SPRINGFIELD, Va. — Virginia leaders are joining forces to make their final push to build a new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in their state, as the General Services Administration and the FBI are nearing a final decision on a headquarters location.
The Commonwealth’s bipartisan congressional delegation and Gov. Glenn Youngkin pushed this month for a site in Springfield, Virginia, rather than in Landover and Greenbelt in Maryland.
Virginia lawmakers detailed how Springfield best meets the five selection criteria set by the GSA and FBI, which included the following: support for the FBI mission requirement; transportation access; site development flexibility; promoting sustainable siting and advancing equity; and cost.
“The Springfield site presents the government with a comprehensive and holistic candidate location to house the FBI, as it performs strongly across all criteria. Springfield would provide the men and women of the FBI with a location that best enables them to meet their critical law enforcement and national security missions, allow GSA to execute that according to best practices in public real estate acquisitions, and provide the government with a strong and exciting opportunity to meet its community investment goals,” they wrote.
Virginia lawmakers also sought to compete more aggressively with Maryland on one component that Maryland has sought to elevate: that building the FBI in their community advances racial equity. President Biden signed an executive order in 2021 that made advancing racial equity through federal agencies a priority, a move that considers the effects of federal investment in certain underserved communities.
“We didn’t want to shortchange ourselves in what we believe is a very powerful equity argument for Springfield, Fairfax,” Rep. Gerald Connolly, a Democrat who represents Springfield, said. “We’re a profoundly diverse community. Springfield itself is a majority-minority community.”
U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott, Rob Wittman, Gerry Connolly, Don Beyer, Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer Wexton, and Jen Kiggans signed the letter.
A full copy of the letter can be found here.
The current headquarters in Washington has long concerned Congress, as the building has deteriorated. The Maryland and Virginia consultations with the GSA are expected to begin the week of Feb. 27 or March 6.