quorum call:

mr. markey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. senator warren is the senior senator. i am the junior senator. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. and i stand corrected. mr. markey: i thank the president, and i ask for the quorum call to be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. president obama has i should a

proclamation that this week is prescription opioid and heroin epidemic awareness week. as the president explained, "we pause to remember all those that we have lost to opioid use disorder. we stand with the courageous individuals in recovery, and we recognize the importance of raising awareness of this epidemic." so in recognition of prescription opioid and heroin epidemic awareness week, i am here with my colleagues to convey the urgency of responding to this crisis. i'd like to start my remarks with a story that i heard just yesterday from a wonderful man named patrick bernardino. -- patrick bern. i met yesterday with him as he was awarded the 2016 hero of the year award by the national association of letter carriers. patrick is from wynn, massachusetts, and he lost his

son, james bern, to heroin addiction. here is their story. james bern lived a fairly normal life in many ways, the son of a massachusetts branch president and army patrick bern. he had strong familyize and a master's degree and made a good living in i.t. but throughout his adult life, james had been hooked on heroin, a drug easily found on wynn's post industrial streets. james had periods of so sobriet, but circumstances always seemed to steal them from him eventually. james had enjoyed seven months clean of drugs when an old friend and fellow addict called him one day in january of 2014 to beg james to find heroin for him. after first refusing, james gave

in and bought some for his friend and apparently couldn't resist using it himself instead. the friend called james on his cell phone over and over as james lay dying of an overdose on the floor of his sister's house just down the street from his father's home. that's where patrick found him. after making his story public, patrick heard from many other letter carriers about their own struggles with addiction, depression, or mental illness in their families. patrick said, "i was shocked at how many people are dealing with similar problems." inspied by patrick's experiences and his efforts to educate fellow carriers and the broader public about the need to remove the stigma of addiction, the postal service employee assistance program launched the silent no more initiative. the program is designed to help postal employees or their families break through the

stigma and shame to share personal stories. i thank patrick for his leadership and service, and i pray for his family and for all the parents who are relying on hope and strength as they look for the support to achieve long-term recovery. none of us can be silent anymore in the face of this epidemic. but in order to get patrick and all the families who are suffering the help that they need, when they need it, the federal government needs to invest in funding treatment and recovery programs. so far congress has failed in this task. in massachusetts, i am hearing enormous frustration from people who don't feel that adequate resources are being brought to bear on this epidemic of prescription drug and heroin addiction. countless individuals and families suffering with addiction cannot find a bed for

detox. and then when they are at their most vulnerable moment in recovery, they cannot find a place or provider for long-term treatment. in may, senator shaheen from new hampshire introduced legislation for $600 million in emergency funding to combat this crisis. then again in july, i and others argued on the floor for the need to invest $1.1 billion into opioid treatment and recovery programs. but both times when senator shaheen made the case and others joined on the floor asking for additional funding, all of that was blocked so that we could not in fact provide real funding that cities and states need to fight this epidemic. we will not save the lives and stop this scourge of addiction with just words and promises.

we will not save lives with legislation that pays only lip service to providing treatment. so i stand here today during prescription opioid and heroin epidemic awareness week to pledge that i will not stop fighting for funding. in boston, there is an area of our city called the methadone mile. it is approximately one square mile, and it is the location of methadone clinics, safety net hospitals, and homeless shelters. it is also the home to those struggling with addiction, those receiving treatment for addiction, and the litany of saints and angels who are providing the desperately needed services for those suffering from mental health and substance abuse disorders. it is a one mile, one stop shop for hope and ground zero in the

battle against addiction in boston. here in washington, we are at the epicenter of the money mile. it's both an area where bi big pharma's lobbyists toil, the deluge of prescriptions for opioid-based painkillers goes unabated. when pitted against the money mile, the methadone mile doesn't stand a chance. money mile and its army of big pharma lobbyists are the reason that prescriber education is not a law. it is the reason that partial-fill prescriptions is not a law. it is the reason that the food and drug administration and other federal agencies and state agencies across our country have not done the job over the years

