://www.americanpolicy.org/contact/main.htm
APC is now offering you a quick and easy way to multiply your efforts and
help win more battles! Simply click
http://www.referralblast.com/rblast.asp?sid=5906 to send this APC Action
Alert to up to TEN of your friends! It's fast, it's easy, and most of all,
it's extremely effective in KILLING LEFTIST POLICIES!
*** 'Invasive Species' Provisions Invades Transportation Act
If you thought the Endangered Species Act or the Clean Water Act were
damaging, this newest legislative attempt to control property may just prove
more of a shock than your system can handle.
The title of the bill sounds generic enough: The Safe, Accountable, Flexible
and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2004. But contained within are
some sections that, left unchallenged, will legalize a system of land use
policy that is unsurpassed in its potential to grant the federal government,
radical environmentalists and self-serving politicians all the loopholes
they need to regulate millions of acres of your
private property.
Snuck into the SAFETEA Act, S. 1072, are provisions that allow for
government to control your land using an ill-defined Invasive Species
policy. Specifically, sections 1501, 1505 and 1601 hand the Interior Dept.
authority to decide which plants, animals, fish, birds and insects are
"invasive," or of foreign origin to a particular land area, and are
therefore threatening to those species regarded as native. Once it's
discovered your property is home to an invasive species, Interior folks have
all the justification they need to oversee, manage, analyze, prevent and
control the "damage" from these invaders - or, in less Orwellian-speak, grab
land.
So how exactly does this affect you?
Even plants that have grown for decades on a certain tract of land can
suddenly be deemed a threat to the environment and to human health because
the language in the bill does not place any time constraints on determining
invasiveness. Once categorized as such, the environmental powers-that-be
have carte blanche to manage this land to prevent what they consider as
further upsets to the nation's ecosystem. If this land happens to be your
backyard, so be it.
Like golfing? Well, enjoy the pastime while you can because under this bill
golf courses that grow Kentucky bluegrass, the majority of which do, can be
monitored, regulated, controlled and even outlawed because this particular
seed of grass is an invasive species (except in Kentucky, of course) and can
be deemed harmful to both humans and environment.
These are just a couple examples of how S. 1072 and its private
property-busting provisions can play in reality. S. 1072 has already passed
the Senate and rests in the hands of various House committees. A House
companion measure, H.R. 2088, was introduced in May and is nearly identical
in terms of the amount of damage it could cause to private property
principle and right.
We must rally in defense of our most fundamental and important of basic
human rights - private property! Without land ownership rights, all other
freedoms are jeopardized.
**ACTION TO TAKE**
1. Call the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your
representative by name. Tell them to remove the anti-private property
language from this convoluted piece of legislation.
2. Call the Senate switchboard at (202) 225-3132 and tell your own senators
how you feel about this sneaky attempt to steal your Constitutional rights.
3. For even greater impact, fax a message to House Resources Committee
Chair Richard Pombo at (202) 226-0861 and let him know that you're aware of
this latest government scheme to control your property and that you want him
to stop the legislation in his committee.
4. If the fax lines are busy, try calling Rep. Pombo directly at
(202) 225-1947.
5. Click
http://www.referralblast.com/rblast.asp?sid=5906 to send this APC
Action Alert to up to TEN of your friends.
***Chumley Joins APC Staff
I am pleased to announce that Cheryl Chumley has joined the American Policy
Center staff as associate editor of the APC Newswire and The DeWeese
Report. Cheryl is an accomplished investigative journalist and her mission
with APC is to dig in and get the hard facts so you will know the who and
why behind government policy.
In her first few weeks on the job, Cheryl has produced an incredible volume
of articles and reports, some of which you may read in this current issue of
The DeWeese Report. Cheryl represents the beginning of a stronger, harder
edge to the American Policy Center as we step up our efforts to combat
those policies which threaten our liberty.
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