Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 6276, the Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act of 2023.

Once again, the Republican House Majority has brought forth a bill that would accomplish the exact opposite of its claims. This bill would create massive inefficiency by forcing the early termination of government facility contracts to meet an arbitrary and inflexible standard of occupancy. These contract cancellations would incur additional costs, result in massive staff relocations that are not paid for by this legislation, and severely disrupt the work of federal employees who are serving the American public. The end result would be a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars.

Additionally, this legislation would override the work that agencies themselves ale already doing to evaluate and update their federal space requirements. Instead, H.R. 6276 sets up a biased method of data collection that inaccurately assesses the needs of our federal workforce. It fails to count field workers--including Border Patrol agents, park rangers, and food safety inspectors--as full-time federal employees. It would ignore the significant challenges, and costs, involved in modernizing and reconfiguring historic buildings to increase occupancy levels.

My Democratic colleagues and I want to work with the federal agencies to collect accurate information and to fully understand the individual facility needs of each agency. Where opportunities to reduce space or improve its utilization exist, the General Services Administration already has the authority to act. As agencies adjust to the increased use of alternative and hybrid work schedules, they are examining opportunities for consolidation and other ways to efficiently and effectively achieve their missions. This thoughtful and necessary work would be swept aside by a clunky and misguided mandate in the USE IT Act.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 6276.

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