and have in fact been complicit in the worsening of this epidemic. without real funding for opioid addiction treatment, the methadone mile and all the other areas and cities across this country will continue to drown in overdoses and deaths. our cities are fighting a law, and we need to help them. with that, i will yield the floor to the senator from minnesota, amy klobuchar, who has worked tirelessly to step the oversupply of prescription opioid drugs in this country. i yield to the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president? thank you very much. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: thank you very much. and thank you to senator markey for the work he's done and his passionate, passionate words as well as his understanding of the

crisis that this truly is. and i think one of the ways that i most explain it to my state is every day you turn on the news, you hear about car crashes, you hear about when there's a murder. well, in my state, the heart of might have state, deaths from prescription drug abuse now claim the lives of more minnesotans than homicides or car crashes. it's a crisis on the rise. according to our department of health in our state, drug overdose deaths among minnesotans increased 11 % from 2014 to twumbt. last year -- to 2015. last year 336 people in our state died from overdoses. the twin cities have been hit hard by the deadly trend. in hennepin county drug related deaths increased 40% since 2006, but we know this is not a crisis confined to our urban

areas. i see senator shaheen there here from new hampshire. this is something that has hit hard in her state in rural areas just like in mine. in one 7,000-person town in minnesota, three young people died in just six months. another three were hospitalized for heroin overdoses. and we know, by the way, that heroin overdose is no longer separate from prescription drugs. in fact, four out of five heroin users have now gotten their start on prescription drugs because they got addicted either because someone gave them them, because they got it out of a medicine cabinet, because they went to the emergency room and were given 30 pills and got addicted. or maybe they just went to the dentist to get a wisdom tooth fixed. these are real stories happening all over the country. montevideo, minnesota, i was there, smaller town with some doctors, one of them started to cry at this event telling the

story about how a guy had seen him for back pain over and over and over and the neck thing he knew the -- the next thing he knew the secret service was in his office telling him this person had gotten addicted, making threats over the internet on the life of elected officials and ended up in prison. he had no idea. that same forum, i heard the story of a 12-year-old who was courted by a pusher. 12-year olds, they came up to him and say, hey, could you check your parents' medicine cabinet. gave him a list of drugs, sent him off and said if you come back with those bottles of pills, we'll give you a can of beer. that's what's happening in small-town america. so we have passed a bill, the comprehensive addiction and recovery act and i was proud of the bipartisan work. i was one of the four lead sponsors on this bill and it builds up some of the work we've done to set up a framework. senator cornyn and i passed one of the first bills in this area

which is the drug take-back bill that allowed drug take-backs in a way that we're now starting to see across the nation. we were already seeing them, of course, in police departments and public facilities. but this makes it easier for drugstore and pharmacies to take back drugs. walgreens has announced they're going to be doing this on a national basis. and it also makes it easier for long-term care facilities. so those things are beginning. but for me, we can't end there. not when on one recent national prescription drug take-back day back in april, over 445 tons of unused drugs were collected. that is on one day in this country. it gives you a sense of how many are out there. so in the cara bill we made it easier to do drug take-back. we also increase the available -- availability of nalaxone, although i will say as a sideline, senator markey, one problem with this is the

price has gone up 1,000% of nalaxone by the pharmaceutical company that provides it. so that's another issue we're going to have to deal with. that is, of course, for another day. but i will say that nalaxone is something we know can save lives. for me, the heart of this is trying to go after the fact that these prescription drugs really at their start to try to stop people from being addicted. and i will get to the treatment part in a moment. but we need to stop the addiction from the first place. just this month one minnesota newspaper told the story of a man in duluth who got prescriptions from opioid pain killers from 23 dentists and 15 emergency physicians, emergency room physicians in just over two years. back in may, in morehead, i her the story of another man,

