Steve Burns
WMAL.com
UPPER MARLBORO, Md – (WMAL) Prince George’s County officials may be feeling a bit anxious as they wait out the General Services Administration’s review of potential sites to house the headquarters of the FBI. They’re urging the GSA to make sure they adhere to their deadline in a changing political climate.
Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, a longtime champion of a relocation to Prince George’s County, is headed out of office at the end of the year, and the competition in Virginia could see a big morale boost if Virginia Senator Tim Kaine gets a promotion.
“GSA has indicated they hope to make this decision by the end of the calendar year,” Prince George’s County Senior Economic Development Advisor David Iannucci told WMAL. “The County feels very strongly that it’s critical that the federal government adhere to that timetable.”
The GSA has blown through deadlines in the past, Iannucci said, so keeping them on track remains critical.
“There are political considerations involving Virginia and the people involved in the presidential campaign,” Iannucci said. “Maryland has Senator Mikulski, Senator Cardin, Steny Hoyer working very hard, but the situation changes in a new federal administration.”
Mikulski is in a powerful position to help in the process, as part of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Iannucci calls her “the true champion” of the effort. She will be retiring at the end of her term this year.
“It’s been a long, drawn out process already. We’re already into year five of this and we think it’s time to wrap it up,” Iannucci said.
Prince George’s County’s proposed sites are in Greenbelt and Landover, going up against Fairfax’s potential site in Springfield.
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(Photo: CNN)
