The Department of Homeland Security will permanently reside across the street from AU at the Nebraska Avenue Naval Security Complex after the passage of a House bill, which squelches the fears of D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Homes Norton (D-D.C.) that the department would move outside the city, taking thousands of federal jobs with it.
If DHS had moved elsewhere, the District would have suffered a loss of more than $171 million, said Norton in a press release. The congresswoman has been adamant about the department remaining in the District from the start, said Doxie McCoy, Norton's press secretary.
"Her concern was primarily the number of jobs that would leave the city if DHS left," McCoy said.
Two years ago, some had envisioned the department moving to Northern Virginia, which is why it was temporarily located in the Nebraska Avenue Naval Security Complex.
The House's decision, announced June 14, keeps the department near AU, but it should not have any bearing on students or campus activities, said McCoy.
AU Director of Media Relations Todd Sedmak said he could not judge whether students would feel threatened by the possibility of an attack on the federal agency so close to campus. Rather, he said it is just another part of living in a world with the constant threat of terror.
"It's a new reality regardless if DHS is across the street or not," Sedmak said. "Universities nation-wide are worried about security issues."
Sedmak does not see any harm coming from the permanent location of the department.
"Homeland Defense and, over the years, the naval complex have worked well with AU," Sedmak said, "I envision that being the case for years to come."
Sedmak added that when AU hosted the "Party Animals" two years ago on the Quad, many Department of Homeland Security employees spent their lunch hours visiting the campus. "I envision this happening more often when the Katzen Arts Center opens and we have exhibits there," Sedmak said.
Another major reason for keeping the Department in the naval complex is that it already had the highest level of secure federal protection, McCoy said, a point Norton argued on the Congress floor.
"It is already a secure facility - kind of a head start on what DHS needed," McCoy said.
The House bill regarding the department was more about keeping jobs in the District than the precise naval base location, said McCoy. Moving the department would have been "unthinkable" in terms of the D.C. economy, Norton said.
The House vote came after a hearing by the House Select Committee on Homeland Security on May 6 where Deputy Secretary James Loy stated, "One of the biggest strategic challenges currently facing DHS is the need to consolidate the Department's headquarters operations in one location."
"Without Congressional approval, however DHS cannot fully move into its preferred headquarters - the Nebraska Avenue Complex," Loy said to the committee. "Every day that DHS fails to consolidate its operations, the Department is hobbled in achieving its ultimate goal of protecting the American people and the homeland"
