I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7170 

To require institutions of higher education to disclose gifts from foreign 

sources in the publications of certain professors and affiliates, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2020 

Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma (for himself, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. SPANO, Mr. 

BROOKS of Alabama, Mr. POSEY, Mr. ROY, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. LAMALFA, 

Mr. BABIN, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. PERRY, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. BURCHETT, 

Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, and Mr. 

GARCIA of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To require institutions of higher education to disclose gifts 

from foreign sources in the publications of certain professors and affiliates, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘America: Foreign In5 fluence Resistance Starts with Transparency Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘America FIRST Act’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 7170 IH

1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FOREIGN GIFTS. 

2 (a) DISCLOSURE FOR INSTITUTIONS.—Any institu3 tion of higher education that receives a gift from, con4 tracts with, or has financial assets in a foreign source shall 

5 disclose the total value of such gifts, contracts, and finan6 cial assets received from such foreign source in the byline 

7 of each publication relating to such foreign source made 

8 by a professor employed by such institution of higher edu9 cation. 

10 (b) DISCLOSURE FOR DEPARTMENTS.—Any non11 profit department within an institution of higher edu12 cation that receives a gift from, contracts with, or has fi13 nancial assets in a foreign source shall disclose the total 

14 value of such gifts, contracts, and financial assets received 

15 from such foreign source in the byline of each publication 

16 relating to such foreign source made by a professor em17 ployed by such department. 

18 (c) DISCLOSURE FOR AFFILIATES.—Any affiliate of 

19 an institution of higher education shall disclose the total 

20 value of gifts, contracts, or other financial assets from a 

21 foreign source in the byline of each publication relating 

22 to such foreign source made by such affiliate. 

23 (d) FOREIGN SOURCES WITH SIMILAR LOCATIONS.— 

24 For purposes of the byline disclosures required under this 

25 section, funding from different foreign sources that are loVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7170.IH H7170

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 7170 IH

1 cated within the same nation shall be totaled and reported 

2 as funding from such foreign source. 

3 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 

5 take such steps as may be necessary to enforce the provi6 sions of section 2. 

7 (b) PENALTIES.—Upon determination that an insti8 tution of higher education or a nonprofit department or 

9 affiliate of such an institution has failed to meet the re10 quirements of section 2, the Secretary shall determine the 

11 appropriate enforcement action to take with respect to 

12 such institution, which may include any of the following: 

13 (1) Imposing a probationary period on, or lim14 iting eligibility for, the institution, department, affil15 iate, or professors in violation of this Act to receive 

16 Federal funds. 

17 (2) Loss of nonprofit status for a nonprofit in18 stitution, department, or affiliate. 

19 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURES OF FOREIGN GIFTS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 117 of the Higher Edu21 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f) is amended— 

22 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol23 lows: 

24 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE REPORT.—An institution shall file 

25 a disclosure report with the Secretary on January 31 or 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 7170 IH

1 July 31, whichever is sooner, whenever one or more of the 

2 following paragraphs applies to such institution: 

3 ‘‘(1) The institution is owned or controlled by 

4 a foreign source. 

5 ‘‘(2) The institution receives a gift from or en6 ters into a contract with a foreign source, the value 

7 of which is $50,000 or more, considered in combina8 tion with all other gifts from or contracts with that 

9 foreign source within a calendar year.’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, 

12 by inserting before the period at the end the 

13 following: ‘‘, and the content of each such con14 tract’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting before 

16 the period the following: ‘‘, and the content of 

17 each such contract’’; 

18 (3) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘, including 

19 the contents of any contracts,’’ after ‘‘reports’’; and 

20 (4) in subsection (h)(3), by inserting before the 

21 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, or the fair 

22 market value of an in-kind gift’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to gifts received 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 7170 IH

1 or contracts entered into, or other activities carried out, 

2 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) AFFILIATE.—The term ‘‘affiliate’’ refers to 

6 any entity that invokes the name of an institution of 

7 higher education in the byline of a publication, in8 cluding professors, lecturers, researchers, graduate 

9 students, and non-employee alumni. 

10 (2) ASSET.—The term ‘‘asset’’ includes stocks, 

11 bonds, retirement accounts, personal bank accounts, 

12 liabilities such as mortgages or real estate that 

13 produce income, and terms of agreement for future 

14 employment. 

15 (3) CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘contract’’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 117(h) of the 

17 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1011f(h)). 

19 (4) FOREIGN SOURCE.—The term ‘‘foreign 

20 source’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

21 117(h) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

22 U.S.C. 1011f(h)). 

23 (5) GIFT.—The term ‘‘gift’’ has the meaning 

24 given the term in section 117(h) of the Higher Edu25 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(h)). 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 7170 IH

1 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS