Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for his overly generous introduction, and I thank my friend from Pennsylvania and my friend from Indiana for this bill.

This bill, which I strongly support, the Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act of 2016, may seem quite technical to those who have heard it described, but I do want to congratulate my friends, the chairman and the ranking member, for a bill that will have great substantive impact on the way that GSA does its business. I particularly appreciate the bipartisan way in which both of them have always performed. I also thank them both for accepting my amendments: one, in keeping with both this bill and the prior bill, for a new, federal footprint here, and a smaller Department of Energy; and then an amendment that is not related to any of this, for lactation space for visitors to Federal buildings.

I appreciate the acceptance of an amendment that allows the GSA to sell or exchange the Department of Energy Forrestal Complex that is right in the heart of The Mall area, at 1000 Independence Avenue, in accordance with the so-called Southwest Ecodistrict Plan, which means that all the appropriate planning has been done, given where this location is and how important it is to official Washington.

My amendment has two purposes. Because the DOE building is larger than necessary and results in wasteful spending, we now require a smaller footprint. It allows the Cotton Annex, close to the Department of Energy on The Mall, to be sold, and gives the GSA what a developer needs--that is what GSA is, a developer--the flexibility to develop this priceless land and assures that development will occur soon--GSA has to come back by June, and we are almost there--with a process for disposing of the Cotton Annex.

I want to thank both gentlemen for agreeing to my amendment that I call the ``motherhood'' bill. GSA already requires that employees be given lactation space, but we discovered that some employees at the Smithsonian were not getting it. When I called the Smithsonian, they immediately provided the regional space. It is not new space, only existing space for a mother to pump or to nurse a baby, if she is a Federal employee. I simply added visitors and guests to Federal facilities as those that can use this space.

The Nation's capital is a tourist mecca, so there will be some nursing mothers.

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, the benefits of breastfeeding are well documented. Children's immune systems build up. Studies have shown that even risks of asthma, diabetes, and the like are reduced in breastfed babies. There are benefits also to nursing mothers as well. The risk of diabetes and cancer are reduced.

This bill isn't very much related to the important substance of the underlying bill, but the relationship is clear enough. I very much thank my two good friends for accepting these two amendments to the underlying bill. I strongly support the underlying bill this evening.

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