I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4264 
To amend section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify 
the enforcement of such section, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 30, 2021 
Mrs. HARSHBARGER (for herself and Mr. KELLER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
to clarify the enforcement of such section, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Requiring Education 
Providers to Observe Requirements or Trigger Fines Act’’ 
or the ‘‘REPORT Fines Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURES OF FOREIGN GIFTS. 
(a) DISCLOSURE REPORT.—Section 117(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f(a)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘the value of which is $250,000 or 
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more, considered alone or in combination with all other 
gifts from or contracts with that foreign source within a 
calendar year’’ and inserting ‘‘the value of which is 
$50,000 or more within a calendar year’’. 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 117(f) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f(f)) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(f) ENFORCEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) SYSTEM OF PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(A) FIRST
INSTANCE
OF
FAILURE.— 
Whenever it appears that an institution has 
failed to comply with the requirements of this 
section for the first time in a 3-year period, and 
except in a case in which a civil action is 
brought against an institution under paragraph 
(3)— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary shall issue a written 
warning to such institution that sets forth 
each failure of compliance, each corrective 
action that the institution shall take to be 
in compliance, and the requisite time pe-
riod in which the institution must take 
such corrective action; and 
‘‘(ii) the institution shall be provided 
the opportunity to respond to the Sec-
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retary not later than 60 days after the 
date on which the warning is received by 
the institution. 
‘‘(B) SECOND INSTANCE OF FAILURE.—In 
a case in which an institution received a written 
warning under subparagraph (A), and the insti-
tution appears to have failed to comply with the 
requirements of this section for the second time 
during the 3-year period beginning on the date 
on which such warning was received by the in-
stitution under subparagraph (A), upon a judi-
cial finding that such institution has failed to 
comply with the requirements of this section, 
including any rule or regulation promulgated 
under this section, the Court shall impose a 
civil penalty in an amount that does not exceed 
amount of funds provided by the foreign source 
to the institution and which is the subject of 
the institution’s failure under this subpara-
graph. 
‘‘(C) THIRD
OR
SUBSEQUENT
INSTANCE 
OF FAILURE.— 
‘‘(i) JUDICIAL FINDING.—In a case of 
an institution on which a civil penalty was 
imposed under subparagraph (B), and 
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such institution appears to have failed to 
comply with the requirements of this sec-
tion for a third time, or any time there-
after, during the 3-year period beginning 
on the date on which a warning was re-
ceived under subparagraph (A), upon a ju-
dicial finding that an institution has failed 
to comply with the requirements of this 
section, including any rule or regulation 
promulgated under this section, the Court 
shall impose a civil penalty in an amount 
equal to the amount of funds provided by 
the foreign source to the institution and 
which is the subject of the institution’s 
failure under this subparagraph. 
‘‘(ii) INELIGIBILITY.—In a case in 
which the court finds that an institution 
has failed to comply with the requirements 
of this section for a third time, or any time 
thereafter, during the 3-year period begin-
ning on the date on which a warning was 
received under subparagraph (A), including 
any rule or regulation promulgated under 
this section, the institution shall be ineli-
gible for new Federal research funding 
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during the fiscal year following such a 
finding. 
‘‘(2) ACCELERATED PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In any instance in 
which a court determines under subparagraph 
(B) or (C) of paragraph (1) that an institution 
received funding, and the funding was from a 
foreign adversary, or any entity associated with 
a foreign adversary, such institution shall im-
mediately be assessed a civil penalty under 
paragraph (1)(C). 
‘‘(B) FOREIGN
ADVERSARY
DEFINED.— 
For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘for-
eign adversary’ has the meaning given the term 
in the rule issued by the Department of Com-
merce entitled ‘Securing the Information and 
Communications Technology and Services Sup-
ply Chain’ (86 Fed. Reg. 4913 (January 19, 
2021)). Such foreign adversaries include— 
‘‘(i) the People’s Republic of China, 
including the Hong Kong Special Adminis-
trative Region (China); 
‘‘(ii) the Republic of Cuba (Cuba); 
‘‘(iii) the Islamic Republic of Iran 
(Iran); 
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‘‘(iv) the Democratic People’s Repub-
lic of Korea (North Korea); the Russian 
Federation (Russia); and 
‘‘(v) Venezuelan politician Nicolas 
Maduro (Maduro Regime). 
‘‘(3) COURT
ORDERS.—Whenever it appears 
that an institution violated this section, other than 
in a case in which such institution receives a warn-
ing under paragraph (1)(A), a civil action shall be 
brought by the Attorney General, at the request of 
the Secretary, in an appropriate district court of the 
United States, or the appropriate United States 
court of any territory or other place subject to the 
jurisdiction of the United States, to request such 
court compel compliance with the requirements of 
this section and impose civil penalties, as appro-
priate. 
‘‘(4) COSTS.—For any failure to comply with 
the requirements of this section, including any rule 
or regulation promulgated thereunder, the institu-
tion shall pay to the Treasury of the United States 
the full costs to the United States of obtaining com-
pliance, including all associated costs of investigation 
and enforcement.’’. 
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SEC. 3. RULES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education 
shall promulgate rules to clarify the amendments made by 
section 2. 
(b) RULEMAKING
REQUIREMENTS.—The amend-
ments made by section 2 shall not— 
(1) be subject to the master calendar require-
ments under section 482 of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089); or 
(2) the public involvement and negotiated rule-
making requirements under section 492 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098a). 
Æ 
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