Norton Says Senate Funding Guarantees DHS St. Elizabeths Project Will Continue

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that the Senate Appropriations Committee's fiscal year 2015 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill provides $48.6 million for consolidation of the DHS headquarters, currently under construction on the West Campus of St. Elizabeths in Ward 8. The DHS construction received $190 million for fiscal year 2014. Both appropriations will help fund the Center Building for the Secretary and his staff, as well as operations.

"We are encouraged that even in this harsh budgetary climate, the DHS construction continues to be funded," Norton said. "These new 2015 funds are a welcome sign that Congress still considers construction of DHS critical to the agency's mission, as it is to the community east of the Anacostia River. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the House DHS appropriations bill does not provide funding for the headquarters consolidation, but the Senate has been steadfast in supporting the project with critical funds. The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the Center building, which will house the DHS Secretary, is already out. The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Center Building is going out shortly, and is expected to be awarded by the end of the year."

Last month Norton published an op-ed in the Washington Post where she proposed the use of a public-private partnership to complete consolidation of DHS at St. Elizabeths. She wrote that a public-private partnership to complete the complex would diminish reliance on yearly appropriations, which have been exclusively responsible for delays in construction and have exponentially raised the cost of the project. The construction of the first building, the Coast Guard headquarters, was completed on time and on budget because Norton was able to get almost $1.4 billion in stimulus funding.