S.Amdt. 1184

SA 1184. Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Brown,
and Mrs. Murray) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 948 proposed by Mr. Shelby to the bill H.R. 3055, making
appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science,
and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and
for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title VII of division B,
insert the following:
Sec. 7__. (a) Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, and before a lease is entered into for
any facilities of the Economic Research Service or the
National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the Kansas City
metropolitan area, the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide
a corrected cost-benefit analysis of the relocation of those
agencies to the Kansas City metropolitan area to--
(1) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
of the Senate;
(2) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives;
(3) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development,
Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies of the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(4) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development,
Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies of the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
(b) The cost-benefit analysis described in subsection (a)
shall include--
(1) an estimate of all costs associated with the
relocation, including costs related to the attrition and
resulting high vacancy rates associated with the relocation
and costs of staff travel to offices in Washington, DC;
(2) an estimate of the expenses of renting space in
Washington, DC, as compared to a comparable amount of space
in the Kansas City metropolitan area, using General Services
Administration acceptable rental rates

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for Washington, DC, and the Kansas City metropolitan area, as
applicable;
(3) an analysis of current Department of Agriculture space
in the National Capital Region, and whether that space could
be used for the Economic Research Service or the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture; and
(4) an estimate of the costs resulting from terminating any
Economic Research Service or National Institute of Food and
Agriculture leases in Washington, DC, that are no longer
needed because of the relocation.
(c) In calculating the costs described in subsection
(b)(1), the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide an
estimate of costs associated with--
(1) replacing employees who did not relocate to the Kansas
City metropolitan area;
(2) the loss of staff experience and expertise, including
providing the cumulative years of experience of employees who
did not accept the reassignment to the Kansas City
metropolitan area; and
(3) the loss of the value of research that will be delayed
or not performed because of the staff shortages associated
with the relocation.
______