from a rehab counselor, this guy filled 108 prescriptions for pain killers for more than 85 different prescribers in minnesota and in neighboring states. and we see this especially -- you're my neighbor, mr. presiding officer -- in south dakota. and we see people that go around to south dakota, north dakota, minnesota, iowa and wisconsin in search of different doctors that they can basically dupe into giving them, filling their prescriptions because they're addicts. that shouldn't be happening. doctors shouldn't be giving these prescriptions out. and that's why i've introduced a new bill that would require doctors and pharmacies to report when they give these prescriptions out immediately and require physicians to check this list. many states have these programs in place, prescription drug monitoring programs, but they are voluntary. not etch does them. -- not everyone does them. some states like florida don't

even share their data with the rest of the country. and i truly believe that doctors and pharmacists are on the front line. and if they check these, we're going to stop people from getting addicted and get them into treatment like we should, which leads me to the next piece which is treatment itself. i've had many people tell me that they are better off committing a felony to get treatment. why is that? well, a lot of states like mine have good drug courts. and if you can get into the right program in a drug court you're going to get treatment and follow-up and you're going to get the help you need. a lot of insurance policies aren't covering it. there's not treatment available. and that is why i support senator manchin and am an original cosponsor of the lifeboat act which basically puts a one cent fee on each milligram on active opioid ingredient and apprescription apprescription -- a prescription pain pill. that is one good way to pay for treatment as well as senator shaheen's strong bill that

appropriates emergency funding to address drug abuse epidemic with treatment. we have to remember that only one in ten people who suffer from opioid addiction actually receive the treatment that they need. my state's a big believer in treatment. we use treatment a lot for low-level offenses. we use drug court a lot. it's one of the reasons we have been able to keep our crime rate at a decent level compared to a lot other states. that doesn't mean that there's not horrific crimes but we have really focused on treatment. in my own life, my dad is an alcoholic. he is sober now and happily married at age 88, and stopped drinking awhile back. but he wouldn't have done it without treatment. and that's after three d.w.i.'s and a lot of difficulties. but he got through it. and i believe from seeing that, seeing my dad climb the highest mountain but fall to the lowest valleys that there is redemption

and there is hope. but i don't think that treatment should just be limited to the people that have good insurance or can afford it. we in this country have created this crisis. let us be clear. decisions were made at pharmaceutical companies and everywhere across the country to expand the use of opioids, to tell people they can take 30 pills when maybe they need one or none or maybe two or three. those are bad decisions, and they were made and people were duped, and they got addicted. and the least that we can do is give them the treatment so they can get off of it and then to make sure that their kids don't get addicted as well. this is a serious epidemic, and it calls for serious action as well as funding. thank you. senator markey. mr. markey: i thank the senator. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: i thank the president, and i thank the senator from minnesota.

many have already heard these statistics. our nation is experiencing more deaths from drug overdoses than from gun violence or auto accidents. nearly 30,000 people in the united states died from an opioid overdose in 2014, approximately 1,300 of those were in massachusetts. fentanyl, the drug that killed the musician prince, from the senator from minnesota's state, is throwing in from china and mexico and laying waste to our communities. it is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. approximately 2.5 million americans abuse or were dependent on opioids in 2012. but fewer than one million received treatment for their condition. if we do not provide the resources and enact the policies required to change the momentum of this epidemic, we are poised

to lose future generations to addiction and death. we need the money for treatment. and with that, i would like to yield the floor to my good friend and great senator from new hampshire, who has led the fight here on the senate floor for funding for opioid use disorder treatment and recovery. senator jeanne shaheen. mrs. shaheen: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: thank you to my colleague from massachusetts who has seen the same tragedy that we are seeing in new hampshire. i'm sad to have to come to the floor again today to join my colleague, senator markey, senator klobuchar, who have spoken so passionately about our need to address the ongoing heroin and opioid crisis. and like them and many others, i've been coming to the floor for many months to describe the terrible toll that this crisis is taking on communities across the country. i know the president must see it

