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Congressman Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (GA-01) this week demanded answers from federal officials about the State Department’s costly attempt to duplicate existing capabilities at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center near Brunswick, Georgia.

In a hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Carter questioned officials from both the State Department and the Government Accountability Office on why the agency continued to move forward with its plans which some estimates believe could cost taxpayers twice the price.

During questioning of Gregory B. Starr, Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security, Carter raised serious concerns about State’s wasteful plan, “…we’re here to discuss cost over-runs and the waste of taxpayers’ money and there’s no better example than this. You’ve got a facility in FLETC, that trains over 91 agencies, but yet you’re saying that you’ve got to have one of your own; that you can’t utilize this. And I’m having trouble understanding that when FLETC has already said that they can do this at almost half the cost.”

Carter went on to make it clear that he will not stand for State’s actions and will continue the fight for FLETC. “I’m going to tell you that I’m going to continue to fight this because I think you are wasting taxpayers’ money. I think you’ve got a perfectly fine facility that can be utilized without building another, and without getting us further into debt, and without wasting taxpayers’ money like the State Department has done time and time again.”

Recently, Carter and Senators Johnny Isakson and David Perdue were joined by Reps Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Lynn Westmoreland (GA-03), Tom Price (GA-06), Rob Woodall (GA-07), Austin Scott (GA-08), Jody Hice (GA-10), Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), Rick Allen (GA-12), David Scott (GA-13), and Tom Graves (GA-14) in sending a letter to U.S. Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro demanding a thorough and impartial review of the State Department’s existing proposals for its training center given the vast cost difference based on estimates by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security between constructing the facility from scratch in Blackstone, Va., at the cost of $413 million, compared to estimated $272 million to retrofit the existing training center in Georgia.

Background:

In 2013, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) submitted a proposal to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to service State’s training needs by augmenting the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), in Brunswick, Ga., which provides security training for DHS and 95 federal partner organizations, including the State Department, as well as state and local law enforcement agencies. In its 2013 proposal to OMB, DHS included the construction of new buildings, weapons ranges, and driving tracks to meet the requirements of State’s original FAST-C master plan.  FLETC estimated that this new construction would cost $272 million. By leveraging its existing facilities to meet State’s training needs, FLETC estimates its proposal could also achieve significant cost savings over the long term. However, in April 2014, the Administration confirmed that it planned to adopt the State Department’s proposal to build FAST-C in Blackstone, Va.

Click here to view and download Carter's questioning.

Click here to view and download the letter to U.S. Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.