Date: 2016-07-11
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 4785. the DHS Stop Asset and Vehicle Excess Act. H.R. 4785 seeks to bolster how the Department of Homeland Security acquires. manages. and oversees its fleet of. roughly. 53.000 vehicles. In 2014. the Departments inspector general found that the DHS did not adequately manage or have the enforcement authority to ensure that the composition of its motor vehicle fleet was rightsized. The inspector general observed that each DHS component managed decisionmaking about its own fleet. thereby making it difficult for the DHS fleet manager to provide adequate oversight and ensure compliance with Federal laws. regulations. policies. and directives. One major issue that the inspector general identified is that. while the DHS fleet manager had decisionmaking authority regarding vehicle leases. it did not oversee and approve the acquisition of componentowned vehicles. Last year. the inspector general amplified concerns about how the DHS manages its vehicle fleet in a report that was focused on operations with the Federal Protective Service. In a review issued in October of 2015. the inspector general found that. among other things. the DHS was unable to oversee policies related to hometowork vehicle use by FPS employees and that vehicle acquisition decisions by the FPS leadership were ad hoc. H.R. 4785 seeks to improve the management of the DHS vehicle fleet by strengthening the oversight and management of the Departments fleet by the Under Secretary for Management by requiring the Under Secretary to issue a standardized vehicle allocation methodology for use throughout the Department. to oversee vehicle acquisition and lease decisionmaking. and to ensure components compliance with Federal laws and Department policies that relate to fleet management. The DHS has the second largest civilian vehicle fleet in the Federal Government at an operating cost of about $462 million. As such. enhancing oversight and management should help the Department to more effectively spend limited taxpayer dollars on what the Department actually needs to carry out its missions. I would note that H.R. 4785 includes language I authored to ensure that the inspector generals oversight of the DHS management of its vehicle fleet continues by reviewing the development. use. and submission of vehicle allocation tools and fleet management plans as required. It requires the inspector general to specifically report to Congress on the effectiveness of the submission requirements with respect to cost avoidance. savings realized. and component operations. As the IG has reported. the DHS inability to adequately monitor and oversee the Departmentwide vehicle fleet limits its ability to detect waste and abuse. Therefore. it is imperative that the DHS continue to work to develop proper processes for fleet management and to ensure that components heads utilize the appropriate procedures to inform efforts at achieving an optimal fleet size. I commend my colleague from Pennsylvania for introducing this legislation and for working in a bipartisan fashion to advance it. I urge the passage of H.R. 4785. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.