I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1160 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve protections against 

foreign influence at institutions of higher education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 18, 2021 

Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, Mr. 

TIFFANY, and Mr. BUDD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve 

protections against foreign influence at institutions of 

higher education, 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 ‘‘Intelligence on Nefar5 ious Foreign Leaders Using Education Networks for Cor6 rupt Enrichment Act’’ or the ‘‘INFLUENCE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Schools in the United States, especially in2 stitutions of higher education overseeing either sen3 sitive research or critical military technology sys4 tems, have provided a level of access to the Chinese 

5 government that the Chinese government has re6 fused to provide to the United States. 

7 (2) China’s control over the flow of information 

8 means the American people have an incomplete pic9 ture of Chinese government actions and policies that 

10 run counter to the interest of the United States at 

11 home and abroad. 

12 (3) In the last 15 years, the Chinese govern13 ment has opened over 100 Confucius Institutes on 

14 college and university campuses in the United States 

15 to increase their cultural standing in popular cul16 ture. While there are currently more than 500 Con17 fucius Institutes worldwide, the United States has 

18 more Confucius Institutes than any other country. 

19 (4) Federal Government officials have expressed 

20 concerns about Confucius Institutes. Christopher 

21 Wray, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investiga22 tion, testified that the FBI is ‘‘watching warily’’ 

23 Confucius Institutes and ‘‘in certain instances have 

24 developed appropriate investigative steps’’. 


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1 (5) The Department of Education has not con2 ducted regular oversight of the compliance of institu3 tions of higher education with foreign gift reporting 

4 requirements and, until recently, has failed to ade5 quately enforce the requirements of section 117 of 

6 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (relating to dis7 closures of foreign gifts). The Department of Edu8 cation maintains a database detailing the reporting 

9 of foreign gifts received by institutions, but relies 

10 solely on the institutions to self-report gifts. 

11 (6) The Department of Education is updating 

12 the reporting requirements applicable to institutions 

13 of higher education. Previously, the Department of 

14 Education had not issued guidance on foreign gift 

15 reporting by institutions of higher education since 

16 2004. As a result, institution’s informed Congress 

17 that the reporting requirements were unclear and 

18 confusing. Institutions also informed Congress that 

19 the Department of Education website used to report 

20 foreign gifts was dated and difficult to use. 

21 (7) Absent full transparency regarding how 

22 Confucius Institutes operate and full reciprocity for 

23 the cultural outreach efforts of the United States on 

24 college campuses in China, Confucius Institutes 


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1 should not continue in the United States unchecked 

2 or unsupervised. 

3 SEC. 3. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN FOREIGN 

4 GIFTS AND CONTRACTS. 

5 Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

6 U.S.C. 1011f) is amended— 

7 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol8 lows: 

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

10 a disclosure report with the Secretary on January 31 or 

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

12 following occurs: 

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

14 a foreign source. 

15 ‘‘(2) The institution receives a gift from or en16 ters into a contract with a foreign source determined 

17 by the Secretary to be acting directly or indirectly 

18 on behalf of a foreign government that is adversarial 

19 to the United States, regardless of the value of the 

20 gift or contract. 

21 ‘‘(3) The institution receives a gift from or en22 ters into a contract with a foreign source not de23 scribed in paragraph (2), the value of which is— 

24 ‘‘(A) $50,000 considered alone; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) $100,000 or more in combination 

2 with all other gifts from or contracts with that 

3 foreign source within a calendar year.’’; 

4 (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) PUBLIC INSPECTION.—Subject to para8 graph (4), all disclosure reports required by this sec9 tion shall be public records open to inspection and 

10 copying during business hours. 

11 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION BY DEPARTMENT OF EDU12 CATION.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

13 enactment of the INFLUENCE Act, and on an an14 nual basis thereafter, the Secretary of Education 

15 shall make available, on a publicly accessible website 

16 of the Department of Education, a database of the 

17 information disclosed to the Secretary under this 

18 section during the preceding year. 

19 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION BY INSTITUTIONS.—Not 

20 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

21 the INFLUENCE Act, and on an annual basis 

22 thereafter, each institution that receives a gift or en23 ters into a contract described in subsection (a) shall 

24 make available, on a publicly accessible website of 

25 the institution— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of a gift described in such 

2 subsection, a detailed explanation of the gift, 

3 including the amount of the gift, identification 

4 of the source of the gift, and any conditions or 

5 restrictions on the gift; and 

6 ‘‘(B) in the case of a contract described in 

7 such subsection, a complete and accurate copy 

8 of the contract. 

9 ‘‘(4) RESTRICTION ON PUBLICATION OF SEN10 SITIVE INFORMATION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Information made 

12 publicly available under this section shall not 

13 include information that is determined by an in14 stitution to be confidential, proprietary, or oth15 erwise prohibited from disclosure by law. 

16 ‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.—If the 

17 Secretary determines that an institution of 

18 higher education willfully or negligently dis19 closed information that is confidential, propri20 etary, or otherwise prohibited from disclosure 

21 by law in violation of subparagraph (A), the 

22 Secretary may declare such institution ineligible 

23 to participate in programs authorized under 

24 title IV of this Act.’’; and 


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1 (3) in subsection (f)(2), by inserting before the 

2 period at the end the following: ‘‘, in addition to any 

3 other amounts as determined appropriate by the 

4 Secretary of Education’’. 

5 SEC. 4. FOREIGN INVOLVEMENT IN SENSITIVE PROJECTS. 

6 The Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 

7 et seq.) is further amended by inserting after section 117 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 117a. REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN CON10 TRACTS. 

