(Radio Iowa) –  A northwest Iowa lawmaker is urging his fellow Republicans to pressure G-O-P leaders to allow senate debate of a bill that addresses the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project. Republican Senator Lynn Evans of Aurelia is critical of the Iowa Utilities Commission decision that gives Summit eminent domain authority to seize tracts from land owners who don’t want the pipeline on their property.

“Private property rights are one of the things that make our country unique,” Evans says. “George Washington recognized the vital link between freedom and private property rights, believing they were inseparable. His belief solidified the idea that private property ownership is a fundamental aspect of American society.” Evans says it’s time for a public vote in the senate.

“This is not only a constitutional issue, it is simply the right thing to do for our property owners as many of them who are in objection to the use of eminent domain are generational land owners,” Evans said. “It means much more to them than just productivity. It’s part of their family, it’s part of their heritage and it’s part of their being.” Those remarks sparked a verbal skirmish between two other legislators.

Senator Jesse Green of Boone says he and other Republicans are having private conversations about what to do next and he suggests Senate Democrats are too focused on making public statements about the pipeline. “I get that you guys enjoy theatrics, the cameras, all that stuff,” Green said. Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, says it’s not Democrats, but Republicans who have a super majority of seats in the senate that have the power to bring bills up for debate. “You’re on the run and you’re afraid, so you attack us,” Bisignano said.

Republicans and Democrats in the Iowa House have passed several bills over the past few years to address issues related to the pipeline, but none were considered in the Senate. There is a House-passed bill eligible for debate in the Senate this year, but an attached amendment makes significant changes to the bill.