编者按：题目中所说的捍卫者，主要是从城市开发商的角度来定义。当类似纽约这样的大城市能保持50万的最低投资额时，城市开发商是最大的受益者。投资人当然也是50万的投资额受益者，但面对问题、子女超龄问题、合理还款周期、投资安全措施等投资人(而不是开发商)更关切的问题时，我们需要更具有投资人保护意义上的捍卫者。在目前这个阶段，开发商和投资人的共同利益就是确保发达地区的50万最低投资额;在未来的某一时间，开发商和投资人的共同利益，会交汇在为投资人争取更短的、更快的绿卡审理、提供更多的话语权、更透明的投资流程等更以投资人为中心的措施上。当最低投资额不再是主要焦点时，这些措施才是吸引更多投资的最好办法，不出意外的话，这个“未来的某一时间”就是涨价之后。 -- 刘宇和贝特曼律所团队

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　　Chuck Schumer、Jeff Flake、John Cornyn和Pete Sessions这几人之间有何相同之处?

　　接下来要说的可不是有关国会山的冷笑话。以上四位议员都是国会内延长EB-5计划期限的拥护者，而且他们都无一例外地收到了来自EB-5延期最大的受益行业——房地产行业——的捐款。

　　竞选资金监督网站OpenSecrets的数据调查结果显示，房地产行业资金在美国政界发挥的作用正在不断扩大。例如，纽约州资深议员Schumer自2011年以来从房地产利益集团收到的竞选捐款就多达109万美元。他的第四大个人捐助者为Fragomen，这是一家声称为“全球领先的移民公司”，向Schumer的竞选委员会捐赠了82,200美元。

　　Fragomen公司拥有突出的EB-5的实践经验，并在其网站上声称“处于EB-5计划现有或未来立法改革的最前沿。”Schumer的捐款人名单中还包括了瑞联集团以及兆华斯坦地产公司，两者都曾通过EB-5项目筹集到重要资金。

　　美国国会于周二通过了延长EB-5计划期限的决议。EB-5计划旨在吸引外国人通过在美国投资就业创造项目以获取绿卡。但由于某些项目方将EB-5资金投入到了一些主要城市街区的豪华地产项目而非低收入地区的项目中，该计划受到了广泛批贬。

　　今年六月，共和党议员Chuck Grassley和民主党议员Patrick Leahy提出了一份提案，该提案要求增加城市开发项目获得EB-5的难度，并提高最低个人投资额。根据The Real Deal的报道，包括瑞联集团(该集团曾成功为Hudson Yards开发项目融得超过6亿美元的EB-5资金)在内的诸多开发商都对这样的变革表示反对，并在近期增加了游说开支。最终，改革提案没有赢得足够的支持，以致EB-5计划在不经任何变革的情况下获得了延期。

　　各家EB-5公司都对延期消息兴奋不已。“我们的拥护者——Cornyn议员、Flake议员和 Schumer议员以及众议员Pete Sessions都拒绝妥协。”Jeff Campion of Pathways EB-5公司于周四在其官方博客中如是写道。该公司旗下拥有数个区域中心，而这些区域中心则是连接投资人和开发商的桥梁。“请通过邮件或电话向他们表示谢意，因为没有他们，就没有EB-5计划的延期，”博客最后补充道。

　　

 

　　这四位“拥护者”都收到了来自房地产行业的大量捐助。OpenSecrets的数据显示，来自亚利桑那州的共和党议员Flake从房地产行业筹集到了34万美元的捐助款，而来自德克萨斯州的共和党议员John Cornyn筹集到的捐助款项超过了50万美元。相比之下，代表达拉斯郊区的一个选区的共和党议员Pete Sessions虽然仅仅从房地产行业筹集到了5万美元，但房地产行业依然是其竞选捐款的第二大来源。

　　这些国会议员都赞成改革，但他们倡议的改革并非旨在限制房地产行业在诸如曼哈顿中城区和远西区的项目中使用EB-5资金。上周四，Cornyn议员和Flake议员提出了一份名为2015年“EB-5诚信法案”的提案，该提案呼吁对区域中心和签证申请者施以更严格的监管，但似乎只字未提有关禁止开发商通过所谓的不正当划分选区获取EB-5资金的行为。换而言之，开发商仍能如之前一般在位于诸如曼哈顿中城区的项目中使用EB-5资金。

　　Flake议员在今年十月时曾提出过另一项有关目标就业区(即有资格获得EB-5项目资金的低收入地区)划分的改革提案。但移民专家David North在其发表的博客文章中认为，该提案将会使不正当划分选区的问题得以“永久延续”。

　　支持对EB-5计划进行彻底改革的Grassley议员和Leahy议员分别来自爱荷华州和佛蒙特州，而这两州的绝大部分都为农村地区。2011年以来，他们从房地产行业募集到的资金相比本文先前提到的几位要少得多，分别为67,100美元和31,350美元。而曾大力批判EB-5计划的加州民主党资深议员Dianne Feinstein则从房地产利益集团募集到了惊人的244,721美元。

