At 6:31PM EST today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 3245 (412-3) – which includes a three year re-authorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program through September 2015. Having passed by the Senate on August 2, the bill is now on its way to President Obama for signature – likely later this week. Judiciary Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX), Immigration Subcommittee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Representative Rick Larsen (D-WA), and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) all spoke in favor of the EB-5 Regional Center Program re-authorization Tuesday on the floor of the House- with Chairman Smith citing IIUSA statistics in his support of the legislation.
IIUSA issued the following statement earlier this week via press release, welcoming the vote:
“Congress deserves a lot of credit for this one,” said Peter D. Joseph, IIUSA Executive Director. “Utilizing the macroeconomics of globalization, the EB-5 Regional Center Program offers an economic development tool to address weak local capital and labor markets in the U.S. A government program that generates economic growth and thereby tax revenue – with administration costs covered by user fees – is public policy built for the 21st century. Literally tens of thousands of U.S. jobs are at stake in this three year re-authorization.”
FY2012 is already a record breaking year of U.S. job creation and capital formation for the Program, with trends indicating more growth in the years ahead. Twice as many investor applications have been approved in this fiscal year than all of the year before.
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A big THANK YOU from IIUSA to all of our cross-sector partners that stood together for Program re-authorization, leadership/supporters in Congress, association leadership/government affairs team, and – of course – IIUSA members for all the hard work that went into extending this important and innovative U.S. job creation program!
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IIUSA remains committed to making the EB-5 Regional Center Program a permanent and successful part of the American economic development toolkit in the years ahead – through industry leadership, education, & advocacy.
Come celebrate the re-authorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program and join the discussion of “what comes next” at IIUSA’s next event (scheduled in conjunction with the USCIS Quarterly EB-5 Engagement on 10/16)!
5th Annual IIUSA EB-5 Regional Center Economic Development Conference
Washington, DC: 10/14/12-10/16/12
**Advocate – Connect – Learn – Network – Participate**
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