Lincoln Chafee: “The $6 million included in last year's Omnibus Appropriations Act is necessary and appropriate for the courthouse…”

“The $6 million included in last year's Omnibus Appropriations Act is necessary and appropriate for the courthouse project in Montgomery. Indeed, the additional $6 million will not cause this project to exceed its GSA benchmark cost. As such, I have no objection to GSA obligating these funds and encourage the agency to move expeditiously on this project. Absent the extraordinary circumstances faced by this project, I would insist upon authorizing the additional money through the committee resolution process, in accordance with the 1959 Public Buildings Act. This project has already incurred cost increases as the result of delayed construction starts. A GSA budgeting error on Montgomery has yielded inflationary cost increases of $2.6 million. In addition, the project recently suffered a bid bust which threatens to delay construction further unless additional funds are provided expeditiously. This project must proceed as soon as possible to prevent further wasteful expenses.”