Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) introduced the American Land Act

This week, Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) introduced the American Land Act. This bill would require the Administration to open up nearly 1/4 of the land currently owned by the federal government for sale to the American people. The federal government currently owns 27% (623 million acres) of the total land in the United States. This land is larger than the countries of France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy, United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium put together. The proceeds from the sales—potentially $200 billion or more--would be directly applied to reduce the federal budget deficit.

“It is time for the federal government to let Americans own American land. The government cannot afford its massive estate; we need to give up some of our assets so that we can pay our bills, “said Poe. “Allowing Americans to buy American land would provide a way to generate new revenue without new taxes, create new jobs and stimulate economic growth. Transferring ownership of natural resources to the public would also be a more efficient way to utilize our natural assets. This is a common sense solution to reducing the national debt.”

Allowing Americans to purchase 24.3% (174 million acres) of this land would have the potential to generate up to $200 billion or more to pay off the federal budget deficit. The bill does not authorize the sale of land owned by the National Park Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: Congressman Ted Poe, Serving the 2nd District of Texas Washington, D.C. Office 430 Cannon Building Washington, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-6565 (202) 225-5547 fax (866) 425-6565 toll free

Mike Coffman Statement on Cut, Cap & Balance Debate

(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), chairman of the Congressional Balanced Budget Amendment Caucus, issued the following statement as the U.S. House of Representatives debates H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011. “The greatest threat to our national security is the reckless out of control spending in Washington, D.C. The power to continue to spend money that we don’t have must be stripped away from congress and the only way to permanently accomplish that is by amending our constitution with a balanced budget requirement.”

“Linking the passage of the balance budget amendment, along with meaningful spending cuts, is the only way to get conservatives like myself to vote for an increase in the debt limit.”

“The balanced budget amendment is not popular among so many Washington politicians who see their power base as their ability to spend without limit in order to buy votes for the next election. Even if the balanced budget amendment doesn’t pass this time around we will have planted the seed for its future passage as our debt crisis deepens.”

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TEXT CREDIT: Congressman Mike Coffman: Washington Office • 1222 Longworth HOB • Washington, D.C. 20515 • Phone: (202) 225-7882 • Fax: (202) 226-4623

IMAGE CREDIT: This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.