Scott Fitzgerald: “Continuing on, Mr. President, to bring the Senate back up to date, we are talking about a proposed Abraham Lincoln…”

“Continuing on, Mr. President, to bring the Senate back up to date, we are talking about a proposed Abraham Lincoln Library in downtown Springfield, IL, that would cost approximately $120 million. The library would be one of the most expensive buildings in the city of Springfield. The estimated value of the State capitol in Springfield is, I believe, $78 million, in inflation-adjusted dollars. This library would be approximately half the size of the State capitol, but it is a substantial building. It is also going to be very close to the Renaissance Springfield Hotel, which we have been examining in detail this afternoon. The reason I am concerned or have an objection to the conference committee report now before the Senate is that the conference committee report authorizes $50 million in Federal funding for the Abraham Lincoln site but does not carry the requirement that passed out of the Senate that the project be competitively bid in accordance with Federal law. Instead, it would appear the money that is authorized in the conference committee report--instead of having a competitive bid requirement, it says that the $50 million is authorized to go to an entity that will be selected later which would design and construct the library. The language does not make clear that the entity would be a governmental entity. It is possible, based on reading the conference report, that the $50 million could be channeled to private sources. Presumably, that would not happen however.…”