ALG urges Congress to defund radical environmentalists, end sue and settle and reform the Endangered Species Act

August 19, 2019

Aug. 19, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement on the need or Congressional action to reform the Endangered Species Act:

“The Endangered Species Act has been twisted to serve the goals of the Left rather than the recovery of endangered species. Outrageously, left-wing environmental groups are allowed to submit piles of frivolous petitions for endangered species status — tying the federal bureaucracy up in knots — and then sue when the government is unable to respond promptly to these petitions. These groups, such as WildEarth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity, are often able to collect exorbitant attorney’s fees for these cases. What’s further galling is that some of these same groups suing the government receive federal contracts and grants. Simply put, left-wing groups should not be paid to keep federal employees from doing their jobs, and so Congress must step in, end the sue and settle financial scam and reform the Endangered Species Act to end this insanity.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Filed Under: DefundMe, Press Releases Tagged With:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions ends sue and settle

November 17, 2017

Nov. 11, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement that he is ending the practice of sue and settle:

“Once again Attorney General Jeff Sessions is proving himself to be the right man for the job at the Justice Department with his announcement that the radical judicial lawmaking tool of sue and settle has come to end. No longer will radical left-wing groups be able to collude with the government, through the settling of contrived lawsuits designed to expand the scope of government via judicial fiat. Attorney General Sessions rightly says that agencies must follow the law, not make it.

“Last month Sessions also ended the practice of including third party groups into Justice Department settlements. This practice had been abused by the Obama administration to funnel millions of dollars into left-wing radical groups.

“Recipients of these Obama windfalls should be audited by the DOJ Inspector General to determine if they are performing the duties associated with the settlements, and if not, the Justice Department should claw back the monies they received.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: ,

UN Human Rights Council endorses DOJ nationalization of local policing via consent decrees

August 2, 2016

Aug. 2, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued a statement in response to the statement by the United Nations Rapporteur Maina Kai urging the Justice Department Civil Rights Division to federalize every police department in the country via consent decrees:

“The UN Human Rights Council, on which China and Venezuela and Cuba sit, is urging the Department of Justice to nationalize as many as 18,000 local police jurisdictions. That is appalling on its face, but what’s worse is Justice has already been regulating local police for years. These sue and settle lawsuits have been implemented in Newark, N.J., Miami, Fla., Los Angeles, Calif., Ferguson, Mo., Chicago, Ill. and others. Requirements include how searches are conducted, the use of force, the mandatory use of on-body cameras by the police, and so on. The agreements impose years-long compliance review regimes and implementation deadlines and regular reviews by federal bureaucrats.

“The Obama administration has been pursuing these cases for years, and it has largely gone unnoticed. Congress never authorized federal regulation of local police departments and if Obama had requested it legislatively, they likely would have said no. The DOJ has been taking over local police under Congress’ noses using an expansive interpretation of federal law. The ball was dropped but now it must be picked up and Congress needs to stop the nationalizing of local police departments. The fact that the UN Human Rights Council — which includes some of the worst abusers of human rights in the world that hate the U.S. — is cheering for this DOJ national takeover of the police should tell members everything they need to know.

“It’s time to support local police, not render them impotent via federal restrictions against maintaining law and order. No less than the very existence of local government is at stake.”

Attachments:

Statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association at the conclusion of his visit to the United States of America, Maina Kai, July 27, 2016 at http://freeassembly.net/news/usa-statement/ , “The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has provided oversight and recommendations for improvement of police services in a number of cities with consent decrees. This is one of the most effective ways to reduce discrimination in law enforcement and it needs to be beefed up and increased to cover as many of the 18,000-plus local law enforcement jurisdictions.”

“Obama’s war on the police is real,” Robert Romano, Aug. 2, 2016 at  https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/07/obamas-war-on-the-police-is-real

“An outsider tours American and chronicles its enduring racism,” Max Bearak, Washington Post, Aug. 1, 2016 at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/08/01/sometimes-it-takes-an-outsider-to-crystallize-americas-enduring-racism/

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: ,

ALG thanks U.S. Reps. Jason Smith, Lynn Westmoreland and Doug Collins for defunding sue and settle in Interior approps

July 14, 2016

July 14, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising the House of Representatives led by U.S. Reps. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) and Doug Collins (R-Ga.) for passing an amendment to the Department of Interior appropriations bill that defunds the practice of sue and settle:

“Sue-and-settle arrangements are where a group sues demanding that the EPA or another agency enforce the law in a new, expanded way and the agency enters into a consent decree with the party, which is signed by a judge. This leaves the agency with new powers under the Clean Air and Water and the Endangered Species Acts. But now, thanks to U.S. Reps. Smith, Westmoreland and Collins and a decisive 226 to 202 vote in the House, this practice will come to an end. Sue and settle is an abomination that has no place under representative government, as it cuts Congress out of the process of amending law.”

