[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 18 (Thursday, February 8, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H230]]
                PREVENTING WASTEFUL FEDERAL BOONDOGGLES

  (Mr. DUNCAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, the Orlando Sentinel published a headline 
yesterday saying ``Anger Over Courthouse Won't Die.''
  The anger concerns a proposed $60,000,000 Federal courthouse in 
Orlando that the judges are unhappy with. I have been told by an expert 
that to build what the judges want could potentially double the cost 
and send several million dollars in architect's fees down the drain. At 
$60 million, the building will already cost $195 a square foot.
  The cost is already too high. If costs explode because of spoiled 
judges, it will be far too expensive to build if we have any 
consideration at all for the poor taxpayers who are footing the bill.
  Too many times we have allowed Federal judges to demand Taj Mahal-
type courthouses because the money is not coming out of their pockets. 
Too often they have a taxpayers-be-damned attitude. The Commissioner 
for Public Buildings said, ``The problem here is we have some judges 
who think they should be architects.''
  Mr. Speaker, I hope the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public 
Buildings, Hazardous Materials and Pipeline Transportation of the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on which I served for 10 
years will not let this project become another wasteful Federal 
boondoggle.

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