This post was written by Hatchet reporter Laura Porter

D.C. Council member Jack Evans is fighting to keep the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in D.C., asserting the agency’s possible move to Maryland or Virginia would have negative effects on the city’s economy.

Evans – whose constituency includes Foggy Bottom – teamed up Tuesday with council member Vincent Orange to suggest alternate buildings in the District to the FBI. Their proposal insists a D.C. location makes the base, which has rested in the city since 1974, more accessible to both tourists and the headquarters’ more than 10,000 employees, the Washington Examiner reported Tuesday.

Fairfax County and Prince George’s County made bids to host the new base after the bureau’s current home in the J. Edgar Hoover building on Pennsylvania began to struggle with size and maintenance inefficiency.

The council members’ proposal claims transportation set-ups are weaker in the counties compared to D.C., which will make travel more difficult for FBI employees and visitors. Evans and Orange have suggested the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the former Coast Guard headquarters or St. Elizabeth’s campus.

Evans, who coasted into an unopposed sixth term in November, mentioned at a D.C. Council meeting Tuesday that if the FBI does decide to leave the city, he would support a trade off for the return of the Redskins to D.C.