II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2269 

To establish a competitive bidding process for the relocation of the 

headquarters of Executive agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Ms. ERNST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a competitive bidding process for the relocation 

of the headquarters of Executive agencies, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strategic Withdrawal 

5 of Agencies for Meaningful Placement Act of 2019’’ or 

6 the ‘‘SWAMP Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. RELOCATION OF HEADQUARTERS OF EXECUTIVE 

8 AGENCIES. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 

2 agency’’— 

3 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec4 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code; and 

5 (B) does not include— 

6 (i) the Executive Office of the Presi7 dent; 

8 (ii) the Department of Defense, in9 cluding— 

10 (I) the Defense Intelligence 

11 Agency; 

12 (II) the National Security Agen13 cy; and 

14 (III) the National Geospatial-In15 telligence Agency; 

16 (iii) the Department of Energy; 

17 (iv) the Department of Homeland Se18 curity; 

19 (v) the Department of State; 

20 (vi) the Office of the Director of Na21 tional Intelligence; or 

22 (vii) the Central Intelligence Agency. 

23 (2) HEADQUARTERS.—The term ‘‘head24 quarters’’— 


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1 (A) means the place or building serving as 

2 the managerial and administrative center of an 

3 Executive agency; and 

4 (B) does not include an office that the 

5 head of an Executive agency may maintain sep6 arately from a place or building in the Wash7 ington metropolitan area. 

8 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

9 the 50 States. 

10 (4) WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA.—The 

11 term ‘‘Washington metropolitan area’’ means the ge12 ographic area located within the boundaries of— 

13 (A) the District of Columbia; 

14 (B) Montgomery and Prince George’s 

15 Counties in the State of Maryland; and 

16 (C) Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and 

17 Prince William Counties and the City of Alex18 andria in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

19 (b) REPEAL OF HEADQUARTERS LOCATION RE20 QUIREMENT.—Section 72 of title 4, United States Code, 

21 is repealed. 

22 (c) PROHIBITION ON LOCATION OF HEADQUARTERS

23 IN WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA.—With respect to 

24 a headquarters of an Executive agency that is located in 

25 the Washington metropolitan area as of the date of enactVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2269.IS S2269

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1 ment of this Act, no new construction or major renovation 

2 may be undertaken, or lease agreement entered into or 

3 renewed, for the headquarters after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, except as otherwise expressly provided by law. 

5 (d) COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCESS FOR RELOCA6 TION OF HEADQUARTERS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

9 of General Services shall establish a process, in ac10 cordance with the requirements under paragraph 

11 (2), through which— 

12 (A) the head of an Executive agency may 

13 submit a request for the Administrator of Gen14 eral Services to issue a solicitation for the relo15 cation of the headquarters of the Executive 

16 agency; or 

17 (B) if determined necessary, the Adminis18 trator of General Services may issue a solicita19 tion for the relocation of the headquarters of an 

20 Executive agency. 

21 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—With respect to any so22 licitation issued for the relocation of the head23 quarters of an Executive agency under paragraph 

24 (1), the Administrator of General Services shall— 


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1 (A) allow any State and any political sub2 division of a State to submit a proposal for the 

3 relocation of the headquarters of the Executive 

4 agency; 

5 (B) provide the public with notice and an 

6 opportunity to comment on any proposal sub7 mitted under subparagraph (A); and 

8 (C) in consultation with the head of the 

9 Executive agency, select a State, or a political 

10 subdivision of a State, for the relocation of the 

11 headquarters using a competitive bidding proce12 dure that considers— 

13 (i) the extent to which the relocation 

14 of the headquarters would impact the econ15 omy and workforce development of a State 

16 or political subdivision of a State; 

17 (ii) whether a State, or a political sub18 division of a State, has expertise in car19 rying out activities substantially similar to 

20 the mission and goals of the Executive 

21 agency; and 

22 (iii) the extent to which the relocation 

23 of the headquarters to a State, or a polit24 ical subdivision of a State, would implicate 

25 national security interests. 


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1 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

2 shall be construed to prohibit a political subdivision of the 

3 State of Maryland or the Commonwealth of Virginia that 

4 is located outside the Washington metropolitan area from 

5 submitting a proposal under subsection (d)(2)(A). 

6 (f) OFFSET ALLOWED.—The Administrator of Gen7 eral Services may use the proceeds from the sale of any 

8 Federal building or land to offset the cost of relocating 

9 the headquarters of an Executive agency. 

10 (g) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No ad11 ditional funds are authorized to carry out this Act. This 

12 Act shall be carried out using amounts otherwise author13 ized. 

Æ 


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