Hearing Of The Subcommittee On Economic Development, Public Buildings, And Emergency Management Of The House Committee On Transportation And Infrastructure - "Tracking Hearing #3: Following The Dollars To The Jobs"

Statement

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5), signed into law on
February 17, 2009, provided $5.55 billion for the General Services Administration (GSA), $4.5
billion of which was to convert GSA buildings into high performance green buildings in all 50
states, the District of Columbia and the four territories. In addition, GSA received $300 million
for border stations and land ports of entry, and an additional $750 million for the repair,
alteration and construction of federal buildings and courthouses, $450 million of which was
allocated to the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters compound of
buildings to be located on the St. Elizabeth's campus in Ward 8 of the District of Columbia.
The Smithsonian Institution received an appropriation of $25 million for "facilities capital,"
which was to be used for the repair and revitalization of its many deteriorating facilities. The
Economic Development Administration (EDA) received $150 million, almost all of which was
allocated for strategic grant investments in areas hard hit by the current recession.
The Recovery Act is premised on the direct spending that data from many decades has
shown has the best record for simultaneously stimulating the economy, providing jobs, and
meeting the ongoing and existing responsibilities of governments at every level for public
infrastructure. The Recovery Act's primary purpose is to stimulate economic recovery through
investments that preserve and create jobs, spur technological advances to enhance energy
conservation, and improve infrastructure to provide long-term economic benefits. Our goal,
though, is to not only distribute the funds quickly and spark short-term job creation, but to
ensure that these investments will lead to long term, higher skill and higher wage jobs.
To that end, we will be interested in how the apprenticeship training funds I got included
in our package are being implemented. Today, nearly eight months after the passage of the
Recovery Act, we want to know specifically about results -- how many jobs have been created,
how much has been obligated and spent, how much is left to be spent, when it will be spent,
and whether it will be spent by the September 2010 deadline. If GSA knows that 38,000 jobs
will be produced by the DHS headquarters construction over a period of several years, I am
also interested in its calculation of the number of jobs to be created by the total $5.5 billion.
This subcommittee's tracking hearings will continue throughout 2010, the duration of the
stimulus funding, because of our unique responsibility among the various committees that are
charged with oversight over stimulus funds. Unlike other funds in the Recovery Act the funds
under our jurisdiction are not distributed to states. GSA, EDA, and the Smithsonian are not
pass-throughs, but instead directly administer stimulus funds and contract for the work. This
subcommittee, in turn, bears a similar direct responsibility for the stimulus funds under our
jurisdiction and must continue to conduct especially vigorous oversight of these agencies.
Americans can find the projects in their states and localities online, and we invite their
comments and observations on job creation, efficiency and other aspects of the work.
The stimulus has given the GSA an unparalleled opportunity to build the biggest
development in its 60-year history, the Department of Homeland Security headquarters
compound of three new buildings and the reuse of 60 historic structures, may be the largest
development project anywhere in the United States today. This work will occur over a period
beyond the initial stimulus funding, over several more years. However, based on the difficulty I
encountered in securing the first funding, I know that additional funding will depend on how
well and how quickly the current work proceeds. So much is at stake that we will hold special
hearings on this project alone.
Today, we want to understand what has begun, what has been accomplished, who and
how many have been hired, and what the timeline is on the DHS headquarters, among other
questions. I was able get the first sizeable funding for the DHS headquarters project only by
arguing that the project would provide a clear, proven case for job creation for a vital federal
agency. I will not be able to get the necessary additional funds, totaling more than $2 billion,
for the DHS compound without a showing of significant progress, both in job creation and in
efficiently getting the first building up while simultaneously beginning work on making the
historic structures usable.
In addition, the GSA stimulus funding also bites into the GSA backlog of repair for its
vast inventory. The subcommittee expects a quick start on much of this work, in particular.
Many repair and rehabilitation projects do not require extensive design work and therefore can
be implemented quickly to provide jobs of many kinds at a variety of skill levels while meeting
the purpose of stimulating the economy. The repair and alteration of GSA's existing federal
buildings will also retain space in the federal inventory for occupancy by federal agencies,
which helps prop up the declining Federal Building Fund that, in turn, returns rent payments to
the federal government to fund repairs and rescue the GSA inventory from another cycle of
decline.
The Smithsonian Institution likewise has a huge backlog of repairs for facilities.
Although the Recovery Act funding for the Smithsonian is small relative to the need, these
funds should permit a more systematic approach to shoring up its infrastructure while creating
jobs.
For the record, I also want to comment today on highway stimulus spending by the
District of Columbia. Though tracked through another subcommittee of this committee, the
committee has also had oversight hearings on the Recovery Act spending by agencies under
all of our subcommittees. At the last hearing, I was chagrined to see the District of Columbia
listed next to last among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in highway stimulus fund
spending. I want to report today, however, that 70 percent of the District's highway stimulus
funds have been awarded or spent. As the stimulus bill was being considered, I took pains to
see that the District was treated as a state for funding. In reality, however, the District could
not begin its work like states with large Departments of Transportation staffs on hand, but
instead must rely mostly on contractors. Now that most of the work is in progress, it appears
that the city is using the funds as Congress most desired, for energy conservation and
sustainable projects that facilitate walking, cycling, and mass transit improvements and other
projects that improve the local retail and commercial environment.
Just yesterday, Chairman Jim Oberstar and I went to Murch Elementary School, where
the National Center for Safe Routes to School awarded Murch Elementary the James L.
Oberstar Safe Routes to School Award for being the best in the country in encouraging walking
and biking to school. Murch was able to win the award because the District added $4 million to
its existing infrastructure funding for the Safe Routes to School program. Without objection, I
am placing a letter from the Mayor of the District of Columbia detailing this program into the
record.
We look forward to hearing from the GSA, the EDA and the Smithsonian Institution
about what exactly has been accomplished. We are also pleased to welcome private
contractors who have received Recovery Act funds.

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