December 12, 2023 Ranking Members Larsen and Titus Statements from Hearing on GSA’s Site Selection for New FBI Headquarters

Floor Speech

"Thank you, Chairman Perry, for holding this hearing.

In 2011 both the GSA and the FBI developed plans for a new, consolidated, suburban headquarters for the FBI. The FBI’s plan cited the need for a new building, defined its requirements, and recommended the use of a public-private partnership via a ground-lease lease-back with a private developer. GSA’s plan, also called an 11b report, recommended Federal construction which would require full up-front appropriations.

By 2017, however, after years of work by GSA and FBI staff; authorization by this committee and the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works; an extensive environmental impact study process; a complex Request for Information and Request for Proposal process with the private sector; a shifting Program of Requirements; funding strategy revisions; changes in the leadership of the FBI, GSA, and the White House; and multiple requests for funding, GSA cancelled the procurement citing insufficient funding.

In 2018, the Senate required GSA to submit a revised plan for the project and that plan was also frustrating. Attempting to justify FBI Director Wray’s new-found desire to remain on Pennsylvania Avenue, the plan claimed that tearing down the Hoover Building and rebuilding a new facility on the site could be accomplished for the same cost as building a new suburban campus, whether it be in Virginia or Maryland.

What the 2018 plan did not own up to was that GSA determined they could build a new building for the same price because they were going to shrink the workforce; they planned on moving more than 2,000 FBI staff to other FBI facilities around the country. At the time, GSA also avoided mentioning the fact that a building on Pennsylvania Avenue could not possibly meet the highest level of security required for Federal construction, otherwise known as Interagency Security Committee Level 5.

The FY22 Consolidated Appropriations Act directed GSA to select a site from one of the three that had been included in GSA’s 2017 prospectus: two in Maryland and one in Virgina. That process, and the actions of GSA’s site selection officials, will be discussed today in detail. I have confidence that questions about the process will be resolved.

I don’t want to wait, however, to examine the structural weaknesses in the previous FBI HQ procurement process, so we can ensure that mistakes are not repeated.

The last time around, GSA obfuscated and evaded. Questions about funding differences and strategies were never answered. Details about the market value of the Hoover Building were never produced. Shortcomings in the 2018 plan were never acknowledged, and I do believe GSA staff, at the time, was untruthful to Congress.

At this hearing. I will be looking for information about GSA’s procurement strategy and funding needs. I want to know how GSA is going to provide the FBI with the secure, modern facility it needs, one where hunks of concrete will not be falling on the desks of employees.

The current Hoover Building is the only level 5 Federal facility in the middle of an urban area. It is a counter-intelligence disaster waiting to happen and a threat to our national security.

Have we forgotten our commitment to providing our law enforcement with the tools they need to protect all Americans?

I want to thank our witnesses again for being here and I look forward to today’s discussion."

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