WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (Both D-Md.) and Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (Both D-Va.) are calling on Senate leadership to reject the Trump adminstration’s attempt to add funding for a downtown headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into the latest COVID-19 relief package. The four senators urged that the language be removed from any COVID-19 legislation.

“The United States is in the midst of a public health crisis and an economic downturn. Addressing these related challenges requires us to work together to consider the ways Americans have been suffering during this pandemic and the many different sectors of our economy that have been impacted. Faced with this formidable task, the Administration’s request for nearly two billion dollars for a pet real estate project reveals a warped sense of priorities and further demonstrates its inability to formulate a plan to lead us forward,” the senators wrote in their letter to Senators Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Richard Shelby and Patrick Leahy.

“To make progress towards this common goal of providing our FBI agents with the facility they deserve, perhaps the Administration can answer the backlog of questions from Congress about why, at great cost to American taxpayers, it abandoned efforts to develop a new campus headquarters for the FBI, and it can cooperate with the ongoing Department of Justice Inspector General’s investigation into this conduct. These actions would be more productive than asking taxpayers to fund this proposal in an unrelated COVID-19 relief bill,” they added.

“We look forward to working with you on an effective relief package that provides essential support to American families, workers, and the economy.”

The full letter can be found at this link.

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