GSA Discloses DHS September Ground Breaking at Norton Hearing (7/9/09)

GSA Discloses DHS September Ground Breaking at Norton Hearing

WAHSINGTON, D.C. -The General Services Administration will break ground in September this year for the first building in the new Department of Homeland Security headquarters compound in Ward 8, Tony Costa, a GSA official, testified at a hearing yesterday evening on GSA's FY 2010 construction and leasing budget convened by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). Norton, chair of the subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, also said that she will request a hearing on a GAO report released yesterday showing that GAO testers were able to bring bomb-making materials into several federal facilities for assembly inside. She was very alarmed to learn at the hearing that despite GSA's jurisdiction over federal office buildings, the tenants or line federal employees who occupy the buildings sit with the Federal Protection Service to determine security for each building individually.

"This is no way to do security," Norton said. "The result is not only insecure security, but vastly different, even arbitrary differences, without regard to the security risk of the agency. For example, it is impossible to get into the Department of Transportation, not exactly a favorite terrorist target, unless an agency employee comes down to usher a person in. Without risk assessment, we are flying by the seat of our pants, over-securing some facilities and under-securing others. The entire security system for federal agencies needs to be remade."

Norton said that the ground breaking for DHS will be the biggest job, not only in the city but in the region, and comes as employment continues to go up nationally and in the city. Norton is working with GSA to assure affirmative outreach to D.C. residents because the federal government does not allow hiring only from one jurisdiction.