Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Thursday introduced the Preventing Malign CCP Influence on Academic Institutions Act to shed light on monetary gifts that America’s schools are taking from Communist China.
“The Chinese Communist Party has been targeting our universities for a long time, and Americans deserve to know whether their schools are yoking themselves to such an oppressive, authoritarian regime. This bill would shine a light on where Beijing is peddling its influence on the U.S. campuses that shape our kids’ hearts and minds,” said Kennedy.
The Preventing Malign CCP Influence on Academic Institutions Act would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to illuminate disclosures of foreign gifts to schools.
Under Kennedy’s bill, any educational institution that receives more than $5,000 from a Chinese-affiliated entity in any given year would have to disclose the full name of the donor to the Department of Education. The school would also have to provide instructions on how the Department of Education can gather more information about the donation.
Chinese-affiliated entities would include individuals; universities; think tanks; cultural, educational or language programs; Chinese state-owned entities; or companies, think tanks or nonprofits that have members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sitting on their boards of directors.
The bill would also require any educational institution that interacts with a Chinese organization to disclose all joint activities, including exchanges or research.
In addition, institutions would have to publish all contracts and agreements with Chinese entities on their websites so the public can freely access that information.
The full bill text is available here.
