Protect Constitutional Rights

We are a nation established by freedom and democracy, ruled by law, and protected by our Constitution. America has become that rarest of places in the world: a land of freedom, equality, and opportunity. We are, as Abraham Lincoln dramatically asserted to Congress, “…the last best hope of earth.” Yet some political leaders claim that the government may take our homes and businesses to benefit more favored private interests; that freedom and security can no longer coexist; that torture and terror exercised at our behest are useful tools. They would sacrifice individual rights and the rule of law that has created our strength as a nation and that has inspired peoples throughout the world. To accept such a choice would destroy our character as a nation. We can be both strong and right, both principled and powerful. In fact, we must be.

I believe it is the most fundamental of all obligations for our government and its elected leaders to respect the Constitution and to ensure that the rights it secures for the people are vigorously defended. As a lawyer I have represented individuals, farmers, businesses, and organizations across this country who have been threatened with seizure of their land and property by governments and powerful corporations who claim the power of eminent domain. I have testified before Congressional committees, and I have written and advocated legislation, some of which has become law, to protect the constitutional and civil rights of Americans. I am troubled when I see our government eroding the guarantees of the Constitution in the name of expediency, proposals to benefit one private enterprise at the expense of another or at the expense of home owners or small businesses. I resist the idea that the end justifies the means when the means is the setting aside of constitutional safeguards. I will work vigorously to ensure that the actions of the government are done to uphold and strengthen, not undermine and evade, the protections that the Founders created for the American people.