The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“EXECUTIVE CALENDAR (Executive Session)” mentioning Chuck Grassley was published in the Senate section on pages S4743-S4744 on June 24.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
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 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.
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