[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 20, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E980]]
         FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY DISPOSAL ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2008

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                               speech of

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 19, 2008

  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 
5787, the Federal Real Property Disposal Enhancement Act, a bill that I 
introduced with Representative Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee to address the 
disincentives that are currently keeping some agencies from disposing 
of properties they no longer need.
  Last June the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a report 
which found that there is currently a backlog of more than 21,000 
excess and surplus Federal properties worth a total of $18 billion. 
Holding onto these properties has serious implications for the American 
taxpayer, as it costs Federal agencies millions of dollars per year to 
maintain and secure properties that are underutilized or simply 
unneeded.
  Investigations by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have 
also pointed out that the administrative requirements and costs of 
preparing a property for transfer or sale continue to hamper some 
agencies' efforts to address their backlog of unneeded properties. 
Because it can be difficult for agencies to secure the resources that 
they need to prepare a property for disposal, these costs serve as a 
disincentive because it makes more sense, in the short-term, for them 
to simply hold onto a property, particularly if they do not expect to 
receive the proceeds of a transfer or sale.
  Fortunately, over the past several years the administration and 
Federal agencies have made progress toward strategically managing 
Federal real property by establishing asset management plans, 
standardizing data reporting, and adopting performance measures.
  But there are also commonsense steps that we can take now to ensure 
that Federal agencies have the proper incentives to dispose of property 
they no longer need. H.R. 5787 is designed to do just this.
  First, the legislation would move to help agencies deal with the 
administrative requirements and costs of preparing underutilized 
properties for transfer or sale by allowing the General Services 
Administration (GSA), in cooperation with agencies, to use its 
resources and expertise to cover these up-front costs and help agencies 
ensure that title records, property descriptions, and environmental 
clearances are in order so that properties can be classified as excess. 
GSA would then be reimbursed for the costs it incurs from the proceeds 
that agencies receive from the transfer or sale of such properties.
  The legislation would also provide agencies with another incentive to 
reduce their inventory of unneeded properties by allowing them to keep 
all the proceeds received from the sale of surplus properties, which 
would then be available, subject to appropriations, to fund future 
asset management and disposal activities.
  Many landholding agencies, including the three largest landholding 
agencies--the Department of Defense, GSA, and the Department of 
Veterans Affairs--already have the authority to retain 100 percent of 
proceeds, and it has been shown to be a tremendous incentive for some 
agencies to dispose of property they no longer need.
  H.R. 5787 would simply extend this authority to landholding agencies 
that currently do not have it, and allow the proceeds agencies would 
receive to be used for future disposal and asset management efforts.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to encourage my colleagues to support this 
common sense effort to help Federal agencies more efficiently manage 
their Federal real property assets. As we are all well aware, the 
Federal government faces many short and long-term fiscal challenges, 
which is why we must increase our efforts both to manage our existing 
assets more effectively and to significantly reduce the backlog of 
underutilized and unused Federal properties. We should no longer waste 
precious taxpayer funds on maintaining and holding properties that are 
not needed.

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