CASTRO URGES APPROPRIATORS TO FUND SAN ANTONIO COURTHOUSE

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Joaquin Castro [TX-20] along with a group of bipartisan legislators wrote a letter today to urge the powerful House Appropriations Committee to provide adequate funding for Federal Buildings Fund construction in FY 2014 before the January 15 funding deadline. This funding will enable construction to begin on critical projects across the country, including the San Antonio Courthouse. 

 

“The San Antonio Courthouse is among the busiest in the nation, but because it was not originally designed to be a federal courthouse it is not adequately meeting the demands of the workload. As the funding deadline for all federal agencies nears, I am calling on the House Appropriations Committee to ensure the San Antonio Courthouse is fully funded so that it may better serve our community.”   

 

Background: 

Cosigners of the letter include: Lamar Smith; John Conyers; Lloyd Doggett; Albio Sires; Pete P. Gallego; Henry Cuellar; Eleanor Holmes Norton; Ed Perlmutter; Pedro R. Pierluisi; Jim Cooper; Robert C. "Bobby" Scott. 

 

The co-signers represent districts where federal construction projects that have stalled.

 

Courthouse construction is funded from the Federal Buildings Fund (FBF). This fund is largely financed by rental revenues from federal buildings and supplemented by appropriations. Courthouse funding has been woefully inadequate over the past fiscal years due to unsteady budgets and Sequestration.