Babbitt Criticizes GOP Over Property-Rights Bill

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't bdi y, March 19, 1995 THE De, bbitt criticizes GOP property - rights bills eim m Bureau kASHINGTON — Interior Secre- y Bruce Babbitt says Republican islation in Congress strengthening V,ate property rights is "a deliber- attempt to stuff it in the eye of i nerican people" and will back- oft the GOP in time for the 1996 #itt lashed out at the new Con- ; iduring a session with Western r(ers last week, saying Republi- lowmakers in the House were 14 "like a herd of sheep" to cater iecial interests and gut environ- ;al measures such as the Clean Wt and Clean Water Act. 'H�ding what could become a Clin- tar� radministration stump speech for j d'dlklass voters; Babbitt said so- 2 ifj Ilod'takings legislation to strength- - property rights "is a payoff for `rrmercial real estate developers." "1t will allow them to wreck your rdsioeptial neighborhood with impu- tTtyi" Babbitt declared. "In our view, tie first obligation should be to resi- t4ntis landowners. Babbitt was referring specifically a provision in the GOP Contract il'th America that broadens the $ts;of citizens and businesses to be n1pensated for government actions t ab lower the value of their proper - The White House is hoping the fiOn #te will water down the language V}?resident Clinton doesn't have to k; a, politically unpopular veto. Meanwhile, the House keeps chipping away at Babbitt and the administra- tion's environ- mental agenda. On Wednesday, lawmakers or- dered federal forest manag- ers to double their planned harvest of dis- eased trees during the next two years and blocked attempts to challenge timber sales under. such laws as the Endangered Species Aet. The House also took up a proposal that would cut about $20 million out of the $28 million remaining this year for the Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service to run the endan- gered species programs. U.S. Rep. Wayne Allard, R -Love- land, has forced the U.S. Department of Agriculture to back down in a flap over farm services and endangered species. Seems Allard uncovered an inter- nal policy memo instructing federal farm service employees to collect da- ta on the presence of endangered spe- cies on private land without telling landowners. The data presumably would be handed over to the Environ- Mental Protection Agency. 1Allard, a veterinarian who repre- sents mostly rural eastern Colorado, became furious and called for a hear- ing on what he termed "covert, CIA - like operations." Before things went further, Agriculture Department offi- cials retracted the memo. ■ ■ ■ Former Interior Secretary James Watt faces a four- to five -week trial here in September on charges that he lied about his consulting activities in connection with the 1980s Reagan housing administration scandal. Meantime, he can relax at home in Jackson, Wyo., without worrying about calls from nosy reporters or political foes. At Watt's arraignment last week, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth told the former cabinet member he would delete his home ad- dress and phone number from court papers to prevent harassment. Watt laughed and thanked the judge. With warm weather back on the East Coast, Rep. Dan Schaefer, R- Lakewood, is starting to recruit play - ers for the annual congressional base- ball game, scheduled for Aug. 1. Schaefer, manager of a Republican team that was road kill for Demo- crats last year, has 72 new freshman representatives to choose from. . They include University of Oklaho- ma quarterback J.C. Watts and fu- ture NFL hall- of -famer Steve Lar- gent, who was a catcher -in college. Democrats lost six team members in the November elections.