11 ‘‘(a) FOREIGN INVOLVEMENT IN SENSITIVE

12 PROJECTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In a case in which an insti14 tution enters into a contract with a foreign indi15 vidual under which the individual will participate in 

16 a sensitive project— 

17 ‘‘(A) the institution shall disclose to the 

18 Secretary— 

19 ‘‘(i) the date on which individual is 

20 expected to return to their home country; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) and the name of the country to 

23 which the individual is expected to return; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(B) such contract shall provide— 


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1 ‘‘(i) that the individual may not dis2 close information derived from such project 

3 to a foreign government or any other for4 eign entity; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) that the penalties for disclosure 

6 of such information shall be the cancella7 tion of the contract and a requirement to 

8 reimburse the Federal Government as de9 scribed in paragraph (2). 

10 ‘‘(2) LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE.—A foreign 

11 individual who knowingly or willfully discloses infor12 mation in violation of a contract under paragraph 

13 (1) shall be required to reimburse the Federal Gov14 ernment for the full costs of any investigation or ad15 ministrative action resulting from such violation, in 

16 addition to any other amounts as determined appro17 priate by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(b) CHINA-AFFILIATED CULTURAL OR LANGUAGE

19 PROGRAM.—In a case in which an institution enters into 

20 a contract with an individual or entity under which a 

21 China-affiliated cultural or language program will be al22 lowed to operate at the institution, such contract— 

23 ‘‘(1) shall include a provision protecting aca24 demic freedom at the institution; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) shall not include any provision that would 

2 limit the rights of an individual under the Constitu3 tion of the United States. 

4 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘China-affiliated cultural or lan6 guage program’ means any project, program, or 

7 other activity that— 

8 ‘‘(A) seeks to familiarize students with 

9 Chinese language or culture; and 

10 ‘‘(B) is directly or indirectly funded by the 

11 Government of the People’s Republic of China. 

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘sensitive project’ means any 

13 project, program, or other activity carried out by an 

14 institution— 

15 ‘‘(A) that is funded, in whole or in part, by 

16 Federal funds; and 

17 ‘‘(B) for which a security clearance is re18 quired as a condition of participation.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION ON ENFORCEMENT 

20 OF FOREIGN GIFT AND CONTRACT REQUIRE21 MENTS. 

22 The Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 

23 et seq.) is further amended by inserting after section 117a 

24 (as added by section 4) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 117b. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION ON ENFORCE2 MENT OF FOREIGN GIFT AND CONTRACT RE3 QUIREMENTS. 

4 ‘‘(a) NOTIFICATION OF VIOLATIONS.—The Secretary 

5 of Education shall establish a process to notify appro6 priate Federal agencies of any violation of section 117 or 

7 section 117a. 

8 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION OF ENFORCEMENT ACTION.— 

9 After receiving notice of a violation under subsection (a), 

10 the head of the Federal agency that received such notice 

11 shall determine— 

12 ‘‘(1) whether such violation constitutes a viola13 tion of a provision of law over which the agency has 

14 enforcement authority; and 

15 ‘‘(2) if such a violation occurred, whether to 

16 pursue an enforcement action against the individual 

17 or entity responsible for the violation.’’. 

18 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

19 Section 636 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

20 U.S.C. 1132–5) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 636. REPORT ON FOREIGN AND NATIONAL SECURITY 

22 ISSUES AFFECTING INSTITUTIONS OF HIGH23 ER EDUCATION. 

24 ‘‘(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—On an annual basis, the 

25 Secretary of Education, in consultation and collaboration 

26 with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the 


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1 Director of National Intelligence, the Attorney General, 

2 and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall 

3 submit to the authorizing committees a report on foreign 

4 and national security issues affecting institutions of higher 

5 education. 

6 ‘‘(b) ELEMENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) 

7 shall include— 

8 ‘‘(1) identification of areas of national need in 

9 foreign language, area, and international studies as 

10 such studies relate to government, education, busi11 ness, and nonprofit needs and a plan to address 

12 those needs; 

13 ‘‘(2) a description of any risks associated with 

14 allowing foreign students and other foreign individ15 uals at institutions of higher education to access 

16 classified information, protected intellectual prop17 erty, research and development information, and 

18 military technology critical to the national security 

19 of the United States; 

20 ‘‘(3) best practices that may be implemented by 

21 the Department of Education, the Department of 

22 Defense, and other Federal agencies with respon23 sibilities relating to national security to strengthen 

24 the secrecy of grants, projects, and contracts that 

25 involve providing foreign individuals at institutions 


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1 of higher education with access to classified or sen2 sitive information, including recommended enforce3 ment actions to respond to the misuse of such infor4 mation; 

5 ‘‘(4) a description of the ongoing efforts of Fed6 eral law enforcement organizations, including the 

7 Federal Bureau of Investigation, to address the theft 

8 of sensitive information by adversarial foreign ac9 tors; and 

10 ‘‘(5) a summary of any information from na11 tional security-related projects at institutions of 

12 higher education that was stolen, misused, or wrong13 fully disclosed during the period covered by the re14 port and any actions taken to remedy the theft, mis15 use, or disclosure of such information. 

16 ‘‘(c) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report under sub17 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but 

18 may include a classified annex. 

19 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of Edu20 cation shall make each report under subsection (a) avail21 able on a publicly accessible website of the Department 

22 of Education, except no report published on such website 

23 shall contain classified information.’’. 

Æ 


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