As your Representative in Congress, Lisa will work to:

Supports protecting private property rights.

The Bill of Rights provides that private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation. Our Founders considered this one of the most basic of rights, and in some ways central to the exercise of other rights and freedoms. It was through the ownership of property, and the wealth that property provided, that people could truly exercise their liberties. Conversely, the loss of property or the loss of the use and enjoyment of that property restricted the power of the people, their independence and their ability to oppose the power of the state. Thus, the so-called "takings clause" was meant to keep our government from doing what kings and emperors had been doing for hundreds of years - control the power and independence of their people by controlling their property.

Today, Federal agencies are controlling the use of private property for public purposes by abusing laws intended to protect the environment. In issuing regulations that limit the uses of private land, the government is very much "taking" property from its owners. In my opinion, the government should be required to carefully review the ramifications of their regulations on private property, and pay just compensation in situations where those regulations deprive property owners of their ability to earn a living on their land.

Download the entire Why Vote for Lisa Atkins document.

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