FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., introduced a bill Tuesday to require universities to disclose any contracts they have with foreign adversaries to the federal Department of Education.
The No Contracts for Foreign Adversaries Act would mandate that universities alert the Education Department of relationships with China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran in order to combat attempts from adversaries to target American students and schools.
“Americans send billions of taxpayer dollars to colleges and universities, so we deserve to know if these schools have contracts with our enemies,” Harris told The Daily Signal. “North Korea, China, Russia, and Iran are not looking out for America’s best interest, and the next generation should not be subjected to the influence of foreign countries with ulterior motives.”
More than 60% of foreign money to U.S. universities comes from four sources: China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, according to a report from America First Legal, a conservative nonprofit group.
The bill would impose fines on any university that knowingly or willfully fails to comply and would threaten those schools’ eligibility to participate in Title IV Federal Student Aid Programs for two institutional years.
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, cosponsored the legislation.
Harris expects the bill to move to the House Education and Workforce Committee this month for markup.
The first Trump administration opened investigations into foreign funding at Georgetown University and Texas A&M University. The president discovered $6.5 billion in previously undisclosed gifts and contributions provided to elite colleges from countries that pose national security threats.
Many Chinese Communist Party-funded Confucius Institutes are now closed due to the efforts of the first Trump administration, but at their peak in 2017, there were nearly 120 of them across the U.S.
The Confucius Institute is a nonprofit organization said to be dedicated to “fostering people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.”
“For too long, colleges and universities have gotten a free pass to spend federal dollars with little oversight,” Harris said, “but American taxpayers are demanding transparency.”