I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6165 

To amend the Higher Education Act to require disclosure of certain foreign 

investments within endowments. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2023 

Mr. OWENS (for himself and Ms. FOXX) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act to require disclosure 

of certain foreign investments within endowments. 

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 ‘‘Reporting on Invest5 ments in Foreign Adversaries Act’’ or the ‘‘RIFA Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INVESTMENT DISCLOSURE REPORT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title I of the Higher 

8 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amend9 ed by inserting after section 117 the following: 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 6165 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 117A. INVESTMENT DISCLOSURE REPORT. 

2 ‘‘(a) INVESTMENT DISCLOSURE REPORT.—A speci3 fied institution shall file a disclosure report in accordance 

4 with subsection (b) with the Secretary on July 1 imme5 diately following any calendar year in which the specified 

6 institution purchases, sells, or holds (directly or indirectly 

7 through any chain of ownership) one or more investments 

8 of concern. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each report to the 

10 Secretary required by subsection (a) with respect to any 

11 calendar year shall contain the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) A list of the investments of concern pur13 chased, sold, or held during such calendar year. 

14 ‘‘(2) The aggregate fair market value of all in15 vestments of concern held as of the close of such cal16 endar year. 

17 ‘‘(3) The combined value of all investments of 

18 concern sold over the course of such calendar year, 

19 as measured by the fair market value of such invest20 ments at the time of the sale. 

21 ‘‘(4) The combined value of all capital gains 

22 from such sales of investments of concern. 

23 ‘‘(c) INCLUSION OF CERTAIN POOLED FUNDS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An investment of concern 

25 acquired through a regulated investment company, 

26 exchange traded fund, or any other pooled investVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 Nov 10, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6165.IH H6165

dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 6165 IH

1 ment shall be treated as acquired through a chain of 

2 ownership referred to in subsection (a), unless such 

3 pooled investment is certified by the Secretary as 

4 not holding any listed investments in accordance 

5 with subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2). 

6 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATIONS OF POOLED FUNDS.— 

7 The Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary 

8 of the Treasury, shall establish procedures under 

9 which certain regulated investment companies, ex10 change traded funds, and other pooled invest11 ments— 

12 ‘‘(A) shall be reported in accordance with 

13 the requirements under subsection (b); and 

14 ‘‘(B) may be certified by the Secretary as 

15 not holding any listed investments. 

16 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF RELATED ORGANIZATIONS.— 

17 For purposes of this section, assets held by any related 

18 organization (as defined in section 4968(d)(2) of the In19 ternal Revenue Code of 1986) with respect to a specified 

20 institution shall be treated as held by such specified insti21 tution, except that— 

22 ‘‘(1) such assets shall not be taken into account 

23 with respect to more than 1 specified institution; 

24 and 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 6165 IH

1 ‘‘(2) unless such organization is controlled by 

2 such institution or is described in section 509(a)(3) 

3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect 

4 to such institution, assets which are not intended or 

5 available for the use or benefit of such specified in6 stitution shall not be taken into account. 

7 ‘‘(e) VALUATION OF DEBT.—For purposes of this 

8 section, the fair market value of any debt shall be the prin9 cipal amount of such debt. 

10 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary, after consulta11 tion with the Secretary of the Treasury, may issue such 

12 regulations or other guidance as may be necessary or ap13 propriate to carry out the purposes of this section, includ14 ing regulations or other guidance providing for the proper 

15 application of this section with respect to certain regulated 

16 investment companies, exchange traded funds, and pooled 

17 investments. 

18 ‘‘(g) COMPLIANCE OFFICER.—Any specified institu19 tion that is required to submit a report under subsection 

20 (a) shall designate, before the submission of such report, 

21 and maintain a compliance officer, who shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) be a current employee or legally authorized 

23 agent of such institution; and 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 6165 IH

1 ‘‘(2) be responsible, on behalf of the institution, 

2 for personally certifying accurate compliance with 

3 the reporting requirements under this section. 

4 ‘‘(h) DATABASE REQUIREMENT.—Beginning not 

5 later than 60 days before the July 1 immediately following 

6 the date of the enactment of the RIFA Act, the Secretary 

7 shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) establish and maintain a searchable data9 base on a website of the Department, under which 

10 all reports submitted under this section (including 

11 any report submitted under this section before the 

12 date of the enactment of the RIFA Act)— 

13 ‘‘(A) are made publicly available (in elec14 tronic and downloadable format), including any 

15 information provided in such reports; 

16 ‘‘(B) can be individually identified and 

17 compared; and 

18 ‘‘(C) are searchable and sortable; and 

19 ‘‘(2) not later than 30 days after receipt of a 

20 disclosure report under this section, include such re21 port in such database. 

22 ‘‘(i) INTERAGENCY INFORMATION SHARING.—Not 

23 later than 30 days after receiving a disclosure report from 

24 an institution in compliance with this section, the Sec25 retary shall transmit an unredacted copy of such report 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 6165 IH

1 to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

2 the Director of National Intelligence, the Assistant Attor3 ney General for National Security, the Director of the 

4 Central Intelligence Agency, and the Director of the Na5 tional Science Foundation. 

6 ‘‘(j) ENFORCEMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) INVESTIGATION.—The Secretary (acting 

8 through the General Counsel of the Department) 

9 may conduct investigations of possible violations of 

10 this section by institutions. 

11 ‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTION.—Whenever it appears that 

12 an institution has knowingly or willfully failed to 

13 comply with a requirement of this section (including 

14 any rule or regulation promulgated under this sec15 tion) based on such an investigation, a civil action 

16 may be brought by the Attorney General, at the re17 quest of the Secretary, in an appropriate district 

18 court of the United States, or the appropriate 

19 United States court of any territory or other place 

20 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to 

21 request such court to compel compliance with the re22 quirement of this section. 

