Congresswoman Norton holds GSA to a higher standard

The House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee met to discuss the General Services Administration’s (GSA) capital investment and leasing program. Chairwoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said that the federal building fund is shrinking which makes it hard to construct new buildings and sustain already existing structures. She said that an essential government function is to provide housing for federal establishments, like the federal court system.

She said that the failure by the GSA was due to years of neglect and that repairs must be made a high priority because the eventual prospect is disintegration. She said that if the GSA can make requested repairs and do routine maintenance then the building fund would not be so drained.

She said that the change required by the House subcommittee has already had desirable affects, but the subcommittee intends to retain this provision. She said that it is at best a tiny step towards reform and hardly represents the wholesale change that GSA requires.