H.R. 5662 — Introduced in House

I 117th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5662 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 21, 2021Mr. Gohmert (for himself, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mrs. Boebert, Mr. Cawthorn, Mr. Griffith, and Mrs. Cammack) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To prohibit the construction of any new Federal building in the District of Columbia. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Stop Wasting All our Money on Palaces Act or the SWAMP Act. 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The debt of the United States is over 28 trillion dollars and continues to rise. (2) The continued increase in our debt could cause our debt to be downgraded increasing the cost of borrowing money and bankrupting our country. (3) Congress must tighten its fiscal belt to ease the burden of the increasing debt level on United States taxpayers. (4) The Federal Government has a responsibility to the taxpayers to make sacrifices in other areas. (5) Federal funds that otherwise would be spent on new construction or leasing of Federal buildings would be better spent helping the people of the United States by paying down the Nation’s debt. 3. Prohibition on construction new federal buildings (a) In general For a 2-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services and any other executive of a Federal Department or Agency may not agree or sign a contract to construct a new Federal building in the District of Columbia. (b) Definition of federal building For purposes of this section, the term Federal building means any building to be constructed by, or for the use of, any Federal agency. Such term shall include buildings built for the purpose of being leased by a Federal agency.