[Senate Hearing 116-146]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 116-146
NOMINATION HEARING OF JAMES BRETT BLANTON FOR ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
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DECEMBER 12, 2019
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Rules and Administration
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Available on http://www.govinfo.gov
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
38-799 WASHINGTON : 2020
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COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION
FIRST SESSION
ROY BLUNT, Missouri, Chairman
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
PAT ROBERTS, Kansas CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York
RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois
TED CRUZ, Texas TOM UDALL, New Mexico
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia MARK R. WARNER, Virginia
ROGER WICKER, Mississippi PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine
CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
Fitzhugh Elder IV, Staff Director
Lindsey Kerr, Democratic Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Pages
Opening Statement of:
Hon. Roy Blunt, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from the State of
Missouri....................................................... 1
James Brett Blanton, nominee for Architect of the Capitol........ 2
Prepared Statement of:
James Brett Blanton, Nominee for Architect of the Capitol........ 11
Questions Submitted for the Record:
Hon. Roy Blunt, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from the State of
Missouri to James Brett Blanton, Nominee for Architect of the
Capitol........................................................ 15
Hon. Amy Klobuchar, a U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota to
James Brett Blanton, Nominee for Architect of the Capitol...... 20
Hon. Cortez Masto, a U.S. Senator from the State of Nevada to
James Brett Blanton, Nominee for Architect of the Capitol...... 21
NOMINATION HEARING OF JAMES BRETT BLANTON FOR ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019
United States Senate
Committee on Rules and Administration
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in Room
301, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Roy Blunt, Chairman
of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Blunt and Fischer.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HONORABLE ROY BLUNT, CHAIRMAN, A U.S.
SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI
Chairman Blunt. The Committee on Rules and Administration
will come to order. Good morning. I think some of my colleagues
will be attending as the hearing progresses, but I am certainly
glad to be here with Brett Blanton, the President's nominee to
be the Architect of the Capitol. Also pleased to see Tom
Carroll here who has stepped in as the Acting Architect with
lots of big projects and frankly waiting for the permanent
Architect to be chosen. Tom has been doing a lot of those
projects without the kind of support that the Architect would
normally have. So Tom, thanks for your leadership and stepping
up.
Before you begin your remarks, Mr. Blanton, I would like to
extend my congratulations to you on this nomination and
recognize your family, your wife Michelle, your daughters
Reilly and Kiran, your mom Ann, and grandpa Steve. My staff and
I had the privilege of meeting with a number of people on this
topic, but when we met with Mr. Blanton, it was obvious that
his background and his credentials were a great match for this
job.
So, glad to see the President make this decision. Mr.
Blanton is a licensed professional engineer. He received his
Bachelor's degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S.
Naval Academy, his Master's degree in Ocean Engineering from
Virginia Tech. He is a third-generation naval officer, having
spent 21 years in the Navy where he received the Bronze Star
for his service in Iraq. Mr. Blanton's last position in the
Navy was the Acting Chief Engineer for the Joint Chiefs of
Staff in Washington, DC. Mr. Blanton, thanks for your military
service. He also now brings to this position over 25 years of
executive experience, and facilities operations and
construction management.
He is currently the Deputy Vice President for the
Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority, where he is
implementing a $1.5 billion long-term strategic capital plan
for both the Dulles and Reagan National Airports. I think Mr.
Blanton has also played a critical role in the Silver Line
Metro extension to Dulles. If the Senate confirms you, Mr.
Blanton, I imagine your current employer will miss your skills
very much, but we look forward to having them here. It is a big
job.
First Architect of the Capitol was named by George
Washington. The current Architect will have an agency that
manages a budget of over $800 million with 12 jurisdictions,
including the Capitol building and grounds, the Senate and
House office buildings, the Library of Congress, the Supreme
Court, the Botanical Gardens, and other facilities. 2,300
people ranging from architects and engineers to hourly service
workers are part of that job and it truly is a big job. 18.4
million square feet of facilities, 570 acres of grounds,
thousands of works of art, many monuments that make up the
historic Capitol collection and complex, have over 3 million
visitors a year come to the Capitol, and frankly, the next
Architect the Capitol will inherit an agency experiencing a
number of stresses.
