E&W Blog

America’s adversaries exploit lucrative financial ties with colleges and universities to steal critical research, undermine our national security interests, and indoctrinate students with anti-American propaganda. Unfortunately, schools are all-too willing to skirt the rules and obfuscate their financial ties with malign foreign actors to maintain these financial partnerships.

Groups across the nation are voicing their support for H.R. 1048, the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act. This much needed legislation provides transparency and clarity to foreign gift reporting requirements for colleges and universities. As stated in several letters of support, this bill will protect students and hold universities to a higher standard.

Here’s what they’re saying about the DETERRENT Act:

“Failure to implement the DETERRENT Act may result in inadequate monitoring of foreign funding sources, potentially exposing our universities to activities (e.g., theft of trade secrets) that pose risks to national security. By not addressing this issue, we jeopardize the safety and well-being of our academic communities and the nation at large.”  – The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal

“The DETERRENT act is necessary because U.S. universities, left largely to their own [devices], have failed to adequately guard themselves against malign foreign influences. This failure has enabled foreign rivals to gain access to sensitive technologies and intellectual property… Malign foreign influence in higher education thus threatens both U.S. national security, and the civil rights and liberties of American students. The DETERRENT Act will help to arrest this influence and restore transparency to U.S. higher education.” – America First Policy Institute

“Far too much money has flowed from foreign adversaries to America's higher education institutions, and there should be penalties when those institutions fail to publicly report such transactions as required by federal law… The DETERRENT Act is an important step to imposing transparency and hobbling those influence campaigns.” – Defense of Freedom Institute

“For far too long, young, impressionable American minds have been subjected to lucrative foreign influences that have penetrated through the academy, and many of these influences have been pernicious. And this has got to end. Now.” – Endowment for Middle East Truth

"As foreign adversaries expand their influence on college campuses, this bill is essential to protecting academic freedom from intellectual theft, censorship, and intimidation. By tightening reporting requirements, closing loopholes, and enforcing consequences for noncompliance, this legislation strengthens national security and ensures America’s educational institutions remain bastions of free inquiry.” – The Foundation for Defense of Democracy

“The DETERRENT Act is vital legislation to increase transparency and accountability in the foreign funding of American institutions of higher education. We commend Representative Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) and Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) for their leadership in reintroducing this bill and urge all House Members to support its passage.” – Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy

“Since 1981, American colleges have officially declared over $40 billion in foreign gifts, grants, research funds, and more. Given the underreporting issues, the true number is likely even higher. These funds enable foreign actors, particularly the CCP, to gain leverage over American institutions, and has facilitated economic espionage on an industrial scale… The DETERRENT Act would further modernize our reporting requirements and enforcement, effectively curtailing the inroads made by China and other foreign entities of concern into our educational system.” – Heritage Action for America

“No longer will Americans be held in the dark while foreign countries peddle their influence. We have a right to know who is funding these universities and what favors they are demanding in return for their ‘generous’ donations. This bill is a win for America, and we want to thank the various teams involved in carefully constructing this Act.” – Jewish Students for America

“Transparency is the first line of defense against malign foreign influence at our universities. The DETERRENT Act significantly improves Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. It's time to bring accountability back to higher education, and DETERRENT goes in the right direction.” – Manhattan Institute

“The DETERRENT Act will allow us to begin to seek answers to these critical questions and consider remedies for funding coming from foreign sources which do not have the United States’ best interests at heart. It will require universities to disclose their major foreign donations and close loopholes that have allowed them to avoid doing so until now.” – Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

“The DETERRENT Act will go a long way to increasing that transparency, and ensuring that responsible administrators have the right tools to enforce it. While it will not solve the problem of antisemitism, anti-Americanism, and radicalism on college campuses, it will, at minimum, allow watchdog groups, journalists, and other stakeholders to have sufficient information to ask the tough questions that need to be asked about what foreign ‘frenamie’ countries are getting for their money. The DETERRENT Act will significantly improve the status quo.” – North American Values Institute
 
"For decades, our adversaries have spent vast sums of money influencing America's colleges and universities. Weak and under-enforced reporting requirements have allowed foreign adversaries to use donations and contracts to spread anti-American sentiment on campus and undermine our national security. Passing the DETERRENT Act would bring desperately needed accountability and transparency to foreign funding in higher education. This legislation is crucial to safeguarding our colleges and universities from hostile foreign influence." – Americans for Public Trust

For a fact sheet on the DETERRENT Act, click here.
To separate myth from fact on the DETERRENT Act, click here.
For a video explainer, click here.