[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





  INTRODUCTION OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION REAL ESTATE 
                    LEASING AUTHORITY REVOCATION ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 3, 2025

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the Securities and 
Exchange Commission Real Estate Leasing Authority Revocation Act, which 
would revoke the independent real estate leasing authority of the 
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and direct the Government 
Accountability Office to update its 2016 report on independent real 
estate leasing authority in the federal government. The House passed 
this bill in the 117th and 118th Congresses.
  While a number of federal agencies have independent real estate 
leasing authority, the SEC has a history of egregious real estate 
practices. In 2005, the SEC disclosed that it had unbudgeted costs of 
approximately $48 million for the construction of its headquarters near 
Union Station. In 2007, after moving into its headquarters, the SEC 
shuffled its employees to different office space at a cost of over $3 
million without any cost-benefit analysis or justifiable explanation. 
In 2010, the SEC conducted a deeply flawed analysis to justify the need 
to lease 900,000 square feet and to commit over $500 million over 10 
years, overestimating its space needs by over 300 percent. In addition, 
the SEC failed to provide complete and accurate information and 
prepared a faulty and backdated justification and approval after it had 
already signed the lease.
  In August 2016, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the SEC 
entered into an occupancy agreement to authorize GSA to secure a new 
15-year lease. In December 2016, GSA, with the approval of the SEC, 
submitted a prospectus to Congress for approximately 1.3 million square 
feet, which Congress approved in 2018.
  By 2019, GSA had received final bids, resolved all protests and even 
selected a final bidder. A month later, the SEC canceled the occupancy 
agreement, citing concerns about the value of the purchase option, 
which the SEC refused to document to Congress. The SEC effectively 
vetoed the entire three-year procurement process despite not having the 
authority or funding to exercise the purchase option without GSA's 
involvement.
  Finally, after much back and forth between the two agencies, GSA 
entered into a lease for a new SEC headquarters in September 2021, 
which GSA terminated in October 2024. While the SEC has said it will 
continue to have GSA do its leasing in the future, the SEC's history of 
egregious leasing conduct, squandering hundreds of millions of dollars, 
makes this bill necessary.
  The SEC's conduct risks undermining the reputation of GSA and the 
federal government among developers and building owners who participate 
in federal lease procurements. The threat of uncertainty ultimately 
drives up the cost of all GSA real estate procurements.
  It is time for Congress to return the SEC's leasing authority to GSA, 
the federal government's civilian real estate arm. As the SEC has 
demonstrated over three decades, it is incredibly inefficient, wasteful 
and redundant to have the SEC do real estate procurements when GSA 
exists for that very reason. Like other federal agencies, the SEC will 
continue to have input in the GSA's real estate decision-making 
process, but GSA would have the ultimate authority.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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