in his home state because it's happening all across america. and it's ironic that we're here during prescription opioid and heroin epidemic awareness week to once again call on this congress and this senate to pass emergency funding to address what is the most pervasive, most destructive and, i believe, most urgent public health crisis that faces this nation. i certainly don't want to minimize the gravity of the other health challenges we're facing in america, spicialg -- especially the zika outbreak which i believe is absolutely critical. but by any objective measure, these challenges are dwarfed by the destruction and loss of life that is being inflicted every day by the uncontrolled epidemic of heroin and opioid abuse.

this epidemic is raging in all 50 states. it is an uncontrolled public health epidemic of staggering dimensions. in 2014, some 47,000 people died from drug overdoses, far more than the number of americao died in motor vehicle accidents the same year. i'm sad to say that new hampshire is at the epicenter of this epidemic because we have the highest percentage of overdose deaths in the nation. this year at the rate we are seeing overdose fatalities, we will lose over 500 people in new hampshire, in a state of about 1.3 million. and estimates are that over 100,000 people in new hampshire have some sort of substance abuse misuse issue. and the statistics don't even begin to describe the heartbreak and the trauma that's

experienced by those who have drug misuse issues and their families. and yet, despite this appalling death toll, despite what the statistics tell us, this senate has failed to provide emergency funding to first responders, to treatment providers on the front lines of this crisis. in july, congress passed the comprehensive addiction and recovery act, cara. and i applaud senator klobuchar and the other sponsors of that legislation. it is a good bipartisan bill that passed this chamber with overwhelming support. i was a cosponsor and i voted for it. that is, we all know very well cara is an authorizing bill. it is not an appropriations bill. the public may not know that because i think there's a lot of confusion about the difference between authorizing and appropriating. but the fact is we know that

here in this chamber, that cara is an authorizing bill and it doesn't provide one penny to fight the opioid epidemic. we need to fund cara. that probably is not going to happen this year and may not happen for several years. we need to put actual resources behind all of our talk about stemming this crisis. earlier this year i introduced emergency funding that would provide an additional $600 million for policing, prevention, treatment and recovery. i offered this legislation as an amendment to the cara bill but, sadly, it was defeated. and the legislation looks at all of those aspects -- prevention, treatment, recovery, policing -- because i believe there isn't one magic bullet solution for this issue.

we definitely need more treatment. we need to acknowledge that addiction is a disease. that's a critical part of it. but we also need to do the policing, the recovery, the long-term recovery. i was at a recovery center in new hampshire several weeks ago, and one of the women i met there who was in recovery said, you know, getting clean was easy. it's staying clean that's the hard part. our nation has addressed other public house crises with emergency funding bills far larger than the one i proposed. in 2014 congress passed nearly $5.4 billion -- billion with a "b" -- in emergency funding to combat the ebola outbreak in west africa, and the ebola outbreak killed one person in america. the heroin and opioid epidemic is killing more than 128 americans every single day, and we know that treatment is the only effective answer to the

addiction. but people are being turned away from treatment due to lack of resources. nationwide in 2013, nearly nine out of ten people needing drug treatment did not receive it. and it's the same story on the law enforcement side of the equation -- a chronic lack of resources. as senator klobuchar pointed out and as i would colleague from vermont who just came in and my colleague from massachusetts understand clearly, heroin dealers target rural states where law enforcement is spread too thin and lacks the resources to respond effectively. meanwhile, as congress fails to act, the opioid epidemic is on the verge of expanding dramatically. carfentanil is a synthetic opioid used to tranquilize elephants. it's now available on the streets, blamed for a record surge in drug overdoses in the

