The Secret Service has asked Congress for $8 million so it can build a White House knockoff to better train its agents, Fox News reported.
Currently, training is carried out at a "rudimentary" facility in a parking lot about 20 miles from the real White House in Beltsville, Maryland.
Furthermore, the facility is a "not-to-scale simulation of the north grounds of the White House, using bike barricades to act as the fencing," Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy said during his Tuesday testimony in front of a House Appropriations subcommittee.
"There are no structures, vehicle gates, lighting or other aides to enhance the training simulations at the JJRTC (training center.)"
With the replica, agents would be challenged by a more "realistic" training center- complete with fake East and West Wings and other areas of the president's mansion- all for the asking price of $8 million.
Clancy's request comes on the heels of multiple Secret Service slipups and security breaches dating back several years, including a 2012 scandal involving agents allegedly hiring prostitutes while on assignment in Columbia, Fox News reported. Two agents were placed under investigation earlier this month after they allegedly drove into White House barricades while under the influence of alcohol.
Clancy, who was recently appointed director after the former one resigned, told Congress he did not find out about the incident until five days after it happened.
Though a White House replica may help avoid future embarrassing breaches- including one last year when a man jumped the fence and made it all the way inside the mansion- committee members expressed skepticism over forking over millions just to create a copy.
"You want to build a $8 million White House replica for training?" Representative Henry Cuellar, of Texas, said Tuesday according to Fox News.
"I have concerns about that. Not that I don't want to be supportive, but I have concerns about $8 million for a replica White House."
Perhaps Congress can take comfort in the fact that Clancy's replica would not be the first. According to NPR, an Iraqi business magnate constructed his mansion to look like the White House, down to the white portico and columns.
