I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3135 

To protect private property rights. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2005 

Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DELAY, Mr. BLUNT, 

Ms. WATERS, Mr. COBLE, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. 

GOODLATTE, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. 

JENKINS, Mr. CANNON, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. FLAKE, 

Mr. PENCE, Mr. FORBES, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. ISSA, Mr. 

FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ALEXANDER, 

Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BONILLA, Mrs. BONO, Mr. BRADLEY

of New Hampshire, Mr. BUYER, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. DEFAZIO, 

Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mrs. DRAKE, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. FOSSELLA, Ms. 

FOXX, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GRAVES, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. 

HERGER, Ms. HERSETH, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. JONES of 

North Carolina, Mr. KIRK, Mr. KLINE, Mr. MACK, Mr. MCCAUL of 

Texas, Mr. MCCOTTER, Miss MCMORRIS, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. 

NEUGEBAUER, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. OTTER, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. POMBO, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. SIMPSON, 

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, 

Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. BONNER, Mr. POE, Mr. HEFLEY, 

Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 

REICHERT, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, 

Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. SODREL, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, 

Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. PEARCE, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS

of Virginia, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. PRICE of Georgia) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect private property rights. 
2 

•HR 3135 IH 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Private Property 

5 Rights Protection Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY 

7 STATES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—No State or any political subdivi9 sion of a State shall use economic development as a reason 

10 for exercising its power of eminent domain if Federal 

11 funds would contribute in any way to— 

12 (1) the project for which the State’s or political 

13 subdivision’s power of eminent domain is exercised; 

14 or 

15 (2) the exercise and enforcement of the eminent 

16 domain power over that project. 

17 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—A viola18 tion of subsection (a) renders such State or political sub19 division ineligible for any Federal funds described in that 

20 subsection and any Federal agency charged with distrib21 uting those funds shall withhold them. 
3 

•HR 3135 IH 

1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY THE 

2 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 

3 The Federal Government or any authority of the Fed4 eral Government shall not use economic development as 

5 a reason for exercising its power of eminent domain. 

6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

8 (1) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—The term 

9 ‘‘economic development’’ means any activity, includ10 ing increasing tax revenue, other than making pri11 vate property available in substantial part for use by 

12 the general public or by an entity that makes the 

13 property available for use by the general public, or 

14 as a public facility, or to remove harmful effects. 

15 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

16 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

17 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other terri18 tory or possession of the United States. 

Æ