Will Bush veto the CARA threat?

By Peyton Knight
web posted September 10, 2001

The federal government currently owns approximately one third
of the entire landmass of the United States. In some States it
owns more land than either the State or all those living there. For
decades, radical environmentalists have advanced a plan called
the "Wildlands Project" that would insure half or more of the US
would be off limits to any human use or habitation. Only in
Communist nations does the government own all the land. Now
that prospect is coming to the United States.

The Conservation and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 701), otherwise
known as "CARA," passed the House Resources Committee on
July 25, 2001. Seventeen Democrat members of the committee
were in attendance and voted in favor of the bill. The
Republicans split their vote down the middle, 12 in favor and 12
against.

Now that CARA has passed the Resources Committee, a huge
drive, led by Rep. Don Young (R-AK) and Billy Tauzin (R-LA),
is ensuing to make the $47 billion land acquisition trust fund a
reality. With 239 cosponsors, CARA has the muscle to avoid a
repeat of last year's defeat. It must be defeated! Failing that,
property rights, the keystone of capitalism, cited and protected in
the US Constitution, will fall before the juggernaut of government
land acquisition.

The President now remains the primary hope that property rights
advocates, conservatives, and stalwart Republicans have to stop
this nightmare. A veto by President Bush would answer the pleas
of his core supporters. Allowing CARA to become law would
spell doom for his administration and Republican hopes to regain
control of Congress. The American Policy Center is calling upon
its supporters and all Americans to contact the White House and
urge a Presidential veto.

CARA is a $47 billion dollar, 15-year trust fund that takes
money from offshore drilling revenues and reapportions it for
"conservation" efforts. Fully $900 million of CARA funds per
year would be funneled into the already bloated budget of the
Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), both at the state
and federal level. The LWCF is the main land-grabbing agency
of the government.

Ranches, farms, mines, pastures, and private estates would
instantly become vulnerable to the whims of environmentalists of
the kind who filed the suit that ruined the lives of 1400 farmers in
the Klamath Basin. CARA exists to expand the property
holdings of the government. Private property will be condemned
and former owners will be forced to relocate. Private land that
borders existing federal and state parks and monuments would
also be targeted. Public lands would relentlessly expand,
swallowing private property in their path.

If passed by Congress, President Bush must veto the CARA
legislation because those property owners, ranchers, farmers,
loggers and miners who are the very people that comprise the
sea of red found on the famous "Bush Country" Election 2000
map. They elected him and they justifiably hate CARA. They are
the ones who will be most affected by the rolling land grabs that
will surely take place if CARA becomes law. If betrayed by this
administration, it is these people who will stay home on Election
Day 2004.

They will not be alone. Hunters, fishermen, campers, off-road
vehicle owners and other recreational users of wilderness also
turned out in droves to elect President Bush. They too would
suffer greatly under CARA. As government acquires more and
more private land, its pattern of hostility toward these outdoor
enthusiasts will be extended.

The Bush administration has announced plans to clean up the
multi-billion dollar maintenance backlog at the National Park
Service and other federal land management agencies. CARA
would add millions more acres to this backlog, placing more land
in the hands of bureaucrats who have proven inept at caring for
it. Evidence of this has been dramatically seen in the extensive
preventable forest fires that have ravished millions of acres of the
nation's national parks and forests.

Most insidious, CARA is a trust fund and does not have to pass
annual appropriations. The $47 billion, whose use would be
spread over 15 years, is guaranteed once CARA becomes law.
It is a $3 billion-per-year pork barrel, land acquisition bill that
will tip the fiscal scales out of Bush's favor. Funds from CARA
would go to government agencies that work closely with and
often contract with extreme leftist, environmental groups. In
essence, CARA funds the same radicals that work tirelessly to
destroy Republican candidates, the same leftists that will
inevitably unite to defeat Bush in 2004.

This is the greatest, modern threat to property rights in America
and it is a political disaster waiting to happen. By urging House
leaders to stand firm against CARA, President Bush can remain
true to his core constituency and his oath to uphold the
Constitution. If Bush does nothing and CARA becomes law
under his watch, he will have betrayed his most loyal supporters
and signed a political death warrant for the Republican Party.

Peyton Knight is the Associate Editor of The DeWeese Report,
a monthly newsletter, and Legislative Director for the American
Policy Center, an activist, grassroots think tank headquartered in
Warrenton, VA. The Center maintains an Internet site at
www.americanpolicy.org. (c) American Policy Center, 2001

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