Conveyance of Parcel, Tracy, California
Floor Speech
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Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
S. 1302 would direct the General Services Administration to sell 150 acres of land in Tracy, California, to the city of Tracy for not less than its appraised fair market value. This property is undeveloped land that was once under the custody and control of the Federal Government. However, the Federal Government maintains a reversionary interest in the property based on certain usage restrictions.
Through three separate pieces of legislation enacted since 1999, Congress has conveyed the 150 acres to the city of Tracy and has restricted its use of the land to educational and recreational uses only. Over the past decade, the city of Tracy has determined that these uses are no longer feasible, and it would like to utilize the land for economic development, thus adding to its base and to the welfare of the citizens of Tracy. In fact, the city expects significant commercial interest in the property and is optimistic that future development on the land will create hundreds of much-needed jobs.
S. 1302 would remove all restrictions currently imposed on the property by Congress and would transfer complete ownership of the land from the Federal Government to the city of Tracy. Additionally, this legislation advances the goal of the disposing of unneeded Federal property, which is something that Mr. Denham, who is with me today, has been very active in.
As we look at the Senate bill passed by the Senate unanimously in August of last year, I believe we see a win-win. The Federal Government takes a piece of land it has no further interest in and that it has, through congressional acts in the past, locked up for specific uses not likely to occur, and we receive full fair market value for the property. This is the way Federal land in excess should be disposed of--sold at fair market value or above and assured to be put to good use by the recipient, which, in this case, is the city of Tracy.
I urge support for this, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Although this is a small piece of property, it's part of a vast amount of property the Federal Government currently owns, controls, and does not use. So as we take this step today, I hope all of my colleagues in the House and the Senate will look at this as at least a small contribution to a direction we should go, find ways to take government-owned property, get it in private hands, paying property tax, being developed, and creating jobs throughout the areas in which it lies.
As I urge support, I would like to thank my colleague, the gen tle lady from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), for her work; I would like to thank the Senate cosponsors, including Senator Boxer, for getting this to us; and I would like to thank Mr. Denham for brining it to the floor at this time.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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