II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2856 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require additional disclosures 

relating to gifts and contracts from foreign sources. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023 

Mr. VANCE (for himself, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. BUDD, and Mr. 

TUBERVILLE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require 

additional disclosures relating to gifts and contracts from 

foreign sources. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safeguarding Amer5 ican Education From Foreign Control Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURES OF FOREIGN GIFTS. 

7 (a) ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES REQUIRED.—Section 

8 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 1011f) is amended— 


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1 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE REPORT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any institution is 

5 owned or controlled by a foreign source, or receives 

6 a gift from or enters into a contract with a foreign 

7 source that equals or exceeds the threshold value de8 scribed in paragraph (2), the institution shall file a 

9 disclosure report with the Secretary on January 31 

10 or July 31, whichever is sooner. 

11 ‘‘(2) THRESHOLD VALUE.—For purposes of this 

12 subsection, the threshold value of a gift from or con13 tract with a foreign source is— 

14 ‘‘(A) in the case of a foreign source that 

15 is not associated with a covered nation, 

16 $250,000 or more, considered alone or in com17 bination with all other gifts from or contracts 

18 with that foreign source within a calendar year; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(B) in the case of a foreign source that 

21 is associated with a covered nation, a gift or 

22 contract of any value.’’; 

23 (2) by redesignating subsections (d) through (h) 

24 as subsections (e) through (i), respectively; 


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1 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL SUBMISSIONS; REPORTING.— 

4 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF REPORTS, DOCUMENTS, 

5 AND RECORDS.—Not later than 10 days after receiv6 ing a disclosure report, document, or other record 

7 from an institution under this section, the Secretary 

8 shall transmit a copy of such report, document, or 

9 record to the Director of the Federal Bureau of In10 vestigation and the Director of National Intelligence. 

11 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE.— 

12 The Secretary of Education shall transmit periodic 

13 reports to the Secretary of State regarding disclo14 sures made under this section.’’; 

15 (4) in subsection (g), as redesignated by para16 graph (2), by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(3) INVESTIGATION.—Whenever the Secretary 

18 receives credible information about potential non19 compliance under this section regarding a covered 

20 nation, the Secretary shall initiate an investigation 

21 under this section. 

22 ‘‘(4) REQUESTS BY OTHER AGENCIES.—The Di23 rector of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 

24 the Director of National Intelligence may request 

25 that the Attorney General bring a civil action to 


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1 compel compliance with this section, as described in 

2 paragraph (1).’’; and 

3 (5) in subsection (i), as redesignated by para4 graph (2)— 

5 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

6 through (5) as paragraphs (3) through (6); and 

7 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

8 following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered nation’ has the meaning 

10 given that term in section 4872(d)(2) of title 10, 

11 United States Code;’’. 

12 (b) TRANSMITTAL OF RECORDS TO FBI AND DNI.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 of Education shall transmit to the Director of the 

16 Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director of 

17 National Intelligence— 

18 (A) a copy of any report, document, or 

19 other record received by the Department of 

20 Education under section 117 of the Higher 

21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f), re22 gardless of the date on which the record was re23 ceived or the status of the case to which the 

24 record pertains (while the Department of Edu25 cation shall retain the original); and 


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1 (B) a copy of the entire record generated 

2 by the Department of Education in the course 

3 of an investigation into the compliance of an in4 stitution with such section (including any past 

5 investigation since the enactment of such sec6 tion), including any email, report, document, or 

7 other record (while the Department of Edu8 cation shall retain the original). 

9 (2) NEW INVESTIGATIONS.—In the case of a 

10 new investigation under section 117 of the Higher 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f) after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Edu13 cation shall— 

14 (A) notify the Director of the Federal Bu15 reau of Investigation and the Director of Na16 tional Intelligence when such an investigation is 

17 opened; 

18 (B) submit the entire record of such inves19 tigation (as described in paragraph (1)) not 

20 more than 90 days after the completion of such 

21 investigation; and 

22 (C) retain original records as described in 

23 paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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