23 ‘‘(3) COSTS AND OTHER FINES.—An institution 

24 that is compelled to comply with a requirement of 

25 this section pursuant to paragraph (2) shall— 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 6165 IH

1 ‘‘(A) pay to the Treasury of the United 

2 States the full costs to the United States of ob3 taining compliance with the requirement of this 

4 section, including all associated costs of inves5 tigation and enforcement; and 

6 ‘‘(B) be subject to the applicable fines de7 scribed in paragraph (4). 

8 ‘‘(4) FINES FOR VIOLATIONS.—The Secretary 

9 shall impose a fine on an institution that knowingly 

10 or willfully fails to comply with a requirement of this 

11 section as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) FIRST-TIME VIOLATIONS.—In the 

13 case of a specified institution that knowingly or 

14 willfully fails to comply with a requirement of 

15 this section with respect to a calendar year, and 

16 that has not previously knowingly or willfully 

17 failed to comply with such a requirement, the 

18 Secretary shall impose a fine on the institution 

19 in an amount that is not less than 50 percent 

20 and not more than 100 percent of the sum of— 

21 ‘‘(i) the aggregate fair market value 

22 of all investments of concern held by such 

23 institution as of the close of such calendar 

24 year; and 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 6165 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) the combined value of all invest2 ments of concern sold over the course of 

3 such calendar year, as measured by the 

4 fair market value of such investments at 

5 the time of the sale. 

6 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT VIOLATIONS.—In the 

7 case of a specified institution that has been 

8 fined pursuant to clause (i) with respect to a 

9 calendar year, and that knowingly or willfully 

10 fails to comply with a requirement of this sec11 tion with respect to any additional calendar 

12 year, the Secretary shall impose a fine on the 

13 institution with respect to any such additional 

14 calendar year in an amount that is not less 

15 than 100 percent and not more than 200 per16 cent of the sum of— 

17 ‘‘(i) the aggregate fair market value 

18 of all investments of concern held by such 

19 institution as of the close of such addi20 tional calendar year; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the combined value of all invest22 ments of concern sold over the course of 

23 such additional calendar year, as measured 

24 by the fair market value of such invest25 ments at the time of the sale. 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 6165 IH

1 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) FOREIGN COUNTRY OF CONCERN.—The 

3 term ‘foreign country of concern’ includes the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(A) A country that is a covered nation (as 

6 defined in section 4872(d) of title 10, United 

7 States Code). 

8 ‘‘(B) Any country that the Secretary, in 

9 consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the 

10 Secretary of State, and the Director of National 

11 Intelligence, determines to be engaged in con12 duct that is detrimental to the national security 

13 or foreign policy of the United States. 

14 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN ENTITY OF CONCERN.—The 

15 term ‘foreign entity of concern’ has the meaning 

16 given such term in section 10612(a) of the Research 

17 and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act 

18 (42 U.S.C. 19221(a)) and includes a foreign entity 

19 that is identified on the list published under section 

20 1286(c)(8)(A) of the John S. McCain National De21 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (10 

22 U.S.C. 22 4001 note; Public Law 115–232). 

23 ‘‘(3) INSTITUTION.—The term ‘institution’ 

24 means an institution of higher education (as such 

25 term is defined in section 102, other than an instituVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 Nov 10, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6165.IH H6165

dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 6165 IH

1 tion described in subsection (a)(1)(c) of such sec2 tion). 

3 ‘‘(4) INVESTMENT OF CONCERN.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘investment 

5 of concern’ means any specified interest with 

6 respect to any of the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) A foreign country of concern. 

8 ‘‘(ii) A foreign entity of concern. 

9 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIED INTEREST.—The term 

10 ‘specified interest’ means, with respect to any 

11 entity— 

12 ‘‘(i) stock or any other equity or prof13 its interest of such entity; 

14 ‘‘(ii) debt issued by such entity; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) any contract or derivative with 

16 respect to any property described in clause 

17 (i) or (ii). 

18 ‘‘(5) SPECIFIED INSTITUTION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘specified 

20 institution’, as determined with respect to any 

21 calendar year, means an institution if— 

22 ‘‘(i) such institution is not a public in23 stitution; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate fair market value 

25 of— 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 6165 IH

1 ‘‘(I) the assets held by such insti2 tution at the end of such calendar 

3 year (other than those assets which 

4 are used directly in carrying out the 

5 institution’s exempt purpose) is in ex6 cess of $6,000,000,000; or 

7 ‘‘(II) the investments of concern 

8 held by such institution at the end of 

9 such calendar year is in excess of 

10 $250,000,000. 

11 ‘‘(B) REFERENCES TO CERTAIN TERMS.— 

12 For the purpose of applying the definition 

13 under subparagraph (A), the terms ‘aggregate 

14 fair market value’ and ‘assets which are used 

15 directly in carrying out the institution’s exempt 

16 purpose’ shall be applied in the same manner as 

17 such terms are applied for the purposes of sec18 tion 4968(b)(1)(D) of the Internal Revenue 

19 Code of 1986.’’. 

20 (b) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT.—Section 

21 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

22 1094) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(30)(A) An institution will comply with the re24 quirements of section 117A. 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 6165 IH

1 ‘‘(B) An institution that, for 3 consecutive in2 stitutional fiscal years, violates any requirement of 

3 section 117A shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) be ineligible to participate in the pro5 grams authorized by this title for a period of 

6 not less than 2 institutional fiscal years; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) in order to regain eligibility to partici8 pate in such programs, demonstrate compliance 

9 with all requirements of such section for not 

10 less than 2 institutional fiscal years after the 

11 institutional fiscal year in which such institu12 tion became ineligible.’’. 

Æ 


dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS