[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 110 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4743-S4744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Unanimous Consent Request--S. 831
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am here with Senators Cornyn and Leahy
to ask unanimous consent.
As if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the
Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of
S. 831 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further,
that the Grassley amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to;
and that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and
passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon
the table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from South Carolina.
Mr. GRAHAM. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I guess I am not surprised that we would
have an objection like this because a program that has been corrupt and
that we have been trying to reform for 8 years--every time we reach an
agreement, there is big-moneyed interests in this town and around the
country that keep it from happening.
So today's objection, unfortunately, represents another victory for
those same moneyed, powerful, corrupt interests that have so often
worked to kill reforms to a program that they love to abuse for nothing
more than their own financial benefit.
It also means that Congress will not be able to pass legislation to
reauthorize the program in advance of its expiration on June 30. A
narrow subset of big-moneyed and corrupt interests has now shown that
they would rather kill the program altogether than have to accept
integrity programs designed to clamp down on their bad behavior.
I thank all those groups who have been working with us for 8 years to
get this program reformed. A lot of those people use that program. They
were willing to make it an honest program.
All of this action today of this objection is unfortunate but not
surprising.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, EB-5 investments are a major economic
driver in Texas. EB-5 projects use merit-based immigration to create
thousands of American jobs and bring billions of dollars in investment
to major urban areas, like Dallas and Houston, as well as our rural
communities across the State. These projects include investments in
infrastructure for a wide variety of sectors, including energy,
hospitality, residential, and commercial.
I am a supporter of the EB-5 Program and its resources for the
community, but there is no question, as Senator Grassley has said, that
it could stand some reforms. As with any debate in Congress, there are
a lot of different opinions on what those reforms should look like, but
we can all agree that we need to strengthen this program and
reauthorize it.
I am glad to join Senator Grassley today in offering this legislation
to improve the integrity and security of the EB-5 Program, while
ensuring law-abiding Texas job creators aren't negatively impacted.
This bill would have reauthorized the EB-5 Program until 2023, with
significant oversight and integrity measures. It will require regional
centers to have policies and procedures in place to protect against
fraud. It will give the Department of Homeland Security greater
authority to terminate applications based on fraud, criminal misuse, or
threats to public safety or national security. It would subject EB-5
projects to greater oversight. All of these changes come without
skewing the framework of the program to benefit certain areas to the
detriment of others.
This happens to be very similar to legislation that I introduced in
2015 with Senator Schumer and Senator Flake, which included
recommendations from both the Department of Homeland Security and the
Government Accountability Office.
I appreciate Chairman Grassley's leadership on this legislation, and
I hope at some point we can reauthorize the EB-5 Program and safeguard
critical investments in communities across the country.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I was happy to join with both Senators
[[Page S4744]]
Grassley and Cornyn on the EB-5 reform bill. Senator Cornyn has worked
very hard on this, Senator Grassley has, and I have, and it was truly a
bipartisan bill. It had widespread support of EB-5 stakeholders--those
who responsibly welcomed changes to the program that would improve
oversight and accountability.
Senator Grassley and I have been working for years to reform the EB-5
visa program. We wanted to reduce the fraud that has occurred in
several EB-5 projects, including one that occurred in my own State of
Vermont.
This legislation--again, bringing Republicans and Democrats across
the political spectrum together--reflects a careful and thoughtful
compromise to both keep the EB-5 Program alive and curtail the worst
abuses it has. There is actually only a small minority that wants to
keep the program operating without these improved standards and
oversight.
I wish they would be willing to come here and bring it up, vote it up
or down, and be on the Record saying how they are going to vote,
because opposing our effort on this is a vote that allows the EB-5
Program to lapse. It will have untold economic consequences throughout
the communities that rely on the program for development projects, like
those that the Senator from Texas just mentioned.
I wish that Senators had supported Senator Grassley's consent
request. But I will take a moment to say I thank Senator Grassley for
working with me over the years to find a bipartisan compromise to
reform this. Hours have gone into that. He and Senator Cornyn and I and
others have worked hard to have a compromise. I am sorry that the
unanimous consent was objected to, especially as it means this will
expire, and we won't have votes on improvements that could take place.
I think it is a wasted opportunity.