S.Amdt. 2131

SA 2131. Mr. CORNYN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 3058, making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, District of Columbia, and independent agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 436, between lines 10 and 11, insert the following:

SEC. 844. EMINENT DOMAIN.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used by any state, county, municipality, city, town or other political subdivision that engages or participates in the taking of private property by eminent domain without the consent of the owner and conveys or leases such property to another private person or entity for commercial, financial or retail enterprise, or to increase tax revenue, tax base, employment, or general economic health, unless the taking involves (a) conveying private property for the occupation and enjoyment of the land by the general public, or by public agencies, such as for a roadway, waterway, airport, school, hospital, military base, prison, public park, or a government building; or (b) conveying private property to an entity, such as a state or federally regulated public utility or common carrier, for the creation or functioning of public service infrastructure, such as for public utilities, waste treatment facilities, railroads, or transportation of natural gas, crude oil or refined petroleum products; or (c) condemning property that constitutes a severe threat to public health and safety, such as structures that are beyond repair or otherwise unfit for human habitation or use; or (d) leasing property to a private person or entity that occupies an incidental part of public property or a public facility, such as a retail establishment on the ground floor of a public building; or (e) acquiring abandoned property.