Congress sold you out.

Not only did they pass four Heritage Areas on Tuesday, but they did so by "voice vote," which means that the vote was not even recorded. Therefore, there is no way to tell who voted which way. This is Congress’ slimy way of hiding their votes from the American public. Here are the four Heritage Area land grabs that passed:

- H.R. 280: "The National Aviation Heritage Area" sponsored by Rep. David Hobson (R-OH)

-H.R. 1862: "The Oil Region National Heritage Area" sponsored by Rep. John Peterson (R-PA)

-H.R. 1618: "The Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area" sponsored by Denise Majette (D-GA)

-H.R. 1594: "The St. Croix National Heritage Area" sponsored by Rep. Donna Christensen (D-Virgin Islands)

Our efforts were successful in getting certain "property rights protections" inserted into the above bills. We’ve been told that we should be happy about this. WE ARE NOT HAPPY! It’s true that some of the property rights language added was certainly good and necessary, however THESE HERITAGE AREAS ARE STILL LAND AND POWER GRABS FOR GREENS AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Heritage Areas are SPECIFICALLY designed to allow the National Park Service and green preservation groups to dictate the land-use and zoning practices of local communities. PERIOD! No amount of fuzzy, warm, feel-good property rights "protections" can make Heritage Areas safe for landowners, business owners and communities. The Federal government simply should not be doing this under any circumstances!

These Heritage Areas essentially implement federal zoning. Federal money for Heritage Areas is administered through the National Park Service to preservation groups that are directed to preserve everything within the Heritage Area that is relevant to the Heritage Area. In other words, the Park Service teams up with local greens to take away YOUR private property rights. Once an area becomes a Heritage Area, local control over zoning and land use is lost. (To read more on the dangers of Heritage Areas, go to: http://www.americanpolicy.org/prop/natl-landgrab.htm.

Where Do We Go From Here? The Senate

GOOD NEWS: Currently, the Senate is less receptive to passing these Heritage Areas this year than the House. This is because they are waiting on a governmental report on Heritage Areas and would like to review the results of that before they designate any new ones. THIS IS GOOD FOR US.

HOWEVER, the above four porkers are going to be working OVERTIME to get their little green handouts passed by the Senate this year. They don’t want to wait until next year because they fear losing momentum on the issue.

WE CAN AND MUST STOP THESE BILLS IN THE SENATE!

** Action to Take **

1. Call Senator Craig Thomas and urge him to "put a hold" on these four Heritage Area bills. Tell him that the Senate MUST hold hearings on these bills before ANY vote is taken. Senator Thomas should be willing to do this, however, he needs our support! Senator Craig Thomas (202) 224-6441.

2. Call both of your Senators and urge them to vote NO on the above four Heritage Areas. Tell them that the Senate is currently waiting on a General Accounting Office study on Heritage Areas that isn’t due until next year. They must NOT approve any more Heritage Areas until they’ve seen that study! Explain to them that Heritage Areas are federal zoning and zoning decisions should be left to local communities. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121. Simply ask for your Senator by name.

3. Click here to send this APC Action Alert to up to TEN of your friends!

Bill to stop forced drugging of children MUST PASS!

Back in May of this year, the House of Representatives passed the "Child Medication Safety Act of 2003" by an OVERWHELMING margin of 425-1. This much needed legislation would END the practice of public schools forcing parents to drug their children with Ritalin and other psychotropic substances. Currently, in many states, parents must face the awful choice of either complying with school officials and drugging their children, or being forced to withdraw their children from school.

The Child Medication Safety Act (S. 1390) was introduced in the Senate in July, BUT HAS YET TO BE PASSED. Senator John Ensign, who introduced S. 1390 states that the bill is "designed to end the practice of forcing or coercing the psychotropic medication of children as a condition of attending school." He notes that "thousands of parents across the country are being forced to choose between medicating their children and removing them from school. The decision to place a child on medication as a method to treat behavioral problems or learning disabilities should be made by parents and parents only, and undue influence or coercion by school officials has no place in such an important decision."

IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT THE SENATE STOP PLAYING AROUND AND PASS S. 1390 IMMEDIATELY!

It has been documented that Ritalin and other psychotropic drugs have the same damaging effects on the brain as cocaine. Schools should not force these drugs on parents and children!

** Action to Take **

1. Call both of your Senators and urge them to pass S. 1390 before another child is forced to take mind-numbing drugs against their parents’ wishes. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121. Simply ask for your Senator by name.

2.Click here to send this APC Action Alert to up to TEN of your friends!