[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 7, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H531-H533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CIVILIAN PROPERTY REALIGNMENT ACT
The SPEAKER. Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX, further
consideration of the bill, (H.R. 1734) to decrease the deficit by
realigning, consolidating, selling, disposing, and improving the
efficiency of federal buildings and other civilian real property, and
for other purposes, will now resume.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
Motion to Recommit
Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
The SPEAKER. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
Mr. MICHAUD. I am in its current form.
The SPEAKER. The Clerk will report the motion to recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Michaud moves to recommit the bill H.R. 1734 to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with
instructions to report the same back to the House forthwith
with the following amendments:
Page 4, after line 21, insert the following:
(x) Properties owned by the Department of Veterans Affairs
or other properties used in connection with providing
services for veterans, including hospitals, clinics, and
facilities that provide job training, post traumatic stress
disorder treatment, housing assistance, homeless services,
and rehabilitative care.
The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Maine is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I am hoping today we will see a rare
bipartisan moment here in the House when both sides can come together
in support of our veterans.
The final amendment I'm offering here today will exempt certain VA
facilities from the decommissioning process outlined in the legislation
today. It will not kill this bill or even delay its passage. If it's
adopted, my amendment will incorporate into the bill and the bill will
be immediately voted upon.
I agree with my friends across the aisle that we need to address
government waste, especially in this fiscal environment. I can
understand why it makes sense to target the poor management and
underutilization of government properties to reduce government waste,
but I don't think our desire to address these issues should come at the
expense of our veterans.
The underlying bill already includes plenty of exemptions to the CPRA
process, namely for bases, camps, or stations under jurisdiction of
DOD. It seems to me that if the bill already excludes buildings from
the consolidation process because our troops rely on them, we should
also exclude the buildings for our veterans because they rely on those
buildings also.
As ranking member of the VA Health Subcommittee, I've heard testimony
after testimony from veterans about the difficulties they face in
accessing all the VA health services they need. The VA already provides
health care to approximately 7.8 million veterans. As the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan wind down, more and more of the 2.3 million soldiers
from those wars will start to seek care from the Veterans
Administration.
DOD says that nearly 45,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have
been wounded in action. Even this high number grossly underestimates
the number of wounded soldiers who rely on the VA system for health
care because of unseen wounds like PTSD, TBI, etc. We can't consider
shutting down VA facilities when the need to help our heroes is
increasing.
In addition to health care needs, these soldiers will need help
finding jobs. The veterans unemployment rate was more than 15 percent
in January of 2011. It's great news that it fell 6 percent over the
last year, but at 9 percent, it's still above the national average.
That is why we have to ensure that the VA's ability to provide career
[[Page H532]]
services to returning soldiers isn't undermined.
We don't know exactly when, where, or how these veterans will try to
access the system, or whether they will be able to access PTSD
treatment or to find a job, but we should not jeopardize their ability
to do so by subjecting the VA to the same consolidation process as
other Federal agencies. If this bill exempts DOD facilities, it should
also exempt VA facilities.
Even GAO, whose analysis was used to justify this underlying
legislation, cites the unique needs of the VA given the increasing
demands that our returning troops will put on the system. As a result
of an aging veteran population and a growing number of younger veterans
returning from the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, GAO
found that, ``budgeting for the VA's vital health care mission is
inherently complex. It is based on current assumptions and imperfect
information, not only about program needs, but also on future economic
and policy actions that may affect demand and the cost of providing
these services.'' This means that a one-size-fits-all approach for
consolidation of government property does not work for the VA.
There are a couple of other reasons why the VA should be exempt from
this bill. First, the VA has already recognized that it needs to
upgrade, modernize, and realign its property portfolio to provide
accessible and cost-effective services. In fact, they've been working
on that since 1999. In 2008, GAO said the Department has reduced its
underutilized space over 4 years by nearly two-thirds.
{time} 1410
Second, GAO has found that 66 percent of VA's underutilized and
vacant buildings are historic properties or eligible for historic
designation and require more effort for disposal.
I applaud the other side for looking for ways to cut government
spending; and there are, clearly, improvements to be made in the area
of Federal properties. But we can't pursue the goal of reducing
government spending at the expense of our veterans.
In Congress, we frequently mention how grateful we are for our
troops, and we often talk about the need to make sure that no veteran
is left behind. Well, I'm offering the final amendment on this bill to
make sure that we leave no veteran behind.
On behalf of our heroes, they deserve our commitment. I urge my
colleagues to support the final amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DENHAM. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Miller of Michigan). The gentleman from
California is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. DENHAM. Madam Speaker, first of all, the President's Commission,
in his BRAC, includes VA properties. As well, former VA Secretary
Anthony Principi testified in front of our committee that we ought to
be looking at all properties, including VA.
If we're going to do the best interest of American taxpayers, we've
got to address waste in government overall, across the entire Nation,
across every agency. If there's a property not being used today, then
we ought to look at either redeveloping it or selling it off. And this
gives us an opportunity to have Republicans and Democrats come together
on something that the President included in his jobs bill to actually
create American jobs.
The Old Post Office right here in Washington, DC is the perfect
example of waste in government. We've had a property sitting well over
a decade that costs us $6.5 million in upkeep every single year. Now
we've got redevelopment happening, where we've got different hotel
companies coming in and not only bidding on it, creating 150 new jobs
in construction, but an additional 150 jobs in ongoing jobs once the
facility is redone; keeping it in its historic fashion and actually
being able to utilize it once again; an opportunity to redevelop things
that aren't being used today, but also selling off things that have
been sitting for decades.
