[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]


                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following 
nomination, which the clerk will report.
  The bill clerk read the nomination of Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, of 
Illinois, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Iowa.


                   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.