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Baumgartner, Walberg Introduce Bill to Thwart Foreign Influence in U.S. Colleges

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 7, 2025
Today, Representative Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) and Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) introduced H.R. 1048, the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, much-needed legislation that provides transparency and clarity to foreign gift reporting requirements for colleges and universities. Last Congress, the DETERRENT Act passed the House in a 246-170 vote, with 215 Republicans and 31 Democrats.

Foreign influence on our college campuses is a serious threat that is only growing. Last year, a congressional investigation of two top research universities uncovered nearly $40 million in unreported research contracts with the Chinese Communist Party. Under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, these schools are required to report foreign gifts and funding. However, the loose legislative language of Section 117, institutions’ refusal to adhere to the law, and the Biden-Harris administration’s refusal to enforce the law have resulted in billions of dollars in foreign funds infiltrating our country undetected. 

“Foreign powers, particularly the Chinese Communist Party, have quietly infiltrated our colleges and universities, using their financial influence to open the floodgates to endless cash that comes with hidden agendas,” said Congressman Baumgartner. “The DETERRENT Act is designed to expose these foreign influences, hold universities accountable, and ensure clarity in a system that has allowed bad actors to manipulate well-meaning institutions. We need to ensure that Chinese influences and other foreign powers are not allowed to compromise the integrity of American educational institutions for their own gain.”

“The current system has allowed foreign adversaries to infiltrate our colleges and universities. By establishing footholds in American schools, bad actors gain access to valuable research and intellectual property that can be utilized to bolster their own military. Sadly, the Biden-Harris administration failed to open a single investigation into this dangerous threat. So Congress is taking action because it is imperative that we hold these universities—which have turned a blind eye for too long—accountable and bring to light malignant foreign entities lurking in our schools,” said Chairman Walberg. 

Background
   
The DETERRENT Act: 
  • Slashes the foreign gift reporting threshold for colleges and universities from $250,000 down to $50,000, with an even stricter $0 threshold for countries of concern.
  • Closes reporting loopholes and provides transparency to Congress, intelligence agencies, and the public.
  • Requires disclosure of foreign gifts to individual staff and faculty at research-heavy institutions to protect those targeted the most by our adversaries.
  • Holds our largest private institutions accountable for their financial partnerships by revealing concerning foreign investments in their endowments.
  • Implements a series of repercussions for colleges and universities that remain noncompliant in foreign gift reporting such as fines and the loss of Title IV funding. 
Click here for a fact sheet.
Click here for a bill text.
Click here for a bill summary.

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