Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) voted last night for the Private Property Rights Protection Act (H.R. 4128), legislation he co-sponsored that protects private property from abusive government seizure.

H.R. 4128, which was passed in the House last night by a vote of 376 to 38, will restrict state and local governments from claiming imminent domain and taking landowners’ private property for use as private enterprise and development. This legislation will withhold federal funds from communities that disregard citizens’ private property rights.

“I feel strongly about private property rights just as my constituents do, and I will fight to protect them. This bill is a good step forward in protecting homeowners from greedy government land grabs,” said Congressman McHenry.

H.R. 4128 is intended to counteract the Supreme Court’s 5 to 4 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which held that “economic development” can be a “public use” under the Fifth Amendment’s Taking Clause. This decision allowed the government to take land from small homeowners and give it to a large corporation to build a private research facility.

“What few realize is that tax revenues were being used as a benchmark,” said Congressman McHenry. “There was nothing keeping a shopping center from going to court to knock down a church – and I believe that’s wrong.”