midwest. car fientsal in is -- carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl which can be up to 50 times more deadly than heroin and is one of the synthetic additives to heroin causing the overdose deaths in new hampshire. until recently, hamilton county, ohio, had four to five overdoses a day. now, because of carfentanil, the county is reporting 20, 30, sometimes even 50 overdoses a day, completely overwhelming first responders. some public health officials say the united states has reached a disastrous inflection point in the opioid epidemic. going forward, we may be seeing more and more synthetic opioids on the market -- cheaper, more potent, more addictive and even more deadly. so this is just one more wake-up call. as i travel across new hampshire and talk to senate colleagues from across the country, again and again i hear about the lack

of resources to marshal an effective, well-coordinated response. and as new and more dangerous synthetic opioids hit the streets, this crisis could become exponentially worse. our failure to act is having tragic consequences. at long last, let's give law enforcement, let's give treatment providers, let's give recovery centers the resources they so desperately need. at long last, let's come together. let's pass an emergency funding bill to combat the opioid epidemic. if we can spend billions to fight ebola on a distant continent, surely we can allocate $600 million to combat a raging epidemic right here at home. now, when the senate comes back into session after the election, we will have another opportunity to consider emergency funding to

combat this crisis. for tens of thousands of americans, this is very literally a matter of life and death. so let's put politics aside. let's do the job the american people sent us here to do. at long last, let's give law enforcement and treatment providers on the front lines the resources they need to effectively address the opioid crisis. thank you, mr. president. thank you to my colleagues from massachusetts and minnesota for coming to the floor today to once again point out the need that we so desperately have. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i believe we've arranged for senator grassley and i to speak at this point. i see my distinguished colleague on the floor. does he --

mr. barrasso: mr. president, i have about eight or nine minutes of remarks, but i don't see the senator on the floor yet -- mr. leahy: he wanted me to speak and then he was going to speak. so, mr. president, if i might continue -- and this will be fairly brief -- i'd like to ... mr. president, the reason i'm coming to the floor today -- and i will be joined by senator grassley -- is to share my concern and his about the eb-5 regional center program. this program's authorization is set to expire at the end of the month. but senate leadership wants to extend the eb-5 program as part of the continuing resolution. i want senators to know that if this flawed program is not reformed, i believe it should end. i can no longer support a straight extension of the

program. for years i strongly supported the eb-5 program. i even championed its reauthorization. i did so because eb-5 was designed to bring investment and jobs to underserved rural and urban communities. and for sometime that's what it did. in my home state of vermont, communities like warren, vermont, used eb-5 to create and save jobs during difficult economic times. there are eb-5 success stories. but that's eb-56 -- but that's eb-5 of yesterday. the eb-5 program today is mired in abuse. it has strayed from its important policy goasms the incentives that congress created to direct investment in underserved areas, the very reason i supported this program, have been rendered meaningless. the program has become an

unintended boom for the wealthiest business districts in the country. affluent areas now dominate the program. they exploit incentives this inp -- they sploints incentives that were -- they exploit incentives that were intended for underserved areas. secretary johnson has rightly described it as gerrymandering. it has gotten to a point where a luxury hotel in beferlly hills -- in beverly hills, california, qualifies as a distressed urban area. only in the world of eb-5 is beverly hills considered economically dis-stressed. unfortunately, unlike when it began, this type of abuse is not the exception; it is the rule. currently 90% of eb-5 capital goes to areas thatrely on gerrymandering to qualify as

distressed. that's why the civil rights community led by the leadership conference on civil and human rights has so strongly criticized this program. far from being a tool for economic development and job creation, eb-5 is now serving as a corporate subsidy for wealthy developers, allowing them to save tens of millions of dollars in financing. so it's no wonder these developers fight so hard against reforms that would restore incentives for eb-5 to do what it was supposed to do when this began: invest in rural and poor urban areas. now, i'm not suggesting that affluent areas should never qualify. i'm merely suggesting that they should not qualify for the unique incentives that congress intended for underserved communities because these underserved communities have far more trouble attracting capital

to create jobs. and, unfortunately, gerrymandering and abused incentives are only part of the problem. in recent years, eb-5 has become riddled with fraud. review after review conducted by g.a.o., the inspector general, and by senator grassley and i, and on the judiciary committee we've revealed serious vulnerabilities in the program. investors have been defrauded. they've lost money. immigration benefits have been put in jeopardy. and communities that once hoped to benefit from this program have been left to pick up the pieces. from california to florida and from texas to even my home state of vermont, allegations of fraud have stained this program.

