WHITE HOUSE ESTIMATES SALE OF EXCESS PROPERTY COULD SAVE TAXPAYERS $15 BILLION OVER THREE YEARS

WASHINGTON, MARCH 20, 2012 – “The federal government owns 900,000 buildings and structures across America covering 3.38 billion square feet, and it owns 640 million acres of land or 28 percent of all the land in America,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Sixth).  “With four straight years of trillion dollar deficits and a national debt exceeding $15 trillion, the federal government should sell some of these excess properties.”  Stearns joined the House today in overwhelmingly approving H.R. 665, the Excess Federal Building and Property Disposal Act.

This measure establishes a five-year pilot program to dispose of excess federal property.  It also would streamline the current convoluted and inefficient system for selling excess property, and would require greater transparency and accountability from the property disposal apparatus. The Obama Administration has identified over 12,000 properties in the federal inventory that are no longer needed, claiming taxpayers would save $15 billion over three years by selling them.

Added Stearns, “In 2009, repairs began on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., the worn grass was replaced with new sod, the irrigation system improved, and the bronze fixtures restored.  These renovations occurred because the National Park Service turned the crumbling memorial over to a private interest.  Returning federal properties to the private sector, including some held by the National Park Service, will lead to better preservation of these resources, more jobs, and lower deficits.”