Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. FALLON. Mr. Chair, I rise today to offer an amendment to the DETERRENT Act, a bill that will work toward preventing foreign influence within America's institutions, colleges, and universities by strengthening section 117 of the Higher Education Act.

Section 117 requires colleges and universities to report contracts with and gifts from a foreign source that, alone or combined, are valued at $250,000 or more for per calendar year.

My amendment will prohibit repeat-offending institutions from obtaining waivers that will allow them to accept donations or gifts from countries or entities of concern.

Some countries and entities, like China, pose a particular concern to the United States, and as such, institutions are required under this act to obtain special waivers if they wish to accept donations, gifts, or contracts from them.

My amendment simply adds that if an institution fails to comply with this act for 3 years, they are no longer eligible to receive these waivers. It is kind of a ``three strikes and you are out'' deal.

Foreign funds can come with strings attached, as we all know, strings that undermine our own national security. Foreign countries can use investment in America's colleges and institutions to disseminate propaganda, steal secrets and research, and, unfortunately, so much more.

This is why countries that raise more concern have more supervision over any of their donations or gifts, including waiver requirements.

This is really a commonsense amendment. We are not stripping away waivers after the first mistake. We are not even stripping away waivers after the second mistake. If it is the third time, if you neglect this act, this is obviously purposeful and that is when we say, as I mentioned before, three strikes and you are out. You have proven, if you do that, that you lack the transparency and the trust that are required to have these waivers permitted.

This amendment is not only about transparency and accountability, but it is also fundamentally about our national security.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of our national security by supporting this amendment. I hope this is bipartisan.

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Mr. FALLON. Mr. Chair, I think I made my point clear. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. FALLON. Mr. Chair, I rise today to offer yet another amendment on the DETERRENT Act. It again deals with section 117, which requires colleges and universities to report contracts or gifts that total over $250,000 in a given year. It is, I think, very important because of the nefarious influence that some foreign governments might exert on our youngest and most talented minds.

When Secretary DeVos, in 2019, initiated investigations into just 12 universities to ensure compliance with section 117, the Department found that $6.5 billion of previously unreported foreign gifts and contracts were revealed. Despite this demonstrating a clear need for increased investigation and enforcement, the Biden administration's Department of Education refuses to open investigations under section 117 to ensure institutions aren't hiding foreign investments.

Think about that for a second: 12 institutions. $6.5 billion of gifts revealed, when they were essentially audited. That is scary. It is unbelievably frightening.

The underlying bill does not require institutions to maintain certain information about foreign gifts and contracts, including unredacted versions, which would allow for future investigations, if needed.

However, my amendment would change the minimum length of time that they must maintain this information from 4 years to 5 years. It is a step in the right direction. It is really rather minor, 4 to 5 years. The yearlong extension, why this is relevant, is because if we had a potential change in the administrations--regardless that administrations last 4 years at a time--this would be protected with 5 years.

If we have a Department of Education that is uninterested or unwilling to investigate potential foreign influences in our institutions, this added extension of that 1 year could become very impactful.

This should be, I think, in my humble opinion, a completely bipartisan and noncontroversial amendment. It can go both ways. If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have concerns about a future Republican administration, this just adds that extra year of protection.

This will also work toward restoring legislative branch relevance, as we see the executive branch continually year over year, regardless of what party is in power at the White House, eat away at our constitutional oversight, and, frankly, authority in powers.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment and in favor of the underlying bill.

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Mr. FALLON. Mr. Chairman, one of the other reasons why we should hopefully get overwhelming support for this amendment is this--let me give you a quick example.

In the final year of President Trump's administration, universities reported $1.6 billion in foreign donations. In the entire first year of the Biden Presidency, that number magically plunged to $4.3 million.

I doubt that the actual donations and gifts and such were reduced by 37,200 percent. I think it is merely a case of if section 117 isn't going to be essentially audited, then these universities and other institutions don't feel compelled to follow Federal law. That is another reason why I think extending this from 4 to 5 years is critical.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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