WASHINGTON – Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, will hold a hearing titled, "Federal Asset Management: Eliminating Waste by Disposing of Unneeded Federal Real Property" on Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 2 pm in room 342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.  

In January 2003, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) placed real property management on its list of "high risk" government activities, where it remains today. The key reasons the GAO has identified federal real property as high risk are: excess and underutilized property; deteriorating and aging facilities; unreliable property data; and over-reliance on costly leasing. In fiscal year 2009, 24 federal agencies reported that they possessed more than 14,000 excess and 45,000 underutilized buildings that cost more than $1.7 billion annually to operate. The federal government also leases more property than is cost-effective, resulting in millions of dollars of additional costs to the government.  

Despite efforts by both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to address some of these challenges and improve its management of federal real estate, much work remains to be done. This year, President Obama's FY2012 budget request included a proposal for the establishment of a civilian BRAC process to reduce the amount of unneeded property owned and leased by federal agencies. Similar to the Department of Defense BRAC process, agencies would recommend properties for disposal or consolidation to an independent board, who would then submit a list of final recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director for review, followed by Congress for a vote. The OMB estimates that such efforts would help dispose of thousands of excess or underutilized properties resulting in $15 billion in savings for federal agencies.  

Sen. Carper's hearing will assess progress made to date in addressing weaknesses in federal property management and examine whether a civilian BRAC process would be an effective strategy in realigning federal real property, disposing of unneeded assets and mitigating the problem of heavy reliance on costly leasing.  

WHAT:
U.S. Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security hearing, "Federal Asset Management: Eliminating Waste by Disposing of Unneeded Federal Real Property"  

WHEN:
Thursday, June 9, 2011
2 p.m.  

WHERE:
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.  

WEBCAST:
To watch a live webcast of the hearing, please click here.  

WITNESSES:
(subject to change)  

Panel I:

The Honorable Alan J. Dixon
Former Chairman
1995 Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission

David Baxa
Chief Executive Officer
VISTA Technology Services, Inc.

Tim Ford
Chief Executive Officer
Association of Defense Communities

Maria Foscarinis
Executive Director
National Law Center on Homelessnes and Poverty

Panel II:

The Honorable Danny Werfel
Controller
Office of Management and Budget  

Robert Peck
Commissioner, Public Buildings Service
U.S. General Services Administration 

James Sullivan
Director, Office of Asset Enterprise Management
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs  

David Wise
Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues
U.S. Government Accountability Office  

Brian Lepore
Director, Defense Capabilities and Management
U.S. Government Accountability Office  

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