H.R. 6992

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6992 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6992

To establish in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the 
Department of Homeland Security an EB-5 Regional Center Program 
Advisory Committee.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 9, 2026

Mr. Stanton (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Liccardo, and Mr. 
Gooden) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To establish in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the 
Department of Homeland Security an EB-5 Regional Center Program 
Advisory Committee.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``EB-5 Regional Center Program 
Advisory Committee Authorization Act''.

SEC. 2. EB-5 REGIONAL CENTER PROGRAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

Subtitle E of title IV of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 463. EB-5 REGIONAL CENTER PROGRAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish within U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services an EB-5 Regional Center Program 
Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee shall be terminated upon 
adjudication of all benefits filed under section 203(b)(5) and 216A of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act from time to time or any other 
public law implementing the EB-5 Regional Center Program.
``(b) Duties.--
``(1) In general.--The Advisory Committee shall advise, 
consult with, report to, and make recommendations to the 
Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regarding 
the EB-5 Regional Center Program.
``(2) Recommendations.--
``(A) In general.--The Advisory Committee shall 
develop recommendations for improvements to the EB-5 
Regional Center Program within U.S. Citizenship and 
Immigration Services.
``(B) Recommendations of subcommittees.--
Recommendations agreed upon by the subcommittees 
established under subsection (d) for any year shall be 
approved by a majority of the Advisory Committee before 
the Advisory Committee submits to the Director the 
annual report under paragraph (4) for that year. The 
Advisory Committee shall not make any petition or case-
specific recommendations to the program under section 
203(b)(5) and section 216A of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act.
``(3) Periodic reports.--The Advisory Committee shall 
annually, or when deemed necessary by a majority of the 
Advisory Committee members, submit to the Director--
``(A) reports on matters identified by the 
Director; or
``(B) reports on other matters identified by a 
majority of the members of the Advisory Committee.
``(4) Annual report.--The Advisory Committee shall submit 
to the Secretary of Homeland Security and Director an annual 
report providing information on the activities, findings, and 
recommendations of the Advisory Committee, including its 
subcommittees, for the preceding fiscal year. Not later than 
six months after the date that the Secretary of Homeland 
Security and the Director receives an annual report for a year, 
the Director shall publish a public version of the report 
describing the activities of the Advisory Committee and such 
related matters as would be informative to the public during 
that year.
``(5) Congressional notification.--For each fiscal quarter 
beginning after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Director shall provide to the Committees on the Judiciary, and 
the Committees on Appropriations a briefing on the activities 
of the Advisory Committee.
``(6) Conformity with the eb-5 reform and integrity act of 
2022.--Nothing in this section may be construed to violate or 
be inconsistent with section 107 of the EB-5 Reform and 
Integrity Act of 2022.
``(c) Membership.--
``(1) Appointment.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall appoint the members of the 
Advisory Committee consisting of representatives of 
Federal, State, local and Tribal Governments and EB-5 
regional centers in good standing representing projects 
from diverse geographies and diverse project types.
``(B) Composition.--The membership of the Advisory 
Committee shall consist of not more than 35 members, 
each of whom represent a category referred to in 
subparagraph (C)(i). The member shall be considered the 
appointed regional center or governmental agency, and 
the member shall appoint, subject to Secretary 
approval, the individual that represents such regional 
center or governmental agency.
``(C) Representation.--
``(i) In general.--Regional centers members 
shall be appointed only from regional centers 
in good standing and operating under the EB-5 
Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, 
notwithstanding any lapse or termination of the 
EB-5 Regional Center Program, and each regional 
center member shall represent a regional center 
that has submitted petitions to sponsor no 
fewer than two projects in the same regional 
center category pursuant to clause (ii).
``(ii) Representation categories.--Regional 
center members shall include at least two from 
each of the following categories:
``(I) Regional Center--High 
unemployment area.
``(II) Regional Center--Rural.
