Maryland Delegation of Leaders Make Pitch For Final Selection Process

By Angela Alsobrooks // Prince George’s County Executive

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Today, I joined Governor Wes Moore, Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, and leaders from our federal delegation in a meeting with members of the General Services Administration (GSA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to explain why Prince George’s County is the right home for the new FBI headquarters. After that meeting, we held a press conference to reinforce that locating the new FBI headquarters in Prince George’s is the correct choice and a matter of equity.

As you may have heard, we are in the final stages of a long process to select a location for the new FBI headquarters, a decision that will affect the future of our entire County. During today’s meeting, the GSA Administrator informed our delegation that this will be the largest project in GSA history. We feel that Prince George’s has already proven, hands down, that we are capable and ready to be the home of the FBI.

**Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks**

There are three sites as finalists, two of which are in Prince George’s, in Greenbelt and Landover. The third site under consideration is in Springfield, Virginia, in Fairfax County. The future location of the FBI headquarters has the potential to help transform our County and our State, just as other large federal employers have helped transform jurisdictions across the National Capital Region.

The decision regarding the location of the new FBI headquarters is also a matter of equity, which helps advance the Biden Administration’s goal to center equity in decisions by the Federal Government. However, I remain deeply concerned with recent developments in the site selection process that undermine President Biden’s commitment to advancing equity.

The General Services Administration has said it would focus on access to transit, cost, and environmental impact when selecting a new site. Both of the sites in Prince George’s County are superior based on these GSA criteria. We have greater access to transit, better highway access, quality amenities, an unmatched STEM research ecosystem, and direct access to Metro. Plus, unlike the site in Northern Virginia, our sites are build-ready now, which will reduce costs for American taxpayers by hundreds of millions of dollars.

The two sites in Prince George’s County remain the best option for a new FBI headquarters. We meet the requirements laid out by the GSA, and our sites have the added benefit of helping to rebalance federal jobs across the National Capital Region—a major, measurable way to promote equity consistent with the president’s executive orders, and the goals of the federal agencies themselves.

We were deeply surprised when, this past September, the GSA changed the selection criteria for the new headquarters at the 11th hour. Equity now ranks only fourth, despite the will of President Biden. In addition, site proximity to the Quantico Marine Corps base was added as the most important criteria, despite the fact that other federal law enforcement agencies are not located anywhere near their training facilities. Adding to the irregularity, these GSA criteria from September 23 are not weighted equally, which is highly unusual for a GSA site selection process.

The decision about the future location of the FBI is one that will have generational consequences for our region. When the Federal Government decided in 1941 to locate the Pentagon on the west bank of the Potomac, that decision created decades of additional investment in Virginia. Likewise, the Federal Government’s decision to locate the National Institutes of Health in Montgomery County conferred decades of economic benefits on Montgomery County.

Federal job centers have driven job and income growth in our region, and decisions about where to locate them have historically advantaged majority communities over minority communities like ours. The effects of these disparities are clear. From fiscal year 2008 to 2023, Prince George’s County received over $121 billion in federal spending. Fairfax County received over $460 billion.

Prince George’s County has 29,720 federal jobs, while Fairfax has over 48,000. When combined with Arlington and Alexandria, the Northern Virginia number grows to 89,000. In terms of leased federal office space, Fairfax receives payment for over 6.5 million square feet of office space, while Prince George’s County only has 3.3 million square feet of leased space.

Prince George’s County has always been a good neighbor to the Washington region. In fact, we ceded a portion of our County to form the seat of the Federal Government in 1791. All around us, we’ve watched communities prosper with federal investment—investment that we have not received. Even though the president takes off and lands in Prince George’s, the numbers tell a story. The reality is, the Federal Government flies over our community.

Now, our educational attainment is lower, our median household income is lower, our gross domestic product is lower, and our poverty rate is higher than our neighbors across the Potomac. This is what inequity looks like. We may have the largest, most prosperous community of color in the nation, but compared to the rest of the Washington Metropolitan Area, we’re at the back of the line.

Despite the disparity in investment, we continue to rise. Prince George’s is a sophisticated, meritorious majority Black and brown community. We are well prepared, and well-equipped to be home to this agency. We have the best access to a university-level pipeline of new workers, with expertise in cybersecurity and other skills useful to the FBI’s mission.

The decision on where to locate the new FBI headquarters will have an impact far beyond Prince George’s. This is more than a chance for Prince Georgians to benefit from federal investment, it is an opportunity for the FBI to move from the 20th century into the 21st century. It would be a powerful statement for the FBI to declare that, today, they are a law enforcement agency that works for all Americans. I cannot imagine a more meaningful way to advance President Biden’s commitment to equity by showing that communities like ours are no longer “fly-over communities” for the Federal Government.

When it comes to the FBI, the best choice for the United States and the American people is obvious. I will keep working with our Governor, our federal delegation, and our neighbors in other Maryland counties to bring the FBI to its rightful home in Prince George’s County.

Yours in service,

Angela Alsobrooks

Prince George’s County Executive