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 re-
ferred 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. 
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 ‘‘Intelligence on Nefar-
ious Foreign Leaders Using Education Networks for Cor-
rupt Enrichment Act’’ or the ‘‘INFLUENCE Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Schools in the United States, especially in-
stitutions of higher education overseeing either sen-
sitive research or critical military technology sys-
tems, have provided a level of access to the Chinese 
government that the Chinese government has re-
fused to provide to the United States. 
(2) China’s control over the flow of information 
means the American people have an incomplete pic-
ture of Chinese government actions and policies that 
run counter to the interest of the United States at 
home and abroad. 
(3) In the last 15 years, the Chinese govern-
ment has opened over 100 Confucius Institutes on 
college and university campuses in the United States 
to increase their cultural standing in popular cul-
ture. While there are currently more than 500 Con-
fucius Institutes worldwide, the United States has 
more Confucius Institutes than any other country. 
(4) Federal Government officials have expressed 
concerns about Confucius Institutes. Christopher 
Wray, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion, testified that the FBI is ‘‘watching warily’’ 
Confucius Institutes and ‘‘in certain instances have 
developed appropriate investigative steps’’. 
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(5) The Department of Education has not con-
ducted regular oversight of the compliance of institu-
tions of higher education with foreign gift reporting 
requirements and, until recently, has failed to ade-
quately enforce the requirements of section 117 of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (relating to dis-
closures of foreign gifts). The Department of Edu-
cation maintains a database detailing the reporting 
of foreign gifts received by institutions, but relies 
solely on the institutions to self-report gifts. 
(6) The Department of Education is updating 
the reporting requirements applicable to institutions 
of higher education. Previously, the Department of 
Education had not issued guidance on foreign gift 
reporting by institutions of higher education since 
2004. As a result, institution’s informed Congress 
that the reporting requirements were unclear and 
confusing. Institutions also informed Congress that 
the Department of Education website used to report 
foreign gifts was dated and difficult to use. 
(7) Absent full transparency regarding how 
Confucius Institutes operate and full reciprocity for 
the cultural outreach efforts of the United States on 
college campuses in China, Confucius Institutes 
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should not continue in the United States unchecked 
or unsupervised. 
SEC. 3. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN FOREIGN 
GIFTS AND CONTRACTS. 
Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1011f) is amended— 
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE REPORT.—An institution shall file 
a disclosure report with the Secretary on January 31 or 
July 31, whichever is sooner, whenever one or more of the 
following occurs: 
‘‘(1) The institution is owned or controlled by 
a foreign source. 
‘‘(2) The institution receives a gift from or en-
ters into a contract with a foreign source determined 
by the Secretary to be acting directly or indirectly 
on behalf of a foreign government that is adversarial 
to the United States, regardless of the value of the 
gift or contract. 
‘‘(3) The institution receives a gift from or en-
ters into a contract with a foreign source not de-
scribed in paragraph (2), the value of which is— 
‘‘(A) $50,000 considered alone; or 
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‘‘(B) $100,000 or more in combination 
with all other gifts from or contracts with that 
foreign source within a calendar year.’’; 
(2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(e) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) PUBLIC
INSPECTION.—Subject to para-
graph (4), all disclosure reports required by this sec-
tion shall be public records open to inspection and 
copying during business hours. 
‘‘(2) PUBLICATION BY DEPARTMENT OF EDU-
CATION.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of the INFLUENCE Act, and on an an-
nual basis thereafter, the Secretary of Education 
shall make available, on a publicly accessible website 
of the Department of Education, a database of the 
information disclosed to the Secretary under this 
section during the preceding year. 
‘‘(3) PUBLICATION
BY
INSTITUTIONS.—Not 
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
the INFLUENCE Act, and on an annual basis 
thereafter, each institution that receives a gift or en-
ters into a contract described in subsection (a) shall 
make available, on a publicly accessible website of 
the institution— 
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‘‘(A) in the case of a gift described in such 
subsection, a detailed explanation of the gift, 
including the amount of the gift, identification 
of the source of the gift, and any conditions or 
restrictions on the gift; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of a contract described in 
such subsection, a complete and accurate copy 
of the contract. 
‘‘(4) RESTRICTION ON PUBLICATION OF SEN-
SITIVE INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Information made 
publicly available under this section shall not 
include information that is determined by an in-
stitution to be confidential, proprietary, or oth-
erwise prohibited from disclosure by law. 
‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.—If the 
Secretary determines that an institution of 
higher education willfully or negligently dis-
closed information that is confidential, propri-
etary, or otherwise prohibited from disclosure 
by law in violation of subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary may declare such institution ineligible 
to participate in programs authorized under 
title IV of this Act.’’; and 
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(3) in subsection (f)(2), by inserting before the 
period at the end the following: ‘‘, in addition to any 
other amounts as determined appropriate by the 
Secretary of Education’’. 
SEC. 4. FOREIGN INVOLVEMENT IN SENSITIVE PROJECTS. 
The Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 
et seq.) is further amended by inserting after section 117 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 117a. REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN CON-
TRACTS. 
‘‘(a) 
FOREIGN
INVOLVEMENT
IN
SENSITIVE 
PROJECTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In a case in which an insti-
tution enters into a contract with a foreign indi-
vidual under which the individual will participate in 
a sensitive project— 
‘‘(A) the institution shall disclose to the 
Secretary— 
‘‘(i) the date on which individual is 
expected to return to their home country; 
and 
‘‘(ii) and the name of the country to 
which the individual is expected to return; 
and 
‘‘(B) such contract shall provide— 
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‘‘(i) that the individual may not dis-
close information derived from such project 
to a foreign government or any other for-
eign entity; and 
‘‘(ii) that the penalties for disclosure 
of such information shall be the cancella-
tion of the contract and a requirement to 
reimburse the Federal Government as de-
scribed in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE.—A foreign 
individual who knowingly or willfully discloses infor-
mation in violation of a contract under paragraph 
(1) shall be required to reimburse the Federal Gov-
ernment for the full costs of any investigation or ad-
ministrative action resulting from such violation, in 
addition to any other amounts as determined appro-
priate by the Secretary. 
‘‘(b) CHINA-AFFILIATED CULTURAL OR LANGUAGE 
PROGRAM.—In a case in which an institution enters into 
a contract with an individual or entity under which a 
China-affiliated cultural or language program will be al-
lowed to operate at the institution, such contract— 
‘‘(1) shall include a provision protecting aca-
demic freedom at the institution; and 
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‘‘(2) shall not include any provision that would 
limit the rights of an individual under the Constitu-
tion of the United States. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘China-affiliated cultural or lan-
guage program’ means any project, program, or 
other activity that— 
‘‘(A) seeks to familiarize students with 
Chinese language or culture; and 
‘‘(B) is directly or indirectly funded by the 
Government of the People’s Republic of China. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘sensitive project’ means any 
project, program, or other activity carried out by an 
institution— 
‘‘(A) that is funded, in whole or in part, by 
Federal funds; and 
‘‘(B) for which a security clearance is re-
quired as a condition of participation.’’. 
SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION ON ENFORCEMENT 
OF FOREIGN GIFT AND CONTRACT REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
The Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 
et seq.) is further amended by inserting after section 117a 
(as added by section 4) the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 117b. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION ON ENFORCE-
MENT OF FOREIGN GIFT AND CONTRACT RE-
QUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) NOTIFICATION OF VIOLATIONS.—The Secretary 
of Education shall establish a process to notify appro-
priate Federal agencies of any violation of section 117 or 
section 117a. 
‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION OF ENFORCEMENT ACTION.— 
After receiving notice of a violation under subsection (a), 
the head of the Federal agency that received such notice 
shall determine— 
‘‘(1) whether such violation constitutes a viola-
tion of a provision of law over which the agency has 
enforcement authority; and 
‘‘(2) if such a violation occurred, whether to 
pursue an enforcement action against the individual 
or entity responsible for the violation.’’. 
SEC. 6. REPORTS. 
Section 636 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1132–5) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 636. REPORT ON FOREIGN AND NATIONAL SECURITY 
ISSUES AFFECTING INSTITUTIONS OF HIGH-
ER EDUCATION. 
‘‘(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—On an annual basis, the 
Secretary of Education, in consultation and collaboration 
with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the 
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Director of National Intelligence, the Attorney General, 
and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall 
submit to the authorizing committees a report on foreign 
and national security issues affecting institutions of higher 
education. 
‘‘(b) ELEMENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) 
shall include— 
‘‘(1) identification of areas of national need in 
foreign language, area, and international studies as 
such studies relate to government, education, busi-
ness, and nonprofit needs and a plan to address 
those needs; 
‘‘(2) a description of any risks associated with 
allowing foreign students and other foreign individ-
uals at institutions of higher education to access 
classified information, protected intellectual prop-
erty, research and development information, and 
military technology critical to the national security 
of the United States; 
‘‘(3) best practices that may be implemented by 
the Department of Education, the Department of 
Defense, and other Federal agencies with respon-
sibilities relating to national security to strengthen 
the secrecy of grants, projects, and contracts that 
involve providing foreign individuals at institutions 
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