WASHINGTON, D.C. – TOMORROW, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011, Sen. Rand Paul will host a roundtable forum with fellow Members of Congress to speak with victims of the U.S. government’s multi-pronged assault on private property rights. Below is a list of guests invited to share their stories of regulatory and statutory overreach and the havoc it has created by hindering prosperity and infringing on personal property rights. Attendees include the CEO of the Gibson Guitar Co., and Mike and Chantelle Sackett, whose case is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
EVENT: PROPERTY WRONGS: A discussion with the victims of the U.S. government’s assault on private property
DATE: WEDNESDAY, Oct. 12, 2011
TIME: 2:30 p.m. ET
LOCATION: 325 Russell Senate Office Building – Kennedy Caucus Room
Washington DC 20510
WITNESSES:
Henry Juszkiewicz, CEO Gibson Guitars
On Aug. 24, 2011, agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service raided Gibson Guitar headquarters in Nashville, Tenn. The federal agents armed with semiautomatic weapons seized wood, guitars, and computer files and accused the company of making guitars with prohibited wood. According to the Obama administration, purchasing unfinished wood is a violation of Madagascarian law. The DOJ is not forming this assumption under U.S. law, but rather it is their interpretation of a law in Madagascar and this action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India. This is the second time that federal agents have raided Gibson facilities and disrupted production. Gibson had to cease its manufacturing operations and send workers home, while armed agents executed the search warrants. The wood seized from Gibson is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council which requires that the wood is not harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights of its origin country. The wood seized on Aug. 24 satisfied all FSC standards, yet, the Federal Government raided Gibson’s facilities without warning or communication of any kind. The DOJ then stated that this would not be an issue if Gibson had exported its labor to Madagascar as opposed to creating such job positions in America.
Mike and Chantell Sackett
In 2005, Mike and Chantell Sackett of Idaho bought a plot of land with the plans of building a home in a neighborhood where other houses have stood for years. Before beginning work, Chantell made sure to consult with an Army Corps of Engineers official who informed her that they did not need a federal permit. Four years ago they filled the property with dirt and rock preparing to begin construction. Three federal officials showed up and demanded they halt construction claiming the lot was a wetland, protected under the Clean Water Act. The EPA demanded the property to be returned to its original state, meaning hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove the fill material and replanting the vegetation. The Sacketts faced $32,500 in daily fines if they did not comply and criminal liability if they continued construction. Not to mention, the EPA required they fence the property off and submit annual reports on the property’s condition. The Sacketts appealed to the Supreme Court and will be heard this winter in the case of Sackett v. EPA.
Victoria Khoury (Daughter of John Pozsgai)
In 1986, John Pozsgai of Bucks County, Pa., bought an illegal dump across the street from his house. The dump contained a storm water drainage system and storm water drainage ditch that dated back to 1936. The dump was filled with tires, scrap metal, and other objects. He cleaned up the dump with plans to build a 12,500-square-foot building that would expand his business and enhance his community. Within months of acquiring the property, John was contacted by the Army Corps of Engineers informing him of the presence of wetlands. However, he did not fully understand these notices and his lawyer was of no help (the lawyer was later reprimanded for drunkenness in court). In 1987, the Army Corps civilly sued John to restore the property to its previous condition. When John was told by the Army Corps he needed a permit to build his truck repair shop, he obtained a water quality permit from Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Resources, even though the Department of Environmental Resources informed him that the property was not on the National Wetlands Inventory. The Army Corps referred the case to the EPA, who then referred it to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. During this process, the Army Corps was still asking for more information to process John’s permit. John was then arrested and his home was searched for weapons by two EPA officers. John was sentenced to three years in prison and a $202,000 fine for violating the Clean Water Act. At the time Mr. Pozsgai was sentenced, he was the ‘worst environmental violator’ in the history of the United States.
Peter Nimrod, Chief Engineer of the Mississippi Levee Board
The EPA stopped a vital flood control project in the Mississippi Delta, the Yazoo Backwater Project, claiming it would harm wetlands, leaving the residents of the South Delta the only people in the Mississippi River watershed without effective flood control in place. Under the Clean Water Act (Section 404(r)) the EPA is prohibited from vetoing any project approved by Congress prior to Dec. 27, 1977, when the environmental impacts of the project were made known to Congress before construction began. Such is the case with the proposed pumping station that the EPA is not allowing in the Yazoo Backwater Project. The Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners is suing the EPA.
Mayor Tom Moodie
Grand Rivers, a small Kentucky town of 350, has been battling the EPA, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and archeological groups for over two years as they try to build a new, and badly needed, sewer treatment facility. They are demanding that Grand Rivers spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on impact studies of mussels and archeology before the new plant is built. The city does not have the money for these studies. Also, a few times a year the current plant has to be shut down, forcing them to re-route sewage into the river. The new site for the facility is about half-mile from the current site.
John and Judy Dollarhite
John and Judy Dollarhite of Nixa, Mo., have been sentenced a $90,643 fine from USDA for a “paperwork violation” after the family sold some rabbits to a local pet store. This violation in the Animal Welfare Act was intended to prevent the abuse of animals. Over the past few years the Dollarhites have raised and sold a few hundred rabbits as a part-time job to teach their son responsibility. Local experts praised the Dollarhites for the pristine condition they kept the rabbits in on their three-acre lot where their home sits.
Related posts:
- TODAY: Senator Paul Hosts Roundtable Forum “PROPERTY WRONGS: A Discussion with Victims of the U.S. Government’s Assault on Private Property”
- Senator Paul Holds Hearing on Government Assault on Private Property
- Senator Paul Addresses Government Regulatory Overreach
- Rand Advocates Term Limits and Property Rights
- Senators Paul, Graham Introduce Harbor Equity Act