As I mentioned before, there are a significant number of
executive leadership positions that need to be filled, but for
somebody taking this job, I think that is more of an
opportunity than a challenge. These buildings have been here a
while. So the aging nature of the architecture and the
infrastructure are both a challenge. We have got projects going
on both sides of the Capitol, House and Senate. They are good
examples of what a big challenge that can be, but I am
confident with your abilities you are going to be able to
successfully lead this agency. I look forward to hearing your
thoughts on the challenges that may arise, and I will say short
of some huge and unanticipated problem in this hearing today, I
hope we can move this nomination very quickly.
So, Mr. Blanton, we have your written statement in the
record, but if you would like to share some of the thoughts in
that statement or the statement itself with us, let us take
about 5 minutes for that.
OPENING STATEMENT OF JAMES BRETT BLANTON, TO BE THE ARCHITECT
OF THE CAPITOL
Mr. Blanton. Thank you, Chairman Blunt, Senator Fischer,
and other members of the committee. I will give you an abridged
version of my opening statement for the sake of time. I am
honored to appear before you as President Trump's nominee to
become the 12th Architect of the Capitol. Before I begin, I
would like to recognize and thank my loving wife Michelle, my
daughters Reilly and Kiran, Alexis our eldest daughter lives in
Ohio and could not attend in such short notice.
I would like to also thank Ann, my mother, and grandpa
Steve who are in attendance. Without the strong support and
moral guidance of my family, I would not be where I am today.
Finally, I would like to thank you and your staff for the
comprehensive and thorough bipartisan, bicameral congressional
commission, which yielded several highly qualified candidates
for the President to select a nominee. I am truly honored to be
that nominee.
Chairman, as you allude to, the origins of the Architect of
the Capitol are rooted in the very history of our
representative republic in the city of Washington, DC.
President George Washington appointed three commissioners to
provide a suitable building to accommodate Congress. The
commissioners hired Pierre L'Enfant to lay out the capital city
and staged a competition for the design of the Capitol itself.
President Washington awarded the Capitol building to Dr.
William Thornton for his design to serve as the blueprint for
America's Government headquarters. William Thornton is credited
as the first Architect of the Capitol, commonly called AOC. The
vision of William Thornton has been extended through 10
successors. In fact, the Capitol has been undergoing continued
construction, with exception of a small period of time during
the 1800's, since George Washington laid the cornerstone in
1793.
Today, AOC employees work everyday to serve Congress and
the Supreme Court, preserve America's Capitol, and inspire
memorable experiences for those who visit the building and
grounds. This enormous responsibility of these duties is not
lost on me. The AOC staff is responsible to the U.S. Congress
for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation
of 18.4 million square feet of facilities, 570 acres of
grounds, and thousands of works of art. I bring a unique
background to the Architect of the Capitol.
I consider myself a leader of change with extensive
experience in facilities operations and construction management
in highly visible and public environments. My experience
includes developing long-term master planning, project
planning, sustainable design, building maintenance, physical
security management, and financial management. I pride myself
with the ability to simultaneous develop short-term and long-
term capital funding priorities across multiple locations.
Currently at the Metropolitan Washington Airports
Authority, I am leading a $1.5 billion capital planning and
design construction program at two of the most architecturally
significant facilities in the greater Washington, DC area, the
Eero Saarnien designed terminal at Dulles International
Airport, and the Cesar Pelli designed terminal at Reagan
National. Major construction projects at airports involve many
of the same risks and challenges experienced on the Capitol
campus. The work must occur while minimizing disruption to
tenants, occupants, and the traveling public.
Additionally, safety and health concerns are paramount
while executing construction at locations that serve
approximately 50 million passengers a year. I am also a retired
civil engineer corps officer who oversaw some of the largest
infrastructure projects undertaken by the Department of Navy. I
served as an adviser to two Senate confirmed political
appointees and two administrations of both political parties
and worked to formulate and manage Navy and Marine Corps
energy, installation, and environment policies. I was a federal
acquisition professional with the highest contracting warrant.
I am a registered professional engineer and a graduate of the
U.S. Naval Academy.