To view online: http://getliberty.org/alg-thanks-u-s-reps-jason-smith-lynn-westmoreland-and-doug-collins-for-defunding-sue-and-settle-in-interior-approps/

Attachments:

Amendment to H.R. 5538, H.Amdt. 1353, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland at http://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/WESTMO_02577160945384538.pdf

At  the  end  of  the  bill  (before  the  short  title),  insert  the following:

SEC. ___. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to pay legal fees pursuant to a settlement in any case, in which  the Federal Government is a party, that arises under—

(1)  the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.);

(2)  the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); or

(3)  the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With:

D.C. District Court denies temporary restraining order against federal voter registration form proof of citizenship requirements

February 23, 2016

Feb. 23, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Richard Leon’s decision to deny a temporary restraining order against the Election Assistance Commission’s federal voter registration form’s proof of citizenship requirements for Alabama, Georgia and Kansas in the case League of Women Voters v. Newby:

“Americans for Limited Government praises Judge Richard Leon for his wise decision to uphold, for now, the federal voter registration form that includes proof of citizenship requirements for Alabama, Georgia and Kansas. Leon’s denial of a temporary restraining order against the independent Election Assistance Commission, who made the form, is a victory for the rule of law, and a striking defeat for the Justice Department and its sue and settle racket.

“Attorney General Loretta Lynch and her crew of liberal legal henchmen conspired against the Election Assistance Commission by attempting to deny it legal counsel when the federal voter registration form’s proof of citizenship requirements were challenged. The Justice Department thought it could rig the case against the Commission.

“Fortunately Kansas Sec. of State Kris Kobach was there to argue on behalf of the Commission and the people of Kansas, whose legislature drafted the proof of citizenship requirements, and Judge Leon sided with Kansas for now. The next step will be a March 9 hearing on whether to issue a preliminary injunction against implementation of the new voter registration form. One thing is for certain, Loretta Lynch’s Justice Department will be less able to rig that outcome.”

Attachments:

Will DOJ push for illegal alien voting in 2016 fall flat in court? By Robert Romano, Feb. 23, 2016 at http://netrightdaily.com/2016/02/will-doj-push-for-illegal-alien-voting-in-2016-fall-flat-in-court/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With:

First test of Ryan Speakership comes in December continuing resolution

October 28, 2015

Oct. 28, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement on imminent House passage of the debt deal that suspends the debt ceiling until March 2017:

“Today’s debt deal struck in secret by John Boehner and the White House underscores the challenges facing Paul Ryan as he prepares to be the next House Speaker. The first test of Ryan in the upcoming December continuing resolution to see if he will rein in Obama’s out of control executive overreach.

“This will be an opportunity to include policy riders into appropriations measures that systematically prohibit the use of funds to execute the Obama agenda.

“For example, the House could deny funds to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to condition community development block grants on redrawing local zoning to comport with HUD racial and income quotas. The House could defund the EPA’s sue and settle regulatory overreach. Or, deny funds to the National Labor Relations Board’s continued assault on small businesses. There are hundreds of riders that can and should be considered by the House to actually stop Obama’s fundamental transformation of America.

“The real test for Ryan will be if he chooses to accept Obama’s agenda, or use the power of the purse to stop it.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With:

ALG urges Senate to reject likely nominee McCarthy for EPA administrator

February 20, 2013

Feb. 20, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement urging the U.S. Senate to reject likely Obama nominee for EPA administrator, Gina McCarthy, should she be nominated:

“Gina McCarthy’s record of mismanagement working for both the Connecticut and Massachusetts environmental protection agencies, coupled with her desire to tell people and companies how they must conduct their business, does not advise her confirmation. The problem with the EPA is not that it lacks staffing, but that it is out of control.

“The EPA is regulating carbon emissions and stormwater without any guidance in the law. It is engaged in a sue-and-settle racket with radical environmentalist groups to expand its powers via judicial assent. And its regulations threaten America’s future ability to develop and utilize natural resources, to grow the economy, and to create jobs. This agency is simply too powerful, and operates outside the law.

“Given Obama’s State of the Union threat to continue to pursue unilateral executive actions in lieu of climate change legislation, no nominee to the EPA should be confirmed. Rather, bureaucrats there should have to answer for the destruction they are wreaking on the U.S. economy. Unless and until these harmful regulations are rescinded and the sue and settle racket is torn apart, the agency should be defunded, the bureaucrats that work there furloughed, and the offices they work in sold to pay down the deficit.”

Attachments:

ALG Nominee Alert, Gina McCarthy, November 2011 at http://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Gina-McCarthy-NomineeAlert.pdf (Note: dated for after she was appointed to Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation at the EPA)

“Obama and his rogue EPA,” By ALG President Bill Wilson, Feb. 14, 2013 at http://netrightdaily.com/2013/02/obama-and-his-rogue-epa/

Interview Availability: Please contact Adam Bitely at (703) 383-0880 ext. 126 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: