Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment to H.R. 6276, the Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act, or the USE IT Act of 2023.

My amendment is simple. It would amend section 4 of the bill to make the reports required by section be made publicly available on a website operated by the General Services Administration, the GSA, with exceptions for national security-related reasons.

The American people deserve transparency. Far too often, the people of this country, the ones who fund the government, the ones we represent, don't know where their money is going. Taxpayer dollars are frivolously being used to heat and cool empty and underutilized government buildings.

The American people see tens of thousands of dollars go out of their paychecks every year to pay for what: A wide open southern border, rampant inflation, out-of-control national debt, and an inefficient bureaucracy.

This is ridiculous. The people deserve to know their money is being used efficiently. Making these reports on office use publicly available will increase public oversight on the activities of the Federal agencies and, in turn, increase public trust and confidence in our government.

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Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Chair, my amendment is simple, easy, and commonsense. I ask for my colleagues to support this amendment and to support the underlying bill.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee of Mr. Mills, and I have an amendment at the desk.

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Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, I am here today to offer amendment No. 6 to H.R. 6276, USE IT Act, as the designee of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mills).

I fully support the accountability advanced by the underlying bill. The continual bloating of the Federal Government's physical footprint costs American taxpayers obscene amounts of money each year.

This straightforward amendment provides additional transparency to the bill to ensure that Congress and the American people have the most fulsome data about the costs associated with this bill's implementation.

Specifically, this amendment requires the Government Accountability Office, the GAO, to report on the cost of establishing future methodologies and technologies to measure Federal building occupancy as required by the bill.

The enactment excludes any preexisting systems in place before the date of the enactment of this act to prevent any duplicative accounting.

As we strive to limit waste, fraud, and abuse in our government, this amendment ensures that we are doing so with transparency and accountability in Federal building management.

This bill and the amendment to it are hardly riveting. However, good governance often requires a willingness to do the mundane administrative work to keep the ship upright and moving forward.

I will take a second just to say that I wish Mr. Mills could have been here to offer this important amendment, but he is currently on his way back from Haiti, after assisting with the evacuation of American citizens as the country enters a state of complete anarchy. His commitment to America, domestic and broad, is commendable.

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Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Chair, just like the last amendment, this amendment is about transparency and accountability. Once again, I ask for my colleagues' support on this amendment and on the underlying bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

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