since 2013 the securities and exchange commission have filed dozens of eb-5 related enforcement reactions. as of last year, over 50 more federal investigations were on-going. and fraud will continue unabated until we get the department -- until we give the department of homeland security the tools it needs to guard against abuse. i think we have an obligation in congress to ensure that our federal agencies can do their job. the department of homeland security has made some administrative improvements to eb-5. secretary johnson has made it clear to both me and senator grassley that congressional action is necessary. for five years i've worked with both democrats and republicans

to reform eb-5. in 2013 i included eb-5 reforms in the senate-passed comprehensive immigration reform. that got a bipartisan vote of i think nearly 68 votes here in the senate. but the house of representatives failed to allow a vote on those reforms. since then i've continued to work with senator grassley to review and reform eb-5 -- the eb-5 program. last year he and i negotiated far-reaching reforms with our counterparts in the house judiciary committee. senator grassley and i pushed to have that four-corners agreement included in the omnibus appropriations bill at the end of the laug-- at the end of las. i'm afraid that big-city developers still viewed our reforms as a threat to their bottom line, and they worked aggressively to block the efforts of senator grassley and

myself. unfortunately, leaders in congress sided with the developers and extended the eb-5 program without reform. now, senator grassley and i are not going to relent in our efforts to reform this program. mr. president, i see the distinguished senator from iowa on the floor. he'll be speaking on this. but i would note at the very beginning of the new year we worked together to continue a series of public hearings to keep pushing for reform. we're united in our belief that it is unacceptable that congress has failed to respond to an overwhelming consensus for reform. a full revamping of the program is required. a band-aid is not good enough. powerful corporate interests must not be allowed to derail improvements that can guard against fraud and protect

investors and also help our most distressed communities. so, in conclusion, i say the powerful developers want only window-dressing proposals that do little to change the status quo. we cannot accept the so-called reforms that the s.e.c. would in fact leave holes in enforcement efforts. senator grassley and i, along about our counterparts in both parties in the house judiciary committee have put meaningful reforms. these reforms were developed after we consulted with the department of homeland security and the s.e.c. they are taylored to -- they are tailored to prevent the rampant fraud we are seeing today. as the american people learn more about how the eb-5 program is being abused, a lot of the calls will be for its reform or even its termination. i believe we can still fix it. i cannot simply support extending it yet again. i don't come to this decision

lightly. but i cannot support a continuing resolution that leaves these flaws in place. the time has come: either reform eb-5 or get rid of it. i yield to my good friend from iowa. mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i've -- i rise to fully support everything that senator leahy has said. i've got my own remarks on the same subject. when senator leahy and i are done -- and i may be the end of that -- but if senator leahy wants to speak, when we're done on this issue, i'd ask unanimous consent for 60 seconds on another item. the presiding officer: without objection grass in 1990, congress created the eb5 visa which was intended to create new employment for u.s. workers and to infuse new capital into our economy. two years later, congress

revised the eb5 category by establishing a pilot program allowing investors to use regional center, to pool their investments. this pilot and i want to emphasize the word "pilot ," this pilot program still exists nearly 25 years later, but that pilot program is deeply flawed, lacks adequate oversight, and has veered far away from congressional intent. the regional center program expires on september 30 of this year. in my view, it is in need of major overhaul if it's going to be reauthorized. i have said repeatedly on the senate floor, in hearings, and in letters to senate leadership.

