Block DHS funding to US Colleges and Universities that have ties to certain Chinese organizations?
This bill would block funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to U.S. colleges and universities if they have ties to certain Chinese organizations. These include Confucius Institutes (Chinese government-funded cultural centers), the Thousand Talents Program (a Chinese government science and tech recruitment effort), and Chinese schools connected to China's military or spying agencies. If a college has a partnership or agreement or accepts donations from these groups, they won’t be eligible for DHS funding unless they cut those ties. If they end the relationship, they would be eligible for funding again.
Sponsor: Rep. August Pfluger (Republican, Texas, District 11)
View full bill text ➔
How do you feel?
Opponents say
• "There’s a number of potential issues, footfalls, not by the Stanfords not by the Texas A&Ms not by the University of Marylands, but in my district New Jersey City University, a small college that is primarily for first-time college graduates had a relationship with a Confucius Institute which they terminated. Now under the definitions, a relationship is any agreement, not significant funding, not being in your research facilities, it's any agreement which to me could not even be a monetary agreement it could be an exchange of students. We've talked about what happens if there is a relationship. People say that they can terminate agreements, not knowing what those agreements are and what the ability to terminate these agreements immediately might mean. It might be that they lack the ability to do so and therefore would not be able to receive any funds from the Department of Homeland Security. Even if they are able to terminate the agreement, it says ‘shall be eligible,’ meaning any funding that they get from DHS is not automatically reinstated, so it could be a particular grant that they lose funding for they’d have to reapply that could take several years, that could have an impact on a lot of different universities." Source: Rep. Rob Menendez (Democrat, New Jersey, District 8)
• "The host of absurd outcomes that could result from this measure includes colleges and universities losing out on disaster relief funding because of a research partnership. Committee Democrats recognize the threat of investments by the PRC at U.S. universities…We agree that such foreign investments by PRC affiliates must not go unchecked, but H.R. 1516, as reported, is no solution… Determining whether a university located in China ``provides any support to . . . police . . . of the Government of the People's Republic of China,'' which would deem that university a ``Chinese entity of concern'' under H.R. 1516, would require DHS and educational institutions to have insight into police investigations and public safety policies at China's more than 3,000 universities. For example, this legislation would be triggered by any support to the Chinese government police, even support for a criminal investigation such as a crime of violence against a U.S. study-abroad student." Source: Rep. Bennie Thompson (Democrat, Mississippi, District 2), in response to this bill when it was proposed previously
Proponents say
• "I am deeply concerned about the threats the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to our homeland. National security experts and law enforcement officials have continuously raised alarms about the CCP’s increasing subversive activities inside our country through organizations like the CCP’s Confucius Institutes and their affiliate groups...This bill would play a vital role in protecting our students, our intellectual property, and our national security." Source: Rep. August Pfluger (Republican, Texas, District 11), the sponsor of this bill
• "In May, the FBI confirmed to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence that the Chinese Communist Party is working to steal academic research at American universities. And as FBI Director Wray stated, Confucius Institutes are platforms for the CCP to disseminate communist propaganda, encourage censorship, and restrict academic freedom on our campuses. H.R. 1516 will ban DHS funds from flowing to American universities that host a Confucius Institute or maintain a relationship with a Chinese entity of concern. It’s going to mitigate the risk posed by the Chinese Communist Party to our institutions of higher education." Source: Source: Rep. Mark Green (Republican, Tennessee, District 7)