[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E108-E109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE PROTECTING FEDERAL AGENCIES AND EMPLOYEES FROM 
                       POLITICAL INTERFERENCE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 3, 2022

  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 the headquarters for any 
federal entity located in the National Capital Region (NCR) on today's 
date may be moved out of the NCR. This bill is cosponsored by 
Representatives Anthony Brown, Gwen Moore, Jamie Raskin and David 
Trone.
  The Trump administration moved the headquarters of agencies out of 
the NCR to the detriment of 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 federal agencies 
provide. Two years after

[[Page E109]]

the Department of Agriculture (USDA) relocated the Economic Research 
Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Kansas 
City, they are operating with roughly 30% fewer employees, with former 
USDA Director of Communications Matt Herrick admitting that these 
agencies had ``lost some of the nation's best economists and 
agricultural scientists.''
  Furthermore, nearly 300 employees retired or quit after the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) moved its headquarters to Grand Junction, 
Colorado. The Biden administration's return of BLM headquarters to our 
nation's capital is greatly appreciated and will go a long way to 
restore the valuable expertise that has been lost.
  While I do not expect the Biden administration to move agencies out 
of the NCR, this bill would protect against irrational decisions of 
future presidents. Unless measures like this bill are taken to stop 
agencies from relocating, the federal government will lose more 
employees and agencies will be unable to perform critical tasks, 
including assisting Congress in vital oversight.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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