despite the need for reform the face yal year 2016 omnibus appropriations bill included a straight and clean extension of the program. this was a great big disappointment given the alarm bells and whistle-blower allegations. it was a real missed opportunity to reform this program. it's my hope that both house and senate leaders will find a way t-- to simply leave is off the table. the senate judiciary committee held to hearings on the program. we discussed the flaws and there is corruption. we noted the many vulnerable -- vulnerabilities. we had stakeholders weigh in. we heard from local leaders,

association representing workers and regional centers. we listened to academics. we listened to government officials. we received feedback from all types of industry as well as immigration and security attorneys. we talked to other senate offices and committees. we have outlined the problems. allow me to mention a few of the problems and the few are many from the standpoint of what i'm mentioning just a few of. under the eb5 regional center program, investment can be spent even before business plans are approved. regional center operators can charge excessive fees of foreign nationals in addition to their required investments. mr. grassley: jobs created are

not direct or verifiable jobs but rather are indirect and based on estimates and economic modeling. all jobs created by a project are counted by the foreign national when obtaining a green card even if eb5 money is only a fraction of the total invested. investment funds are not adequately vetted. gichts and loan -- gifts and loans are acceptable sources of funds from foreign nationals. the investment level has been stagnant for nearly 25 years. there's no prohibition against foreign governments owning or operating regional centers or projects. the list of ev5 problems is even

longer and i'm not going to give you the whole list but i want to continue. regional centers can be rented or sold without government oversight or approval. regional centers don't have to certify that they comply with securities laws. there's no oversight of promoters who work overseas for the regional centers. there is no set of sanctions for violations, no recourse for bad actors. there are no required background checks on anyone associated with regional centers. regional centers draw targeted employment areas boundaries around poor areas in order to come in at a lower investment level, yet the jobs created are not actually created in those areas and the projects aren't actually in those areas. that is a very big

gerrymandering problem. even targeted employment area designation is simply rubber stamped by the agency. ajude dater -- adjudicators are pressured to get to yes, especially for projects that are politically connected. visas are not properly scrutinized. they have been approved despite national security warnings. filings and applications lack basic and necessary information to monitor compliance. the agency does not do site visits for each and every project. there's no transparency on how funds are spent, who is paid and what investors are told about the projects they invest in. that's a long list but not a complete list but there's a bigger problem that i want to

spend time on. then this is a national security problem. our committee has received numerous briefings and classified documents to show this side of the story. the enforcement arm of the department of homeland security wrote an internal memo that raises significant concerns about the program. and there was an interagency working group that reviewed fraud and other national security vowel necials -- vulnerabilities going way back to 2010. members of the working group made recommendations at that time to reform the program, including recommendations to sunset the regional center model due to crippling fraud and national security vulnerabilities. not all of these recommendations

were communicated to congress. this week chairma chairman chav, mr. cummings and i sent a letter to the director of the agency in charge and asked for documents related to this working group so members of the house oversight committee interested in -- is as interested in this as the judiciary committee and as senator leahy and i are interested in. i also sent a letter to secretary johnson calling on him to investigate the policies and guidance that permit foreign ownership of an eb-5 regional center. it is obvious that foreign corporations and foreign governments are increasingly taking advantage of the regional center program to establish ownership in u.s.-based real

estate projects. i'm concerned that this may allow foreign corporations and foreign governments to profit from marketing u.s. green cards to their citizens in return for investment and ownership in eb-5 real estate projects in the united states. i ask for a top-to-bottom review to ensure that u.s. interests are protected in this eb-5 program. also the security and exchange commission has brought over a dozen suits against regional centers and their operators. u.s. investors and foreign nationals are being duped and left high and dry. just this week another individual was indicted for devising a scheme to defraud and obtain money and property from