My military career offered me diverse leadership
experiences ranging from U.S. and overseas locations to serving
in combat zones, Navy headquarters, and the joint staff. I
fully realize trade organizations and magazines have taken
public opinion that the Architect of Capitol must be an
architect. I respectfully disagree.
The Architect of the Capitol needs to be a strong,
transformational leader who has experience managing historical
facilities in a customer service environment. It requires a
leader who will usher in a new era of transparency and
accountability to effectively maintain and preserve the
universally recognized symbol of western democracy in the
world. I am that leader. The Office of the Architect of the
Capitol has a well-deserved reputation of employing some of the
Nation's best engineers, architects, historical
preservationists, and skilled trades personnel.
However, in recent years, there have been some leadership
challenges which contribute to difficulty attracting and
retaining a skilled and engaged workforce. In order to maintain
these iconic facilities on the Capitol campus, we must recruit,
train, and retain the best possible workforce.
Unfortunately the AOC's glassdoor.com rating, which is a
website many professionals use to determine when they are
seeking employment, is a neighborhood of 2 out of 5 stars. We
can do better. As such, I will implement a human capital
strategy to address the changing workforce, ensure succession
planning, and train or retain our top talent.
Additionally, I will have a zero tolerance policy for
harassment, discrimination, and unethical behavior. We cannot
expect to attract the Nation's top workforce without adapting
and changing our culture. Changing the culture of any large
organization takes time but change must begin at the top, and
it must begin by implementing a new mandate of transparency,
accountability, and responsiveness.
The Office of the Architect of the Capitol must better
partner with the members and staff of the Senate, House, and
Supreme Court. Together, we all have the same goal, maintaining
and preserving the Capitol campus for generations to come. I
plan to usher a new era of stewardship. I see our first
opportunity to implement the new standards of transparency,
accountability, and responsiveness to be the planning for the
2021 Inauguration.
The Inauguration is a unique and important occurrence. The
world will be watching, so we must all work together to ensure
the next Inauguration is exceptionally successful.
I was happy to read that the AOC earned its 15th
consecutive unmodified, or clean, audit opinion on the
financial statements and received its eight consecutive
Certificate of Excellence in Accountability from the
Association of Government Accounts. These are no small
accomplishments. However, it is my understanding that the
Capitol has a $1.77 billion maintenance backlog as of September
30th.
Although Congress and the Office of the Architect of the
Capitol have a mandate to preserve our seat of representative
republic for future generations, it is unrealistic to think
that we can afford to immediately appropriate funding to retire
this backlog. I also understand that the AOC has a robust
condition assessment program that meticulously categorizes the
material state of each facility.
I plan to utilize this existing condition assessment
program as the backbone of a comprehensive enterprise asset
management program that will enable us to optimize projects
that produce the highest rate of return for facility longevity.
Additionally, this will allow us to rank projects against other
projects to determine which projects will actually have the
best results.
Finally, when it comes to projects undertaken by the AOC, I
plan to have a constant channel of communication between
members and their staffs. As I allude to in my full statement,
the more information you and your team know, the less time I
will spend reacting to questions and concerns, thus allowing me
to focus on the actions and issues that will transform the
management of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol.
I believe that the Office of the Architect of the Capitol
has all the elements to succeed in its mission to serve
Congress, the Supreme Court, preserve America's Capitol, and
inspire the memorial experiences of all who visit the Capitol
campus. Should I be confirmed, I will build upon the enormous
legacy of my 11 predecessors and usher in a new era of positive
change to the organization. I see the Members of Congress, the
oversight committees, your staff, and the Architect as partners
in preserving the most iconic symbols of western democracy in
the world.
Chairman Blunt and members of the committee, thank you for
the opportunity to appear before you today. I welcome any
questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Blanton was submitted for
the record.]
Chairman Blunt. Well, thank you, Mr. Blanton. Let's start
with your commitment on transparency and responsiveness. The
first question, just a yes or no question. If confirmed, do you
commit to answer every question and provide all information
requested by this committee and its staff and to comply as soon
as possible?
Mr. Blanton. Yes.
Chairman Blunt. The comments--I thought you made some
significant comments in your statement. That will of course be
available to all of the Members. The last Architect of the
Capitol served only 8 years of the 10-year term. If confirmed,
do you plan to serve the full 10-year term as Architect of the
Capitol?