　　尽管Dianne Feinstein身为包含着数个主要中心城市的州议员，但她筹集的资金相比前文提到的三位议员——即Schumer、Flake和Cornyn——要少得多，从这一点也可以看出后三位议员让各大主要开发商继续参与EB-5计划的决心。

　　对于现行的美国竞选财政法的批评者们而言，他们一直以来都在担心政客们可能偏袒为其提供资金支持的房地产利益集团，从而使立法有利于与其有良好合作关系的企业。

　　作为EB-5计划改革的支持者，Grassley议员在周四的参议院演讲中也明确了这一点。根据《德梅因纪事报》的消息，他在演讲中表示：“未能顺应改革呼声证明了有人选择站在特殊利益集团、土地开发商和拥有雄厚资金实力的企业一边。”

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　　英文原文：

　　EB-5 champions show strong financial ties to real estate industry

　　What do Chuck Schumer, Jeff Flake, John Cornyn and Pete Sessions have in common?

　　This isn’t the beginning of a bad Capitol Hill joke. The four lawmakers all championed an extension of the controversial EB-5 visa program in Congress, and they all received major donations from the industry benefiting most from such an extension – real estate.

　　The findings, based on data from campaign finance watchdog site OpenSecrets, illustrate the ever-expanding role of industry money in U.S. politics. Schumer, New York’s senior senator, received $1.09 million in campaign donations since 2011 from real estate interests. His fourth-largest individual donor was Fragomen, a firm that claims to be “the world’s leading immigration firm” and has donated $82,200 to Schumer’s campaign committee.

　　Fragomen has a prominent EB-5 practice, and on its website claims to be “at the forefront of any current orimpending changes made to the legislation.” Schumer’s donor list also includes Related Companies and Silverstein Properties, two development firms that have raised seriouscash through the EB-5 program.

　　On Tuesday, Congress renewed the EB-5 program, which gives foreigners green cards in exchange for their investments in job-creating U.S. projects. The program has been widely criticized for funneling cash to luxury real estateprojects in prime urban neighborhoods, rather than in low-income areas.

　　In June, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) introduced a reform bill that would have made it much harder for urban development projects to qualify and would have raised the minimum individual investment under the program. Developers like Related, which raised more than $600 million in EB-5 money for its Hudson Yards development, opposed the changes and recently ramped up their lobbying expenses, as The Real Deal reported. The reform did not win enough support, and EB-5 was extended without any changes.

　　The extension was cheered by EB-5 firms. “Our champions – Senators Cornyn, Flake and Schumer and Congressman Pete Sessions – refused to give up,” Jeff Campion of Pathways EB-5, a firm thatmanages several so-called regional centers that play matchmaker betweeninvestors and developers, wrote in a blog post Thursday. “Please thank them through an email or phone call because without them, there would be no extension,” he added.

　　

　　These four “champions” all received significant donations from the real estate industry. Flake, a GOP senator from Arizona, has raised over $340,000 from the real estate industry,OpenSecrets data show. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, has raised over $500,000. Rep. Pete Sessions, who represents a district in suburban Dallas, has raised only $50,000 from industry players, but they account for the second-largest share of his campaign donations.

　　These congressmen are in favor of reform, but the reforms they push for don’t address the real estate industry’s ability to use EB-5 funds for projects in prime urban locations like Midtown Manhattan and the Far West Side. On Thursday, senators Cornyn and Flake introduced a bill called the “EB-5 Integrity Act” of 2015 that calls for stricter oversight of regional centers and visa applicants, but the bill appears to have no provision to end the so-called gerrymandering of districts that allows developers to use EB-5 funds in areas like Midtown. In other words: developers would still be able to access EB-5 funds much like before.

　　Flake in October introduced another bill to reform the drawing of Targeted Employment Areas, or low-incomedistricts where projects can qualify for EB-5 funding. But according to a blogpost by immigration expert David North, the bill would “perpetuate the problem” of gerrymandering.

　　Grassley and Leahy, proponents of more far-reaching EB-5 reform who represent the predominantly rural states of Iowa and Vermont, raised far fewer funds from the industry since 2011 – $67,100 and $31,350 respectively. California’s democratic senior senator Dianne Feinstein, who blasted the EB-5 program, has raised a significant sum,$244,721, from real estate interests.

　　But despite representing a state with several major urban centers, she has raised significantly fewer funds than the three senators — Schumer, Flake and Cornyn — who appear bent on allowing major developers continued access to the program.

　　Critics of current U.S.campaign finance laws have long worried that politicians could become biased towards the industries that bankroll their campaigns, tilting legislation in favor of well-connected corporations.

　　Grassley, the EB-5 reformproponent, seemed to make this point in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday. “This failure to heed calls for reform,” he said, according to the Des Moines Register, “proves that some would rather side with special interest groups, land developers and those with deep pockets.”

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　　文章转自：The Real Deal

　　编辑整理：刘宇和贝特曼律师事务所