Protecting America Initiative Applauds House Passage of Legislation to Safeguard America’s Campuses from the CCP

On Thursday, March 27, the U.S. House passed H.R. 1048, the DETERRENT Act, with bipartisan support. The final vote was 241-169. This legislation takes important steps to increase transparency when it comes to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence within America’s colleges and universities. The Protecting America Initiative applauds the House of Representatives for addressing this important issue and urges Senate passage of H.R. 1048.  

Universities Are Taking Money from the CCP – It is Time for Transparency  

A March 2025 investigation by the non-partisan watchdog group Americans for Public Trust uncovered that entities from China poured $176 billion into U.S. colleges and universities through gifts and contracts. According to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, “The PRC is the largest source of foreign donations to U.S. universities since 2013.” Equally concerning, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA), found that 30% of foreign funds going into U.S. colleges are reported as “anonymous.” 

American institutes of higher learning should be accountable to U.S. taxpayers who subsidize their existence, not the CCP. According to the Congressional Budget Office, over the next ten years taxpayers will spend $427 billion on federal student loan programs. That money will go directly into the coffers of American colleges. If these institutions want to take tax dollars from Washington, they must be transparent when they take money from our adversaries as well.  

The DETERRENT Act will address anonymous foreign money in higher education by requiring more transparency from colleges and universities. Under the legislation, accredited institutions of higher learning will have to clearly disclose the following information:  

• Any gift from a foreign country of concern of any dollar amount. 

• Any gift or contract from a foreign source (other than a foreign country of concern or foreign entity of concern) that is valued at $50,000 or more. 

• Any contract with a foreign country of concern after receiving a waiver. 

• If the college or university is substantially controlled by a foreign source. 

By increasing transparency and reporting requirements, the bill will ensure that taxpayers and national security officials know which colleges and universities are financially dependent on foreign adversaries like the CCP. If the past is any indication, these reports will have an immediate chilling effect on money being funneled from Beijing to U.S. campuses.  

The Importance of Fighting CCP Influence on Campuses 

The threat of communist influence on campuses is unfortunately not new. The Chinese government has been using American colleges and universities to influence students and steal American technology for years. Until Congress took action in 2019, the communist government in China had established more than 100 “Confucius Institutes” on U.S. college campuses. Under the guise of teaching the Chinese language, these programs served as indoctrination centers designed to influence students.  

The threat was on the rise as the number of Confucius Institutes was growing rapidly. Then Congress took action. In 2018, lawmakers included language in the National Defense Authorization Act (Sec. 1091) that prohibited any money from the Department of Defense going to a university that operated a Confucious Institute. The result was immediate. Since 2019, the number of colleges openly collaborating with the CCP has fallen dramatically from more than 100 to fewer than five. 

This is a clear example of how Congress can use federal purse strings to weed out the influence of a Chinese government bent on nothing short of world domination. There is still more that can and must be done. That is why the Protecting America Institute has been working with state legislatures across the country to pass higher education disclosure and transparency bills. We are happy to see the U.S. Congress joining the fight again. 

Getting This Legislation to the President’s Desk 

We recently explained that Congress has already passed many of these bills. In fact, another version of this bill was approved in the House last year. Unfortunately, the bill died in the Senate and did not make it to the president’s desk. This cannot happen again.  

These votes expose where elected officials stand on Chinese government influence. Shockingly, 169 Members of the House voted with liberal colleges and the CCP to continue anonymous foreign giving. The Protecting America Initiative looks forward to seeing this legislation to the finish line and holding accountable any elected officials who oppose transparency when it comes to foreign influence on American campuses.