CONTACT
Sensenbrenner: Nicole Tieman, 202-225-5101
Waters: Twaun Samuel, 202-225-2201
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), along with Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), reintroduced the bipartisan Private Property Rights Protection Act, which would provide American citizens with the means to protect their private property from inappropriate claims of eminent domain.
Under this legislation, if a state or political subdivision of a state uses its eminent domain power to transfer private property to other private parties for the purpose of economic development, the state would be ineligible for federal economic funds for two fiscal years following a judicial determination that the law has been violated.
Additionally, the federal government would be prohibited from using eminent domain for economic development purposes.
Congressman Sensenbrenner: “The freedom to own and protect one’s private property is foundational to our country. Congress must fight to protect the private property rights of Americans and reform the use and abuse of eminent domain. Under our newly unified government, I’m hopeful this legislation will pass and restore the government’s power of eminent domain to its limited, proper role.”
Congresswoman Waters: “Few policies have done more to destroy community and opportunity for minorities than eminent domain. Some 3 to 4 million Americans, most of them ethnic minorities, have been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of urban renewal takings since World War II. It is my hope that together we can protect the rights of vulnerable people by curbing eminent domain abuses through this legislation.”
