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Land of Pork or Pork for Land?

The Washington Post editorial page has dumped on HR 701/S 25, the CARA Pork Barrel Land Grab, for the second time this month.

On March 3, it published an editorial against CARA called "A Lush Lands Bill." The Post objected to taking $3 billion dollars per year "off-budget" and exempting it from the democratic budget process.

Today, March 20, it published a letter from Chuck Cushman of the American Land Rights Association opposing CARA. Here is the text of the letter:

"The March 3 editorial 'A Lush Lands Bill' about the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) provided one answer to the question of how much it costs to purchase the vote of a member of Congress.

"When introduced last year, the bill proposed creating a $1.4 billion annual pot of money that would be exempt from the appropriations process and divided into three trust funds. The legislation attracted almost 140 cosponsors, or about $10 million per cosponsor.

"The House Resources Committee ratcheted this up to $3 billion flowing into seven trust funds when it approved the bill in November. Behold, the number of cosponsors shot up to nearly 300!

"Similar legislation, the American Heritage Trust Act (AHTA), was proposed in 1989. It was a $1 billion annual conservation trust fund that attracted nearly 250 cosponsors, for a bargain-basement price of only $2.5 million for each promised vote.

The price of pork-barrel legislating certainly has risen over the past decade."

Chuck Cushman, Executive Director
American Land Rights Association
Battle Ground, Washington

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO FOLLOW UP:
1. Call your Congressman at (202) 225-3121 to oppose CARA (HR-701). Proponents are trying to get it voted on the first week in April so they can use EARTHDAY as the excuse for your Congressman to vote for it. They want to OUT GREEN AL GORE. Remember that Members of Congress don't pay much attention to E-Mail. You need to call or use fax.

2. Call the leadership in the House of Representatives to URGE THEM NOT TO HOLD A VOTE ON CARA. Why let Al Gore achieve a campaign promise? Why give Bill Clinton his legacy? Call Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert at (202) 225-0600. Majority Leader Dick Armey's office is (202) 225-4000. Tom DeLay is the Majority Whip. Call him at (202) 225-0197.

Keep Private Lands in Private Hands Coalition
Headquarters: PO Box 423 - Battle Ground WA 98604
Phone: 360-687-2471 - Fax: 360-687-2973 - Email:
Legislative Office: 508 First Street SE - Washington DC 20003
Phone: 202-251-3473 - Fax: 202-543-7126 - Email: hardimanmike@aol.com
Website: http://www.landrights.org