Public Buildings Accountability Act of 2023
Floor Speech
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Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6254) to direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a review on the Public Buildings Service, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 6254
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public Buildings Accountability Act of 2023''. SEC. 2. REPORT ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a review of the Public Buildings Service and submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report containing the results of such review, including--
(1) a review of the administration and management of all Public Buildings Service real estate programs and activities, including--
(A) a review and accounting of the number of employees and contract workers, including functions and the sources of funding (for example building operations, reimbursable work, project-specific funding) categorized by region and organizational, management, and oversight structure within the Public Building Service, including identification of components, programs, and reporting structures;
(B) an accounting of in-person attendance by employee category and function;
(C) an analysis, trends, and comparisons of staffing numbers and associated costs and other administrative costs over the 10 years preceding the review; and
(D) an analysis of the effectiveness of organizational structure, management, and oversight in carrying out the mission of the Public Buildings Service; and
(2) a review of the building operations account of the Federal Buildings Fund established by section 592 of title 40, United States Code, including activities and costs associated with conferences, training, and travel and transportation.
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Mr. PERRY. 6254.
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Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, H.R. 6254 directs the Government Accountability Office to review the General Services Administration's Public Building Service personnel structure, including staffing trends, work locations, and organizational structure.
GSA's Public Building Service administrative budget, including staffing, is paid for out of the Federal Buildings Fund. Because it is buried in a larger fund, it is difficult to track and evaluate the Public Buildings Service workforce and its management to conduct appropriate oversight.
This bill would seek to address that issue, increasing transparency and, ultimately, greater oversight.
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden) for introducing H.R. 6254, the Public Buildings Accountability Act of 2023, and for his leadership on this important issue.
Madam Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden), to speak on his bill.
Mr. VAN ORDEN. Madam Speaker, the work-from-home standard for Federal employees which the Biden administration has empowered has enabled an already overcompensated Federal bureaucracy to continue to not show up for work and leave the taxpayers on the hook for empty, unused Federal office space across the country.
Back in July, I asked the Commissioner of the Public Buildings Services a simple question during a roundtable: How many of your employees are actually at work today?
She was incapable of answering that.
Three months later I asked her exactly the same question during a committee hearing chaired by Mr. Perry, and she was still incapable of answering that question.
Their truancy has led to possibly the worst customer service of any Federal agency, and that is an incredibly low standard to fail to meet.
From my own personal experience, it took over a month to get a single phone line in my public building as a Member of Congress, and we wound up moving my office out of the public space because of their inability to perform customer service functions. I had the luxury of doing that as a Member of Congress. Other members of the United States Government do not have that same luxury.
This is just not that hard. As an Active Duty Navy SEAL, I managed military maneuvers on three continents simultaneously. I could tell you, Madam Speaker, within a 10-meter square where each one of those individuals was 24 hours a day. So this simply is not that difficult to do.
I am incredibly proud and pleased that this committee is focusing on legislation to help ensure that Federal agencies are using the office space they are assigned and selling the space they are not, saving taxpayer dollars.
The GSA currently manages over 370 million square feet of owned and leased assets, and yet they have no idea how much of this space is truly occupied. Approximately 75 percent of building space in Washington, D.C., is not occupied, but, unfortunately, we can't actually get a square footage from the GSA.
I introduced the Public Buildings Accountability Act of 2023 to enforce transparency and accountability within the public buildings service to do just that.
H.R. 6254 will shed light on the effectiveness of the Public Buildings Service staffing structure and funding within the GSA by providing information to enhance the committee's ongoing oversight work to maximize the return of Federal employees to in-person work.
These reports will provide greater clarity to PBS' funding needs and ensure the responsible use of hardworking taxpayers' dollars
Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Perry very much for his patience in getting this through and for our counterparts on the other side of the aisle for participating in this incredibly important legislation.
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Mr. PERRY. I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.
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Mr. PERRY. I am not sure that that one particular singular focus should be an amendment or something like that, but as a general theme, I don't know that the committee would mind. We could take a look at that kind of activity and the effects.
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Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Again, Madam Speaker, this bill will improve transparency and oversight of GSA's Public Buildings Service, and its staffing management structure.
Further, H.R. 6254 will inform the committee's oversight efforts to maximize the return of Federal employees to in-person work. I do urge support for this.
I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden) for offering this and to acknowledge his strident and outspoken work on the behalf of constituents, otherwise known as our bosses, who demand and deserve an answer when they call these folks who work for us and work for them. I thank him for his diligence and dogged determination.
Madam Speaker, I, again, urge support, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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