[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 110 (Thursday, June 26, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S3548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          For Sale Act of 2025

  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, Uncle Sam is the Nation's largest landlord. 
Yet he will never win a round of Monopoly, the classic board game where 
players try to make money and avoid going bankrupt by buying, renting, 
and selling property.
  That is because Uncle Sam, who is already $37 trillion in debt, 
refuses to sell off unused and unneeded properties that are costing 
tens of millions of dollars a year to maintain.
  Many of Uncle Sam's properties are also fixer-uppers, requiring 
billions of dollars in much needed renovations and overdue upgrades, 
some of which are listed on this board.
  Holding on to unaffordable properties that are nearly vacant while 
being just a roll or two away from going bankrupt is not only a losing 
strategy in Monopoly but also a bad game plan in real life.
  But Uncle Sam gets away with it because Washington plays by its own 
set of rules. And no matter how you roll the dice, ``Washington-opoly'' 
is a losing game for taxpayers.
  To demonstrate, why don't we go ahead and play a round.
  OK. That was my attempt to roll the dice--so three. We rolled a 
three. One, two, three.
  OK. We landed on the Department of Agriculture, South Building in 
Washington, DC. And guess what, folks. It is owned by good old Uncle 
Sam.
  Let's look at the stats for the USDA South Building. Seventy-eight 
percent of this building isn't even being used on a day-to-day basis. 
Yet we are paying more than $11 million for utilities every single 
year, and the building requires $1.7 billion for repairs and upgrades.
  We could hold on to this property and pay these costs for a nearly 
empty building or we could sell it and make $261 million or more.
  What would you do?
  Well, Uncle Sam has decided to keep it and is passing along the costs 
to taxpayers. So let's roll again. OK. Two. We got two.
  Let's see. One, two. Great.
  We landed on Community Chest. So let's pick a card. Community Chest. 
Pay $818 million for unused property. That is right, folks. Every year, 
Uncle Sam pays out over $81 million maintaining underutilized offices. 
This includes nearly 7,700 vacant buildings and another 2,265 that are 
largely empty.
  No wonder the nonpartisan Public Buildings Reform Board says 
Washington's ``wasteful real estate practices would not endure for so 
long in a private sector company.''
  But when playing ``Washington-opoly,'' Uncle Sam doesn't pay the 
costs for his wasteful decisions; you do.
  How about we take one more turn? Six. One, two, three, four, five, 
and six. This time we landed on Chance. So we get to pick another card. 
So there we go. There is our Chance card. Pass the For Sale Act and 
advance to Go.
  Folks, that is exactly the type of Chance we need to protect 
taxpayers. Selling off Uncle Sam's unneeded property has long been tied 
up by overly restrictive redtape and bureaucratic barriers.
  To revamp Washington's real estate rules, I introduced the For Sale 
Act. Passing this bill will put six pieces of prime property in the 
Nation's Capital on the auction block immediately. Selling just these 
spots will bring in at least $400 million, while also canceling costs, 
including $2.9 billion in overdue maintenance.
  This is just the first step in downsizing Uncle Sam's unused, 
unneeded, and unaffordable real estate holdings. To any interested 
potential buyers, you can build a house or even a hotel on these 
properties and earn rent just like Monopoly. But best of all, taxpayers 
finally get to advance to Go and collect $400 million. That, folks, is 
how you win the game.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. I ask permission to speak as if in morning business for 
5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.