Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

The chairman and the ranking member know I have been working on the new consolidated Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters project since 2007. This project remains a top priority for the Maryland delegation. Bids, as the chairman knows, on the three sites under consideration were due in on June 22. Two of the sites under consideration for this new facility, Greenbelt and Landover, are located in Maryland.

We have been working at the Federal, State, and local levels to assemble competitive bids for our sites. We believe that, in a fair and open competition, Maryland has put forward sites and proposals that will ultimately be deemed a better fit for the FBI.

However, as I have discussed with the chairman and the ranking member, I remain concerned about the General Services Administration's recent reduction in the estimated cost of relocating existing Federal facilities at the Springfield, Virginia, site. Since the cost of relocation of these facilities will be factored into the price for the Springfield site, we need to ensure that the GSA produces an accurate number that fully reflects the relocation costs that taxpayers will be asked to cover.

My question for the chairman and the ranking member is: Will you agree to work with me to ensure that the GSA accurately reports the cost of any Federal facility relocation associated with these sites?

In addition to that, I would ask: Do the gentlemen agree, the chairman and ranking member, that such transparency on the part of GSA is needed to ensure that the process for the siting of this facility is fair and provides accurate information to municipalities and developers competing to construct and house this critically important FBI project?

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman. I certainly rely on that representation and I appreciate it.

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