GOP wants price check on State’s diplomatic security training center

Three GOP House committee chairmen have asked the State Department to halt plans on a new security training center until an independent analysis determines if it’s the most cost-efficient option.

The State Department has proposed a new center at Fort Pickett, an Army National Guard post in Blackstone, Va., to train up to 10,000 diplomatic security and other agency personnel.

An initial estimate found the project would cost $950 million, but a reduction in scope brought it down to $907 million and then ultimately $460 million, though the price could change.

In two letters this week, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.), Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Homeland Security subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) said the Department of Homeland Security might offer a less expensive alternative, and that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) should carefully examine the proposals. 

{mosads}“Our Committees request that State not move forward and expend any funding for development at the Fort Pickett site until GAO review is complete,” they wrote in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry. 

In a separate letter just a few days earlier, the congressmen asked the GAO to compare the State Department’s proposed construction plan to one developed by DHS that would upgrade an already existing facility.

The Republicans acknowledged there is “an urgent need to increase and improve diplomatic security training” in the wake of the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, but they don’t want to spend more money than necessary to make that progress.

The DHS currently operates the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Ga., which is used to train personnel from 91 law enforcement and military agencies, including those who work in diplomatic security.

The department has proposed to expand and upgrade that center by constructing new buildings, weapon ranges and driving tracks. At a cost of $272 million, Royce, McCaul and Duncan said it would meet the State Department’s training requirements while saving money.

“By leveraging existing facilities to meet State’s training needs, FLETC estimates its proposal could save the U.S. government almost $1 billion over 10 years. With such a substantial amount of projected cost savings, we believe it is critical that FLETC’s estimate receive thorough consideration and a full independent analysis,” they wrote in the letters to Kerry and the GAO.

“It is critical that an independent and unbiased analysis be conducted to determine which agency’s proposal offered the required training at the best value to the American taxpayer,” the lawmakers added.

The three Republicans said they understand the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has already reviewed both the State Department and Homeland Security proposals, but they said the OMB hasn’t responded to their congressional committees’ requests for related documentation.