Our Federal Government has a horrible track record of selling
properties that aren't being used. In fact, we've sold 82 properties in
the last 25 years. We can do much better, and the American taxpayers
demand that we do much better.
Here's a bipartisan opportunity to get both parties to come together
and just sell things that we don't need. If you want to bring in
revenue to reduce our debt, here's an opportunity to get rid of the
things we don't need, redevelop the things that aren't being used, and
get rid of the waste in government. Almost $2 billion we waste every
year just in maintaining properties that, again, aren't needed in
government.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is
ordered on the motion to recommit.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. MICHAUD. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule
XX, this 15-minute vote on the motion to recommit will be followed by
5-minute votes on passage of H.R. 1734, if ordered, and adoption of
House Resolution 539.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 186,
noes 238, not voting 9, as follows:
[Roll No. 37]
AYES--186
Ackerman
Altmire
Andrews
Baca
Baldwin
Barrow
Bass (CA)
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Boren
Boswell
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown (FL)
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carney
Carson (IN)
Castor (FL)
Chandler
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke (MI)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly (VA)
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Courtney
Critz
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
Deutch
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Donnelly (IN)
Doyle
Edwards
Engel
Eshoo
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Frank (MA)
Fudge
Garamendi
Gonzalez
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heinrich
Higgins
Himes
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hirono
Hochul
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson Lee (TX)
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kaptur
Keating
Kildee
Kind
Kissell
Kucinich
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lujan
Lynch
Maloney
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
Meeks
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Murphy (CT)
Nadler
Napolitano
Olver
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Richardson
Richmond
Ross (AR)
Rothman (NJ)
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell
Sherman
Shuler
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Stark
Sutton
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Tonko
Towns
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Woolsey
Yarmuth
NOES--238
Adams
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Amash
Amodei
Austria
Bachmann
Bachus
Barletta
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Bass (NH)
Benishek
Berg
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brooks
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Buerkle
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Canseco
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Cole
Conaway
Cravaack
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Denham
Dent
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Dreier
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Emerson
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Flake
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guinta
Guthrie
[[Page H533]]
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Heck
Hensarling
Herger
Herrera Beutler
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (IL)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Kelly
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
Lamborn
Lance
Landry
Lankford
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lewis (CA)
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Manzullo
Marchant
Marino
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McCotter
McHenry
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meehan
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Myrick
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Pence
Petri
Pitts
Platts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Quayle
Reed
Rehberg
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rigell
Rivera
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross (FL)
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Scalise
Schilling
Schmidt
Schock
Schweikert
Scott (SC)
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stearns
Stivers
Stutzman
Sullivan
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner (NY)
Turner (OH)
Upton
Walberg
Walden
Walsh (IL)
Webster
West
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Yoder
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NOT VOTING--9
Carnahan
Ellison
Hurt
McNerney
Neal
Paul
Payne
Sires
Woodall
{time} 1433
Messrs. CRAWFORD and SMITH of New Jersey changed their vote from
``aye'' to ``no.''
So the motion to recommit was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Stated against:
Mr. HURT. Madam Speaker, I was not present for rollcall vote No. 37,
on the motion to recommit with instructions on H.R. 1734, the Civilian
Property Realignment Act. Had I been present, I would have voted
``no.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This will be a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 259,
noes 164, not voting 10, as follows:
[Roll No. 38]
AYES--259
Adams
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Amash
Amodei
Austria
Bachmann
Bachus
Barletta
Barrow
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Bass (NH)
Benishek
Berg
Berkley
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (NY)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boren
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brooks
Buchanan
Bucshon
Buerkle
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Canseco
Cantor
Capito
Cardoza
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Cole
Conaway
Cooper
Costa
Cravaack
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Denham
Dent
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Donnelly (IN)
Dreier
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Emerson
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Flake
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guinta
Guthrie
Hall
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Heck
Hensarling
Herger
Herrera Beutler
Himes
Hochul
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (IL)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Kelly
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kissell
Kline
Labrador
Lamborn
Lance
Landry
Lankford
Larsen (WA)
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lewis (CA)
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Maloney
Manzullo
Marchant
Marino
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McCotter
McHenry
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meehan
Mica
Michaud
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Myrick
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Owens
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Pence
Perlmutter
Petri
Pitts
Platts
Poe (TX)
Polis
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Quayle
Reed
Rehberg
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rigell
Rivera
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross (AR)
Ross (FL)
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Schilling
Schmidt
Schock
Schrader
Schweikert
Scott (SC)
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stearns
Stivers
Stutzman
Sullivan
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner (NY)
Turner (OH)
Upton
Walberg
Walden
Walsh (IL)
Webster
West
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NOES--164
Ackerman
Altmire
Andrews
Baca
Baldwin
Becerra
Berman
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Boswell
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Broun (GA)
Brown (FL)
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Carney
Carson (IN)
Castor (FL)
Chandler
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke (MI)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly (VA)
Conyers
Costello
Courtney
Critz
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
Deutch
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Edwards
Engel
Eshoo
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Frank (MA)
Fudge
Garamendi
Gonzalez
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heinrich
Higgins
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson Lee (TX)
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kildee
Kind
Kucinich
Langevin
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lujan
Lynch
Markey
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
Meeks
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Murphy (CT)
Nadler
Napolitano
Olver
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Pelosi
Peters
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Richardson
Richmond
Rothman (NJ)
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell
Sherman
Shuler
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Stark
Sutton
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Tonko
Towns
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Woolsey
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--10
Bass (CA)
Carnahan
Ellison
Hanna
Hirono
McNerney
Neal
Paul
Payne
Sires
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). There is 1 minute
remaining.
{time} 1440
Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________