I voted Yes on H.R. 665, the Excess Federal Building and Property Disposal Act.

This bill would create a pilot program to expedite the disposal process for idle or underutilized federal property. The pilot program would create a list of the 15 highest value government properties that are either excess or surplus, and dispose of those properties through an expedited process and public auction at fair-market value. Once a property has been disposed of, the General Services Administration would add a new property to the list.

The federal government owns more than 900,000 buildings, and a recent Government Accountability Office report showed that 24 federal agencies have already identified more than 45,000 underutilized buildings that cost the government $1.66 billion each year just to maintain.

The current disposal process is cumbersome and mired in bureaucracy. H.R. 665 would remove many of these barriers and result in $3 billion in taxpayer savings in the first year alone. Within five years, H.R. 665 is estimated to save approximately $15 billion.

Importantly, 98 percent of the revenues from disposing these properties would be put towards deficit reduction, while 2 percent will fund a grant program to help non-profits purchase or rehabilitate property to assist homeless populations. Disposed federal property has historically been used to support the homeless population, and H.R. 665 would continue that tradition.

This common-sense program will reduce wasteful government spending and decrease the footprint of the federal government in a responsible manner.

H.R. 665 was approved by a vote of 403 - 0.