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The House Education and Workforce Committee advanced legislation Wednesday to limit foreign influence on American colleges and universities. The vote followed party lines.
Known as the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions Act, or DETERRENT, the legislation—if passed—would bolster disclosure requirements relating to foreign gifts and contracts. The same legislation was introduced last Congress, passed the House but didn’t move forward in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Following Wednesday’s vote, it will once again return to the House floor for consideration.
Republican sponsors of the bill say it’s part of an effort to prohibit contracts between institutions of higher education and certain foreign entities and countries of concern, such as China.
“Authoritarian regimes around the world, like the Chinese Communist Party, are trying to use lucrative financial ties to influence our students, steal research and censor free speech,” Representative Tim Walberg of Michigan, the committee chair, said at the bill’s markup. “The very first package of bills passed out of this committee sends a strong message: We will not tolerate any attempt by America’s adversaries to subvert our education system or exploit our students.”
Democrats, however, say the legislation would further burden the U.S. Department of Education and conflicts with the Republicans’ larger plan to dismantle the agency, and it would endanger the future of public education.
“The proposals we are considering today will not actually improve students’ education and outcomes,” said Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the panel. “We are considering a series of bills that only add complexity and confusion and, frankly, are solutions in search of a problem.”
Specifically, the bill would:
- Increase the number of foreign gifts that must be reported by lowering the requirement bar generally from $250,000 to $50,000 and saying all gifts from “countries of concern” must be noted.
- Require disclosures of foreign contracts with staff at research-heavy institutions.
- Impose strict consequences, such as the loss of access to student aid funding, for colleges and universities that continually fail to comply.
