House approves Homeland Security headquarters lease

The Bush administration won approval from the House Wednesday for its plan to lease a headquarters for the Homeland Security Department, a move that could aid plans to locate the new department in Northern Virginia.

The House approved a prospectus that calls for 225,000 square feet to 275,000 square feet for the new headquarters, paving the way for the General Services Administration to award a lease later this month. The approval means the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will not review the arrangement, as it typically does with major federal leases. The lease provision was included in a continuing resolution, providing temporary fiscal 2003 funding for agencies, which passed by voice vote. The Senate has yet to act on the measure.

On Wednesday The Washington Post reported that the Bush administration is considering three sites for the Homeland Security headquarters, all of which are in Northern Virginia. Two are in the Tysons Corner area near the Dulles Toll Road, and one is in Chantilly, Va., near Route 28.

Reps. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., and Steny Hoyer, D-Md., criticized the House's move, saying it kept Congress from modifying a selection process that was biased towards Northern Virginia. "Even prior to the insertion of the lease provision in the [continuing resolution] today, the District of Columbia never had a fair chance to get the lease for the temporary headquarters," Norton said at a press conference. "Ramming this provision through the House today is unfair not only to the jurisdictions who were bidding for the site of the headquarters, but doesn't take into consideration the needs of the employees whose lives will dramatically shift when the site is complete," Hoyer said in a statement.

A GSA official would not comment on the selection process, which he said was still ongoing. But GSA is on track to pick a site by the end of next week. GSA's solicitation, issued Dec. 12, says the government intends to move furniture and equipment to the new building by Jan. 17, and move the first homeland security employees by Jan. 24, according to the official.

The chosen site must also be able to provide up to 250,000 square feet of additional office space, and have a 50-foot setback from the street for perimeter security.

Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., said this leasing strategy nets enough office space to house up to 2,200 employees, a fraction of the 17,000 Washington-area employees who are slated to move to the new department.

"Does this administration have any intention of ever creating one department under one roof?" he asked at the press conference.

Reaching any of the three potential sites for the headquarters could create new commuting challenges for Homeland Security workers. None of the three sites are accessible by Metro, the Washington subway system. The two sites in the Tysons Corner area can be reached by bus.

Laura Allen, assistant director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a Washington-based pro-transit group, said the new department should be located near a Metro station. "The federal government should certainly not be involved in putting new offices in areas where you have no choice but to drive," she said.