Title: America FIRST Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
America: Foreign Influence Resistance Starts with Transparency Act or the America FIRST Act
This bill requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) to disclose additional information related to gifts and contracts from foreign sources.
Specifically, the bill requires IHEs, nonprofit departments within IHEs, and affiliates of IHEs (e.g., professors and researchers) to disclose in the byline of publications the total value of gifts, contracts, and financial assets received by them from foreign sources. The Department of Education (ED) must determine appropriate enforcement actions for failures to do so, such as imposing a probationary period or limiting eligibility for federal funds.
Additionally, IHEs must report to ED a gift or contract from a foreign source that has an annual value of $50,000 or more, considered in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with a foreign source. The fair market value of in-kind gifts is included in such limit. (Currently, a report is due if the annual value is $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with a foreign source.)
Such reports to ED must also include the content of the contracts.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7170 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7170

  To require institutions of higher education to disclose gifts from 
     foreign sources in the publications of certain professors and 
                  affiliates, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 11, 2020

  Mr. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma (for himself, Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Spano, Mr. 
  Brooks of Alabama, Mr. Posey, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. 
 Babin, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Perry, Mrs. Hartzler, Mr. Burchett, Mr. Murphy 
  of North Carolina, Mr. Bishop of North Carolina, and Mr. Garcia of 
 California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require institutions of higher education to disclose gifts from 
     foreign sources in the publications of certain professors and 
                  affiliates, 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 ``America: Foreign Influence 
Resistance Starts with Transparency Act'' or the ``America FIRST Act''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FOREIGN GIFTS.

    (a) Disclosure for Institutions.--Any institution of higher 
education that receives a gift from, contracts with, or has financial 
assets in a foreign source shall disclose the total value of such 
gifts, contracts, and financial assets received from such foreign 
source in the byline of each publication relating to such foreign 
source made by a professor employed by such institution of higher 
education.
    (b) Disclosure for Departments.--Any nonprofit department within an 
institution of higher education that receives a gift from, contracts 
with, or has financial assets in a foreign source shall disclose the 
total value of such gifts, contracts, and financial assets received 
from such foreign source in the byline of each publication relating to 
such foreign source made by a professor employed by such department.
    (c) Disclosure for Affiliates.--Any affiliate of an institution of 
higher education shall disclose the total value of gifts, contracts, or 
other financial assets from a foreign source in the byline of each 
publication relating to such foreign source made by such affiliate.
    (d) Foreign Sources With Similar Locations.--For purposes of the 
byline disclosures required under this section, funding from different 
foreign sources that are located within the same nation shall be 
totaled and reported as funding from such foreign source.

SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Education shall take such steps 
as may be necessary to enforce the provisions of section 2.
    (b) Penalties.--Upon determination that an institution of higher 
education or a nonprofit department or affiliate of such an institution 
has failed to meet the requirements of section 2, the Secretary shall 
determine the appropriate enforcement action to take with respect to 
such institution, which may include any of the following:
            (1) Imposing a probationary period on, or limiting 
        eligibility for, the institution, department, affiliate, or 
        professors in violation of this Act to receive Federal funds.
            (2) Loss of nonprofit status for a nonprofit institution, 
        department, or affiliate.

SEC. 4. DISCLOSURES OF FOREIGN GIFTS.

    (a) In General.--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 paragraphs applies to 
such institution:
            ``(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, the value of which is $50,000 
        or more, considered in combination with all other gifts from or 
        contracts with that foreign source within a calendar year.'';
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, by 
                inserting before the period at the end the following: 
                ``, and the content of each such contract''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the 
                period the following: ``, and the content of each such 
                contract'';
            (3) in subsection (e), by inserting ``, including the 
        contents of any contracts,'' after ``reports''; and
            (4) in subsection (h)(3), by inserting before the semicolon 
        at the end the following: ``, or the fair market value of an 
        in-kind gift''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to gifts received or contracts entered into, or 
other activities carried out, on or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Affiliate.--The term ``affiliate'' refers to any entity 
        that invokes the name of an institution of higher education in 
        the byline of a publication, including professors, lecturers, 
        researchers, graduate students, and non-employee alumni.
            (2) Asset.--The term ``asset'' includes stocks, bonds, 
        retirement accounts, personal bank accounts, liabilities such 
        as mortgages or real estate that produce income, and terms of 
        agreement for future employment.
            (3) Contract.--The term ``contract'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 117(h) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
        (20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)).
            (4) Foreign source.--The term ``foreign source'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 117(h) of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)).
            (5) Gift.--The term ``gift'' has the meaning given the term 
        in section 117(h) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1002(h)).
            (6) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1002).
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