00:00We ended up selling a lot of this property and we paid cash for schools, crazy things like that.
00:05We didn't stay in debt and to me that just seems like the model that the federal government should adopt.
00:12We should have a listing of the property and the people ought to be able to review that and make better assumptions
00:18because I assume, I think they're a lot more smarter than we give them credit for.
00:23Chair lady, thank you for indulgence in allowing me to be on this committee.
00:27I come in here usually ticked off and I leave in worse condition, so thank you for that.
00:33You're welcome.
00:34If I ever have a counselor, I'm going to send you the bill.
00:39Mr. Hart, do any members of Congress, their spouses, or their immediate family have any property ownership rights to this property or any federal land?
00:52Congressman, I don't know the answer to that question off the top of my head.
00:55Okay, do spouses of members of Congress own real property and lease it to the federal government?
01:00And how would we find that out?
01:02Because I think I know what you're going to say.
01:04I believe the answer to that question is yes.
01:07You do?
01:08I do believe that.
01:11Is there any way we could verify that information?
01:12Well, you go to USA Spending and search, open the books, our website, and you can look up members' names.
01:19You can look up any person's name and find that information.
01:23All right.
01:24I suspect that's being done as I speak.
01:27Mr. Maroney, how much underutilized space does the federal government have?
01:33Can't say.
01:34There's not good data.
01:35We just don't have data.
01:36There's going to come this summer.
01:37Congress has now required it.
01:39But prior to this, once you get outside of headquarters, there wasn't measurement of how much the budget rate is.
01:43I hate these studies.
01:44Every day we vote on a new study, and I suspect there's some warehouse like in Raiders of the Lost Ark at the end where they're putting this.
01:50And our top people are looking at it, and there's these studies are just on these shelves in these vast, vast warehouses.
01:57Would you agree with that assumption?
01:58There are a lot of studies.
02:00All right.
02:01I remember your whatever.
02:02All right.
02:03How much would the federal government save by allowing unneeded leases to expire?
02:08The federal government sends about $6 billion on leased office space, so depending on how many of you let expire, you get substantial savings.
02:18As I said up here, people chastise the thought of making a profit.
02:25To me, that's not an evil thing.
02:27That allows for more people to be employed.
02:30It seems that we have forgotten exactly who we work for, and it's the people back home who are struggling.
02:37When I was mayor of Knox County, one of the first things I did was I said, get me a list of all the property we own in Knox County.
02:46And it was amazing to me.
02:49We had property in neighborhoods.
02:52Some of it was obviously undevelopable.
02:55One was on the corner of a small airport, but it was all over.
03:00We had something listed as a park, and it was nothing further from a park.
03:05And we ended up selling a lot of this property, and we paid cash for schools, crazy things like that.
03:11We didn't stay in debt.
03:13And to me, that just seems like the model that the federal government should adopt.
03:18We should have a listing of the property, and the people ought to be able to review that and make better assumptions.
03:24Because I assume, I think they're a lot more smarter than we give them credit for.
03:29And I suspect that's part of the problem.
03:31They don't want to let them look behind the curtain, so to speak.
03:37Would you agree with that?
03:38It is important to have that kind of data.
03:40There is an inventory that's available online, but there are significant issues with this reliability.
03:47Mr. Hart, would you care to address that?
03:49We would like to enhance the transparency of all of that data.
03:54I think it's one of the most important assets that taxpayers should be able to review the cost so that they can make good decisions.
03:59And again, the purpose of transparency is to empower taxpayers.
04:04Transparency is not a two-way street.
04:06The government does not have the right to inspect our checkbook.
04:09Taxpayers do have the right to inspect the government's checkbook because it's their money.
04:14Mr. Kendall, would you care to offer your...
04:18I'm all in favor of transparency.
04:19No objection.
04:21It seems our friends in the media always strive for that.
04:27And we get pretty gutless up here.
04:31So I would hope in the future we would address that.
04:34I'll yield my 49 seconds back to you, Chair Lady.
04:37Thank you for your indulgence, ma'am.
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