Statement of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte Markup of H.R. 1944, the Private Property Rights Protection Act
“Chairman Goodlatte: Private ownership of property is vital to our freedom and our prosperity and is one of the most fundamental principles embedded in the Constitution. The Founders realized the importance of property rights by enshrining property rights protections throughout the Constitution, including in the Fifth Amendment, which provides that “private property” shall not “be taken for public use without just compensation.”
This clause created two conditions to the government taking private property: that the subsequent use of the property is for the public and that the government gives the property owner just compensation.”
Rexrode, Kathryn and Jessica Collins. Committee on the Judiciary 12 June 2013.