investors. this person was able to take in millions of dollars from foreign investors and use the money for his personal gain. i've seen it time and again. but under current law, such individuals are not banned from the program, even in the future. aside from the vulnerabilities, the benefits of the program are questionable. even the government accountability office says it's hard to ascertain the economic benefits of the eb-5 program. most of the visas are going to urban and affluent areas at a discount rate when congress specifically intended to steer some visas to rural and high unemployment areas. census tracks are stitched together to incorporate remote

public housing developments so that high-risers, gigantic hotels, casinos, and resorts can attract investors for less than the statutory $1 million requirement. the judiciary committee held a hearing on this specific issue, though congress intended for most eb-5 investment to be made at the $1 million level, nearly all are made at the $500,000 level because of gerrymandering, and that's just not what was intended. gerrymandering allows very affluent areas to benefit from the lower investment threshold resulting in little incentive to invest eb-5 funds in distressed or rural areas as was envisioned

by senators when this program was created. the senior senator from new york says that we don't know how cities work. we had this discussion in our committee. he doesn't think projects should or could be built in the bronx. he says they'll commute and work on 5th avenue where luxury condos are being built. those in new york jump over rivers and go through central park just to connect to low income neighborhoods so that this program can qualify as high unemployment. as a result, then, smaller and economically depressed cities are forced to compete with guess where in this country? beverly hills and miami, in manhattan. foreign investors who ultimately want a green card want to put their money in glitzy hotels and luxury condos, and that's where there seems to be higher return.

targeted employment areas then are at the heart of the controversy about the eb-5 and the principle reason we're not able to pass common sense reforms last year. yet we propose a lot of good reforms. for example, the grassley-leah grassley-leahy-connolly-goodlatt e proposal for the first time incentivize eb-5 investment in manufacturing and infrastructure projects. manufacturing employers create direct, long-term, quality jobs in their communities. as take infrastructure, -- as for infrastructure, we have lots of needs in the midwest including rail and river transportation, wastewater treatment plants and bridges. more eb-5 capital in infrastructure projects would reduce the burden on taxpayers and especially when local governments are up against federal mandates.

we also proposed reallocating the visas, carving out enough for rural and high unemployment areas, but leaving more than half of the visas for projects coming in at a higher investment level. we even offered to give affluent areas their own carveout, yet one proposal subjected to us was to -- suggested to us was to make the visas cheaper. they want to reduce the amount an investor has to pay for a green card. they also want more visas. the demand for visas would go through the roof, yet they want to reduce the price. my colleagues and i have been willing to engage with other members on this issue. we have made so many concessions. i'm not sure how much more we can give, especially when there are increasing calls to end the program, and there's a lot of

powerful senators in this body who think this program should be done away with. status quo is not acceptable. it's time for things to change. i encourage my colleagues to join the ranking member and me in our request for reforms. i hope this body will think twice before allowing the program to continue. now i'd like to use that 60 seconds. another issue that i want to raise with the senate leadership is transparency and our responsibility for government oversight. last week, i spoke about the danger of allowing agencies to improperly use the office of senate security to keep information secret when it is unclassified. i said that if we let the f.b.i. get away with hiding the clinton investigation documents from the public, then other agencies would abuse the system to undermine transparency and oversight. that is exactly what's happened.

the state treasury justice department are trying the same trick to hide documents about the obama administration transfer of billions of dollars to iran for hostages. these unclassified documents were requested by the judiciary committee and yet are being locked up in the basement of the capitol. they are being treated as if they are classified, but they are not classified. the committee was not consulted and did not agree to these burdensome and unnecessary document controls. with the clinton investigation documents, the f.b.i. improperly mixed classified and unclassified documents together in order to keep the unclassified documents secret, but this time every paragraph and every -- the presiding officer: the senator's time is expired. mr. grassley: of the iran hostage documents is 100% unclassified, so why send it to senate security? we need this unclassified information to be available to the committee. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership leadership -- the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

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