INFLUENCE Act
Bill: H.R.1160 | Sponsor: Rep. Murphy, Gregory (R-NC)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Intelligence on Nefarious Foreign Leaders Using Education Networks for Corrupt Enrichment Act or the INFLUENCE Act
This bill lowers the disclosure threshold regarding gifts or contracts from a foreign source that institutions of higher education (IHEs) must report to the Department of Education (ED). It also requires IHEs to disclose information related to foreign involvement in sensitive projects.
Under current law, an IHE is required to disclose to ED a gift or contract that is from a foreign source and is valued at $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with a foreign source. The bill instead requires the IHE to disclose such a gift or contract that is valued at $50,000 considered alone or $100,000 or more in combination with all other gifts or contracts.
Further, ED must update annually on its website a database of the disclosed information, and an IHE that receives a gift or contract from a foreign source must post certain information on its website. Information made publicly available must not include sensitive information.
Additionally, the bill requires IHEs to disclose information related to foreign involvement in sensitive projects. It also requires a specific contract provision for a cultural or language program that is funded by the Chinese government to operate at an IHE.
Finally, ED must establish a process to notify federal agencies of violations of the bill. ED must also report on foreign and national security issues affecting IHEs.

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Intelligence on Nefarious Foreign 
Leaders Using Education Networks for Corrupt Enrichment Act'' or the 
``INFLUENCE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Schools in the United States, especially institutions 
        of higher education overseeing either sensitive research or 
        critical military technology systems, have provided a level of 
        access to the Chinese government that the Chinese government 
        has refused to provide to the United States.
            (2) China's control over the flow of information means the 
        American people have an incomplete picture 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 government has opened 
        over 100 Confucius Institutes on college and university 
        campuses in the United States to increase their cultural 
        standing in popular culture. While there are currently more 
        than 500 Confucius 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 Investigation, testified that the FBI is 
        ``watching warily'' Confucius Institutes and ``in certain 
        instances have developed appropriate investigative steps''.
            (5) The Department of Education has not conducted regular 
        oversight of the compliance of institutions of higher education 
        with foreign gift reporting requirements and, until recently, 
        has failed to adequately enforce the requirements of section 
        117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (relating to 
        disclosures of foreign gifts). The Department of Education 
        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 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 follows:
    ``(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 enters 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 enters into a 
        contract with a foreign source not described in paragraph (2), 
        the value of which is--
                    ``(A) $50,000 considered alone; or
                    ``(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 follows:
    ``(e) Public Availability of Information.--
            ``(1) Public inspection.--Subject to paragraph (4), all 
        disclosure reports required by this section shall be public 
        records open to inspection and copying during business hours.
            ``(2) Publication by department of education.--Not later 
        than 180 days after the date of enactment of the INFLUENCE Act, 
        and on an annual 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 enters into a contract described in subsection (a) shall 
        make available, on a publicly accessible website of the 
        institution--
                    ``(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 sensitive 
        information.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Information made publicly 
                available under this section shall not include 
                information that is determined by an institution to be 
                confidential, proprietary, or otherwise prohibited from 
                disclosure by law.
                    ``(B) Enforcement authority.--If the Secretary 
                determines that an institution of higher education 
                willfully or negligently disclosed information that is 
                confidential, proprietary, 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
            (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 CONTRACTS.

    ``(a) Foreign Involvement in Sensitive Projects.--
            ``(1) In general.--In a case in which an institution enters 
        into a contract with a foreign individual 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--
                            ``(i) that the individual may not disclose 
                        information derived from such project to a 
                        foreign government or any other foreign entity; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) that the penalties for disclosure of 
                        such information shall be the cancellation of 
                        the contract and a requirement to reimburse the 
                        Federal Government as described in paragraph 
                        (2).
            ``(2) Liability for disclosure.--A foreign individual who 
        knowingly or willfully discloses information in violation of a 
        contract under paragraph (1) shall be required to reimburse the 
        Federal Government for the full costs of any investigation or 
        administrative action resulting from such violation, in 
        addition to any other amounts as determined appropriate 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 allowed to operate at the institution, such contract--
            ``(1) shall include a provision protecting academic freedom 
        at the institution; and
            ``(2) shall not include any provision that would limit the 
        rights of an individual under the Constitution of the United 
        States.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `China-affiliated cultural or language 
        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 required as 
                a condition of participation.''.

SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION ON ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN GIFT AND 
              CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.

    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:

``SEC. 117B. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION ON ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN GIFT 
              AND CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) Notification of Violations.--The Secretary of Education shall 
establish a process to notify appropriate 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 violation 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 HIGHER 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 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, business, and nonprofit needs 
        and a plan to address those needs;
            ``(2) a description of any risks associated with allowing 
        foreign students and other foreign individuals at institutions 
        of higher education to access classified information, protected 
        intellectual property, 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 responsibilities relating to national 
        security to strengthen the secrecy of grants, projects, and 
        contracts that involve providing foreign individuals at 
        institutions of higher education with access to classified or 
        sensitive information, including recommended enforcement 
        actions to respond to the misuse of such information;
            ``(4) a description of the ongoing efforts of Federal law 
        enforcement organizations, including the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation, to address the theft of sensitive information by 
        adversarial foreign actors; and
            ``(5) a summary of any information from national security-
        related projects at institutions of higher education that was 
        stolen, misused, or wrongfully disclosed during the period 
        covered by the report and any actions taken to remedy the 
        theft, misuse, or disclosure of such information.
    ``(c) Form of Report.--Each report under subsection (a) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
    ``(d) Public Availability.--The Secretary of Education shall make 
each report under subsection (a) available on a publicly accessible 
website of the Department of Education, except no report published on 
such website shall contain classified information.''.
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