Defeat of Republican Amendment Encouraging to Norton in Efforts to Recoup DHS Project Cuts

Defeat of a Republican Amendment Encouraging to Norton in her Efforts to Recoup DHS Construction Project Cuts

June 3, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC -- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said she was encouraged in her efforts to restore funding cuts for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters construction project underway at St. Elizabeths in Ward 8 by the defeat yesterday of an amendment, offered by Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX), to the DHS appropriations bill the would have prohibited federal building construction, purchasing and leasing anywhere in the District of Columbia. The Gohmert amendment failed by a vote of 199 to 224, with 39 Republicans voting against it. Although the House-passed DHS appropriations bill eliminated $215 million for a portion of the DHS St. Elizabeths construction, Norton has been working with the Senate to restore the funds. The Congresswoman was further encouraged by the Obama Administration Statement of Policy on the House-passed DHS appropriations bill, which said the bill "would delay the consolidation of the Department of Homeland Security headquarters by at least two years, resulting in higher lease costs and will mean the loss of construction efficiencies and increased future construction costs."

The Gohmert amendment would have further increased federal government costs by impeding construction at St. Elizabeths and would have paralyzed GSA's ability to negotiate new lease agreements for expiring DHS leases, which would subject the federal government to lawsuits by lessors and developers. The amendment was also an unnecessary shot at the District, because many DHS employees work in the region.

Norton said, "The DHS consolidation, a homeland security issue, has been prioritized by both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations. The consolidation of 22 agencies that protect the nation is a homeland security priority. Delaying completion of the project amounts to a cut that has the perverse effect of shifting costs to taxpayers, who will be stuck paying unnecessarily to extend the leases of agencies due to move to the headquarters campus and for paying for construction delays. Delay of the project because of partial funding in fiscal year 2011 has already cost the project an additional $69 million, and we estimate that loss of funding in fiscal year 2012 could increase the cost by as much as $220 million. When such a large and costly project was on time and on budget, it was and is mindless to push up costs simply to make ideological points."

Rep. Gohmert has been one of the lead attackers on D.C. and on the rights of District residents, including his proposed legislation earlier this year to allow Members of Congress to carry guns in the Capitol, on the House floor and throughout the District.