AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) issued the following statement from the Honorable Robert Henneke, general counsel and director of TPPF’s Center for the American Future, on the amicus curiae brief filed by U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry, 19 other Texas U.S. Congressmen, and U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz in support of the plaintiffs in Aderholt, et al. v. Bureau of Land Management, et. al. TPPF’s Center for the American Future is representing individual property owners, the counties of Wichita, Clay, and Wilbarger, and the Clay County Sheriff in the lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) unconstitutional and arbitrary seizure of thousands of acres of private property along the Red River in Texas.
The amicus brief was filed by U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry, U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and U.S. Representatives Kevin Brady, Michael Burgess, John Carter, Mike Conaway, John Culberson, Blake Farenthold, Bill Flores, Louie Gohmert, Kay Granger, Jeb Hensarling, Sam Johnson, Kenny Marchant, Michael McCaul, Randy Neugebauer, Ted Poe, John Ratcliffe, Pete Sessions, Randy Weber, and Roger Williams.
“The congressional coalition amicus brief issues a sharp indictment of the Bureau of Land Management for violating the ‘most basic tenet of our Republic’ – freedom from tyranny,” said Henneke. “Beyond its strong legal analysis, this Brief represents the Article I Legislative perspective that the federal defendants are abusing and exceeding their authority in their actions against the Center for the American Future’s clients in this lawsuit. This congressional amicus represents a welcome addition to the growing national coalition opposed to BLM’s land grab along the Red River.”
To read the brief, please visit: http://txpo.li/Congressional-Amicus-Brief
The federal government is attempting to take thousands of acres of Texas land from homeowners and ranchers along the Red River in U.S. Representative Thornberry’s congressional district. According to the Bureau of Land Management, the land is inside the river and is therefore public land. However, the south bank of the river is about a mile north of where the government says it is. Furthermore, many Texans live on that land, and many others make their livelihoods from farming and ranching on it. These Texans have lived and paid taxes on the land for generations, and they have titles and deeds going back to the 1800’s.
For more information on the dispute and lawsuit please visit:www.RedRiverPropertyRights.com
To schedule an interview with Mr. Henneke, please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
The Honorable Robert Henneke is General Counsel and Director of the Foundation’s Center for the American Future.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.