``(III) Regional Center--
Infrastructure.
``(IV) Regional Center--Census 
Region Northeast.
``(V) Regional Center--Census 
Region South.
``(VI) Regional Center--Census 
Region Midwest.
``(VII) Regional Center--Census 
Region West.
``(iii) Additional representation.--
Representatives shall, in addition, include at 
least one from each of the following 
categories:
``(I) Mayor--City, large; Territory 
inside Urbanized Area and inside a 
Principal City with population of 
250,000 or more.
``(II) Mayor--City, midsize; 
Territory inside Urbanized Area and 
inside a Principal City with population 
less than 250,000 and greater than or 
equal to 100,000.
``(III) Mayor--City, small; 
Territory inside Urbanized Area and 
inside a Principal City with population 
less than 100,000.
``(IV) County Economic Development 
Officer--Urbanized Area.
``(V) County Economic Development 
Officer--Urban Place Outside of 
Urbanized Area.
``(VI) County Economic Development 
Officer--Rural Place.
``(VII) State Economic Development 
Officer.
``(VIII) Department of State, ex 
officio.
``(IX) Department of Commerce, ex 
officio.
``(X) Trade association 
representing no fewer than 50 EB-5 
regional centers.
``(XI) Other relevant fields 
identified by the Director.
``(iv) Prohibition.--The Advisory Committee 
shall include at least two members from each 
category under clause (ii) but not exceed three 
members from any one category.
``(2) Term of office.--
``(A) Terms.--The term of each member of the 
Advisory Committee shall be two years, but a member may 
continue to serve, notwithstanding any term limit, 
until a successor is appointed. In the event that an 
individual representing the member is no longer 
associated with the member, the member shall appoint, 
subject to Secretary of Homeland Security approval, a 
new individual to serve the remaining term of such 
member.
``(B) Removal.--The Director may review the 
participation of a member of the Advisory Committee and 
remove such member for cause at any time, after 
notifying the Secretary of Homeland Security.
``(C) Reappointment.--A member of the Advisory 
Committee may be reappointed for a maximum of 6 
consecutive terms.
``(3) Prohibition on compensation.--The members of the 
Advisory Committee may not receive pay or benefits from the 
United States Government by reason of their service on the 
Advisory Committee, other than pay and benefits for Federal 
employees serving on the Advisory Committee that are incident 
to their Federal employment.
``(4) Meetings.--
``(A) In general.--The Director shall require the 
Advisory Committee to meet at least quarterly, and may 
convene additional meetings as necessary.
``(B) Public meetings.--At least one of the 
meetings referred to in subparagraph (A) shall be open 
to the public.
``(C) Attendance.--The Advisory Committee shall 
maintain a record of the persons present at each 
meeting.
``(5) Chairperson.--The Advisory Committee shall select, 
from among the members of the Advisory Committee--
``(A) a member to serve, for a term of 4 years, as 
chairperson of the Advisory Committee; and
``(B) a member to serve as chairperson of each 
subcommittee of the Advisory Committee established 
under subsection (d).
``(d) Subcommittees.--
``(1) In general.--The Director and the Advisory Committee 
shall establish subcommittees within the Advisory Committee to 
address EB-5 Regional Center Program issues, including the 
following:
``(A) Administration, including--
``(i) agency staffing;
``(ii) petition processing times;
``(iii) improved communication between the 
Agency and EB-5 Regional Center stakeholders;
``(iv) fraud prevention; and
``(v) compliance with securities laws.
``(B) Impact, including--
``(i) job creation and job retention; and
``(ii) capital investment.
``(C) Policy, subject to applicable requirements 
under law, including--
``(i) legislative interpretation and 
specific policies and guidelines of U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services relevant 
to the EB-5 Regional Center Program;
``(ii) policymaking procedures outside of 
formal legislative or regulatory rule-making 
processes;
``(iii) regulations;
``(iv) financial structuring of 
investments; and
``(v) source of funds issues.
``(D) Other such issues relevant to the EB-5 
Regional Center Program and requested by members of the 
Advisory Committee.
``(2) Additional subcommittees.--In addition to the 
subcommittees established pursuant to paragraph (1), the 
Advisory Committee chairperson, in coordination with the 
Director, shall establish within the Advisory Committee such 
additional subcommittees that the majority of the Advisory 
Committee determine to be necessary.
``(3) Meetings and reporting.--Each subcommittee shall meet 
at least quarterly, and at least once in-person annually, and 
submit to the Advisory Committee for inclusion in the annual 
report required under subsection (b)(4) information, including 
activities, findings, and recommendations, regarding subject 
matter considered by the subcommittee.
``(4) Subject matter experts.--The chair of the Advisory 
Committee shall appoint members to subcommittees.''.
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