Norton Secures Final Funding for Remaining DHS Headquarters Construction

Norton Secures Final Funding for Remaining DHS Headquarters Construction

December 2, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - With a unanimous vote in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), chair of its subcommittee with jurisdiction over the General Services Administration (GSA), was able to overcome some members' concerns about the $1.1 billion to authorize for the remainder of GSA's construction costs for the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters at the St. Elizabeths west campus in Ward 8. In advance of today's markup, Norton convinced members who had concerns about the cost of the project, scheduled for completion in 2016, that it can remain on schedule only if it is fully authorized now. If GSA must continue to come back to Congress every year for piecemeal authorization, the project schedule could be extended through 2023, significantly raising the cost of construction, along with loss of time and efficiency with pauses in construction. The government then would be paying both for construction of the unprecedented secure facility and for the cost of extending existing lease agreements for the many agencies due to be housed in the new facility.

"This authorization is enormously important both for the United States and for the District of Columbia," said Norton. "This final GSA authorization removes any doubt of the government's commitment to completion of the DHS complex to protect the nation's security. The construction will be of maximum benefit to the District, which continues to absorb the sting of high unemployment and a struggling economy. Fortunately, my role on the subcommittee ensures continued monitoring and federal support."

Norton, chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, has jurisdiction over all House hearings related to the DHS project and most federal construction in the U.S., and will be the senior Democrat on the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the DHS construction during the next Congress. The DHS headquarters is the largest development in the country today and the largest in this region since the Pentagon.