Mr. Blanton. I do. Regarding a necessity health or other
emergencies, which would cause me to resign.
Chairman Blunt. How do you plan to recruit, select, and
retain members of your executive leadership team?
Mr. Blanton. So in my 25 years experience, I have developed
a vast network of professionals that I trust, they are truly
honorable and ethical people. I will use my social network as
well as on some of the key positions, I am going to want to
have headhunters involved so we can go nationwide and get the
best talent possible. Part of my plan is that when we change
our culture, we are going to attract people because there are
going to be lines of people waiting who want to come here.
Chairman Blunt. Well, I hope that is the case. In your
comments, I think it was obvious you understand the uniqueness
of this job and in so many ways there is only one like it. I
was interested in your comments. I mentioned 3 million
visitors, you mentioned 50 million passengers. You may be one
of the few people that could sit at that table and think, well,
3 million, surely you can handle 3 million if at those two
airports you have handled 50 million passengers.
But, we do want people who come to this building from our
country and from all over the world. There is no Capitol
anywhere in the world as open and as accessible as this one. It
is a significant example of who we are. It is a significant
part of who we are and being sure that that experience works in
the way that American citizens would expect it to work and that
others would be impressed that it worked that way I think is
really important. Each of the agencies 12 jurisdictions has
authority to implement and discipline--well, to implement
discipline and other human resource policies. This can create
inconsistency and disparate treatment.
What do you think as you look at 12 entities with the kind
of flexibility that they had on personnel issues as you look at
that particular problem?
Mr. Blanton. Coming from DOD, it is not too uncommon to
have organizations that execute the H.R. policies. However,
what you have, and I see that from my initial review, the
organization in our H.R. policies is that--we need to
centralize the policies and procedures so there is consistency
amongst the organizations. The jurisdiction should be able to
execute them, but they should be centralized so there is
consistency among each one of the jurisdictions.
Chairman Blunt. I think that has been one of our concerns
in this committee that you didn't have from agency to agency
the same kind of well understood policies and even people that
would transfer from one unit to the other might not know what
the overall expectations were. So, I think that is good. I
noticed also in your comments you expressed you have zero
tolerance for discrimination and harassment. How would you
address any incidents of discrimination or harassment in the
agency?
Mr. Blanton. Swiftly, would be the first thing. Then also
have to make sure our policies have set procedures so that they
can be addressed and the person who is the victim has
protections as well as the person who has the complaint against
them has a due process to determine whether there is actually a
justified complaint or not. Since I have not been in the seat
yet, I haven't reviewed all of our policies, but I will say it
is going to be swift and it will be fair.
Chairman Blunt. What role do you think diversity plays in
creating an effective agency, particularly in agency,
particularly an agency like this one?
Mr. Blanton. So for me, it is more of a diversity of
thought, and that comes from having people of different ethnic
backgrounds, religious backgrounds, geographic and
socioeconomic backgrounds. They bring in a new amount of
thought. So I prioritize the different opinions of different
groups as when it comes to being a thought leader.
Chairman Blunt. You mentioned the budget and you were
pleased that the audits showed that, financially, the audits
showed a positive financial audit. What would you do to ensure
stewardship and accountability over this huge budget that you
are going to be asked to be responsible for?
Mr. Blanton. So I view that as two questions. The first
question being the accountability. It shows, in the audits,
that the accountability exists because we could determine where
the funds are spent and what they were spent on. Stewardship is
the second question that I think is of much greater importance
because it would allow us to show, are we doing the best with
the money that is appropriated as opposed to just spending it
and knowing where we spent it.
I do say, I will have to review all of our policies, but
when it comes down to project planning and comes down to the
execution of it, I think strict project controls and strict
change management is essential to doing the best stewardship of
our money. Also when it touches on the accountability and the
responsiveness to the committees. I want the committees and the
staff members to know what changes will occur and what the
consequences of these changes will be so that they can,
themselves, judge what will happen should a change occur to a
project.
Chairman Blunt. Good. The process of nomination by the
President, but nominating from a group of people recommended by
the Congress, this is the Architect of the Capitol, and there
is a difference on the two ends of the street here of who is
responsible for what. I think the Chairman of House
Administration and I would both view that you work for the
Congress. You've got to be confirmed by the Congress, you were
recommended by the Congress.
