David Price: “This amendment would prohibit any funds in this bill to be used for new construction, purchase, or lease of a new…”

“This amendment would prohibit any funds in this bill to be used for new construction, purchase, or lease of a new building or space in Washington, D.C., in fiscal year 2012, the life of this bill. If adopted, this amendment, as I read it, would or could do several things. First of all, it would not allow DHS to renew leases in the Washington, D.C., area, which means the leases would lapse, leaving DHS employees without offices to work in, and subjecting the Federal Government to lawsuits because the lessors would have no choice but to begin litigation for damages, to include costs to evict and lost rent. The amendment might require DHS to break current construction contracts due to a lack of funds if a new purchase or lease is required. It would not permit the GSA to condemn facilities that the DHS occupies if that were necessary. Therefore, it would force DHS to maintain occupancy until follow-on leases might be executed in 2013, or further down the road, or alternative space could be identified and prepared for use. The amendment, as I read it, might not permit DHS even to reconfigure its current facility space to provide seats for the new staff being hired, particularly for some of these new functions that are going to require reconfiguring, such as cybersecurity and intelligence missions. And then we need to ask, Mr. Chairman, what happens if a DHS facility in D.C. has a fire or a flood and we can't use it?…”