The idea of the "pursuit of happiness" in our great Declaration presupposes the right of property, a right our Founders understood was inseparable from all other unalienable rights. Without the right to pursue our individual version of the American Dream--independent of unjust interference from government or other sources--there can be no right to life or liberty.

The right of property has long been threatened not only by unsound schemes of taxation, but by intrusions into the personal control of private property. The result has been a pervasive loss of opportunity in the marketplace for the common man and a disruption of normal principles of supply and demand, those necessary to competition and to the creation of fair prices for such things as housing, undeveloped property, and a broad range of goods and services.

Today, disruption of the right of property is threatened additionally by extreme environmental values--extreme notions that increasingly strip property owners of normal and reasonable economic opportunity. We support responsible stewardship, but we also whole-heartedly seek to include in that stewardship conscientious and vigilant respect for the fundamental human right of property.