I don't know that that requires any kind of response from
your part, but whenever you get consultation and advice from
the Congress, I hope you take that seriously. I would expect we
would have at least one hearing a year where you would be here
with whatever staff you think you need to have with you to talk
about ongoing projects, to talk about the kind of progress you
are making on that troublesome backlog of maintenance. I think
the Cannon Building, while it is on the other side of the
Capitol, is a great example of what happens when backlogs are
allowed to buildup and maintenance is allowed to go away and
nobody more than the Acting Architect of the Capitol could
express to us today what a challenge that has been.
But this job, the Architect of the Capitol is the Architect
that works at the direction and to report to the Congress. Back
to the very first question I asked, I just want to be sure as
we move through this today that there is no uncertainty on that
issue.
The Architect of the Capitol has in law some substantial
leeway, but that leeway should really only be used if you are
going to have the kind of relationships you want to have, with
explaining why you are using it and consultation and all the
things you are talking about in terms of stewardship, in terms
of a policy that looks for diversity, that insists that
harassment not be part of the workplace, looks for consistency.
I think all good.
What is your view of how quickly you want to begin to look
at the master plan, to review the current master plan, and come
up with your own sense with your staff that you will soon be
responsible for of where that master plan makes sense and where
it can't possibly be executed and what needs to be added to it?
Mr. Blanton. So, I would like to review the current master
plan pretty quickly within my first 90 days. As far as the next
version of the master plan, I would see myself starting with a
little different tact. I think you start out first with a
vision, and that vision is a collaborative vision. It would be
a vision that would between the Office of the Architect of the
Capitol and the members and staff we support.
That then will be transferred into more of what you see as
a traditional master plan, which has the projects and how you
are going to implement them and how you are going to judge the
effectiveness of your execution of it. Then you immediately
follow that with the implementation plan which would be a phase
plan over multiple years saying these five projects be executed
in this sequence, for example. But it all starts initially with
a vision and vision is the thing that needs to be shared
amongst all of us.
Chairman Blunt. Yes. Then I think you need to effectively
share it with us. You know, this is the oversight committee on
the Senate side, but the other committee, the appropriating
committee, the Legislative branch and the other appropriating
committee that you will need to work with, very important to
try to be sure that they are brought into your vision and your
priorities. You know, obviously it is always more exciting to
build new things than to take care of the things you already
have. That is something I am confident you are going to be able
to do.
I think the Inspector General relationship has not been
what it could be. Talk to me a little about your view of the
role and impact of the Inspector General on the agency. I think
there has been a feeling the Inspector General worked for the
Architect of the Capitol as another instrument of the
Architect. That is not really the way it works most other
places.
Mr. Blanton. So I actually feel pretty lucky being in a
situation coming as an outsider because I would see myself
utilizing the Inspector General as a partner to help me find
areas that I would need to focus on. Inspector Generals, in
general, have a dual role. They work for the agency and they
work for Congress. So I respect that. I have dealt with that
throughout my career and I would see myself dealing with the
Architect of the Capitol's Inspector General similarly.
Chairman Blunt. You are prepared to start this job whenever
confirmed?
Mr. Blanton. I have a period, a waiting period, I have to
do upon confirmation, so I am targeting mid-January.
Chairman Blunt. Anything you want to add?
Mr. Blanton. Other than it has been my pleasure, sir, and I
look forward to working with you.
Chairman Blunt. Well, I want to thank you for joining us
today. As I said earlier, I intend to move this nomination
quickly. I will be meeting with the full committee probably as
early as early next week. They will have some questions that
they might submit for the record. If you have questions for the
record since we want to deal with this as quickly as we can so
we can get you started early next year, please respond quickly
to those questions when you get them.
[The information referred to was submitted for the record.]
Chairman Blunt. Thanks for appearing today. I was pleased
to see your family here with you, and hopefully this will all
go as well as we need it to because we need you on board and we
need the kind of leadership that the President and the Congress
both have believed up till this point that you can provide. I
think the Senate when it confirms will verify that one other
time. Adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:26, the hearing was adjourned.]
APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED
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