[Senate Report 114-228]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 390
114th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 114-228
_______________________________________________________________________
TO DIRECT THE ADMINISTRATOR OF
GENERAL SERVICES, ON BEHALF OF THE
ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES, TO
CONVEY CERTAIN FEDERAL PROPERTY
LOCATED IN THE STATE OF ALASKA
TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 1492
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
March 15, 2016.--Ordered to be printed
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
59-010 WASHINGTON : 2016
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
JOHN McCAIN, Arizona THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri
RAND PAUL, Kentucky JON TESTER, Montana
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota
KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey
JONI ERNST, Iowa GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
BEN SASSE, Nebraska
Christopher R. Hixon, Staff Director
Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Chief Counsel
Patrick J. Bailey, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs
Gabrielle A. Batkin, Minority Staff Director
John P. Kilvington, Minority Deputy Staff Director
Mary Beth Schultz, Minority Chief Counsel
Brian F. Papp, Jr., Minority Professional Staff Member
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 390
114th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 114-228
======================================================================
TO DIRECT THE ADMINISTRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES, ON BEHALF OF THE
ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES, TO CONVEY CERTAIN FEDERAL PROPERTY
LOCATED IN THE STATE OF ALASKA TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
_______
March 15, 2016.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1492]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1492) to direct the
Administrator of General Services, on behalf of the Archivist
of the United States, to convey certain Federal property
located in the State of Alaska to the Municipality of
Anchorage, Alaska, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the
bill, as amended, do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................2
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................3
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............4
I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
S. 1492 directs the General Services Administration (GSA),
on behalf of the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA), to offer to convey a parcel of land to the Municipality
of Anchorage, Alaska (Anchorage). The bill requires that any
proceeds from the sale be transferred to the Department of the
Treasury to be used for deficit reduction.
II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION
On June 8, 2004, GSA purchased a parcel of land in
Anchorage, Alaska, for the purpose of building a site to expand
NARA's operations in the city.\1\
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\1\John Stanton, Government Good to Stevens' Friends (July 10,
2007) Roll Call, http://www.rollcall.com/issues/53_3/-19276-1.html.
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At the time, NARA operated a records center in Anchorage to
allow local citizens to view Federal records related to Alaska.
According to NARA, the additional site was never developed and
remains an empty lot.\2\
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\2\Telephone Call between Committee staff and John Hamilton,
Director of Congressional Affairs, National Archives and Records
Administration (Dec. 4, 2015).
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On March 11, 2014, NARA announced the permanent closure of
the facility in Anchorage, ending all NARA activities in the
state.\3\ The Anchorage archival records were moved to the NARA
records center in Seattle, WA, and digitization makes the
records available to residents of Alaska via the Internet.\4\
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\3\Statement by Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero
(2014), available at https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/
2014/nr14-41.html.
\4\Id.
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NARA's chief operating officer, Jay Bosanko, stated at the
time that they ``had to look at each of [the records centers]
and make an assessment about their level of use, the cost to
store materials and other factors, and these recent moves were
based on all that.''\5\ Mr. Bosanko stated that relocation of
the archives was due to the high cost of storing the records in
Anchorage, and that given the low usage of the Anchorage
facility, NARA could service records users more efficiently
from Seattle.\6\ Despite ceasing all operations in Alaska, NARA
continues to own the empty parcel of land it purchased in
2004.\7\
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\5\Brian Robinson, NARA plans online public access to relocated
Alaska archives, Government Computer News (Apr. 4, 2014), https://
gcn.com/articles/2014/04/04/nara-alaska.aspx.
\6\Id.
\7\Telephone Call between Committee staff and John Hamilton,
Director of Congressional Affairs, National Archives and Records
Administration (Dec. 4, 2015).
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S. 1492 directs GSA to offer to sell the empty property to
the city of Anchorage for not less than the fair market value
of the property. The bill requires that the property be
appraised by a licensed, independent appraiser approved by NARA
and the city of Anchorage, and that NARA approve the appraisal.
It also requires the city of Anchorage to pay for the appraisal
and any other costs incidental to the conveyance. Any proceeds
from the sale are required to be transferred to the Department
of the Treasury for the purpose of deficit reduction.
III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan introduced S. 1492 on June 3,
2015. The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs.
The Committee considered S. 1492 at a business meeting on
December 9, 2015. During the business meeting, Chairman Ron
Johnson offered a substitute amendment as modified, which made
technical corrections to the bill. The substitute amendment was
adopted and the bill, as amended, was reported favorably, both
by voice vote. Members present for both the vote on the
amendment and on final passage were Senators Johnson, Portman,
Lankford, Ayotte, Ernst, Carper, Tester, Baldwin, and Booker.
IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED
Section 1. Real property conveyance
Subsection (a) defines the terms ``Archivist'' and
``city.''
Subsection (b) directs the GSA Administrator, on behalf of
the NARA Archivist, to offer to convey certain real property to
Anchorage, and requires the city of Anchorage to pay all
associated costs, including the survey and appraisal required
by this section.
Subsection (c) provides the legal description of the real
property to be conveyed, and requires that, prior to
conveyance, Anchorage pay for a survey of the property and that
the survey be approved by NARA.
Subsection (d) mandates that the property be conveyed for
not less than the fair market value, to be determined by an
independent appraisal.
Finally, subsection (e) requires that any proceeds of the
sale be transferred to the Department of the Treasury and used
for deficit reduction.
V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, January 8, 2016.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1492, a bill to
direct the Administrator of the General Services, on behalf of
the Archivist of the United States, to convey certain Federal
property located in the State of Alaska to the Municipality of
Anchorage, Alaska.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall.
Enclosure.
S. 1492--A bill to direct the Administrator of the General Services, on
behalf of the Archivist of the United States, to convey certain
Federal property located in the State of Alaska to the
Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska
S. 1492 would authorize the General Services Administration
(GSA), on behalf of the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) to sell certain property in Anchorage,
Alaska, for its fair market value. According to NARA and GSA,
the federal government acquired this undeveloped property in
2005 for $3.5 million.
CBO expects that the property will be sold under current
law at some point over the next ten years because the agency
has closed its operating facilities in Alaska. Because the
legislation could accelerate the process of selling the
property, and thus collection of sale proceeds (which are
treated as offsets to direct spending), pay-as-you-go
procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that there would be no
net effect on direct spending over the 2016-2025 period.
Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. CBO estimates that
enacting S. 1462 would not increase net direct spending or on-
budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods
beginning in 2026.
S. 1492 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would benefit the municipality of Anchorage, Alaska. Any costs
to the municipality resulting from the land conveyance would be
incurred voluntarily.
On April 23, 2015, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.
336, a bill to direct the Administrator of the General
Services, on behalf of the Archivist of the United States, to
convey certain Federal property located in the State of Alaska
to the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, as ordered reported
by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on
April 15, 2015. The two pieces of legislation are similar, and
CBO's estimate of their budgetary effects are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
Because this legislation would not repeal or amend any
provision of current law, it would make no changes in existing
law within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12
of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate.
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