[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 158 (Tuesday, October 1, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF PROTECTING FEDERAL AGENCIES AND EMPLOYEES FROM 
                       POLITICAL INTERFERENCE ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 1, 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to introduce the Protecting 
Federal Agencies and Employees from Political Interference Act, which 
would require an act of Congress before any federal agency headquarters 
may be moved out of the National Capital Region (NCR). My bill would 
require that the headquarters of any agency located in the NCR on the 
date of the introduction of this bill remain in the NCR absent 
subsequent legislation. This bill is cosponsored by Representatives 
Anthony Brown and Jamie Raskin.
  The Trump administration has already begun moving agencies out of the 
NCR to the detriment of federal employees, their families and the work 
of these agencies. Employees who work in agency headquarters fulfill 
the indispensable role of keeping Congress and the president informed 
of agency activities. Congress cannot do its work to write laws and 
engage in vital oversight without the unvarnished facts that 
nonpartisan agencies provide. In fact, we have already seen the 
negative impacts of these relocation efforts. The Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) has announced that it will be moving its headquarters 
staff to Grand Junction, Colorado, where agency staff will share office 
space with a Chevron corporate office, a state oil and gas association 
and an independent natural gas exploration company.
  As for the Department of Agriculture's relocation efforts, two-thirds 
of impacted highly specialized employees will not relocate to Kansas 
City, retiring early or quitting instead. Preliminary reports suggest 
similarly low retention rates for BLM staffers asked to relocate west. 
While agency leadership touts these moves as cost effective, the work 
of the agency suffers when experienced personnel leave and relocation 
efforts appear to favor special interests.
  Unless measures like the Protecting Federal Agencies and Employees 
from Political Interference Act are taken to stop agencies from 
relocating, the federal government will lose more employees and 
agencies will be unable to perform critical tasks, like assisting 
Congress in vital oversight.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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