AFPI Reaffirms its SUPPORT for H.R. 1048. DETERRENT Act.

Washington, D.C. – Today, the America First Policy Institute releases the following statement from Chris Schorr, Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst at AFPI’s Higher Education Reform Initiative, in advance of the House of Representatives’ pending vote on the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regime Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act.

“This important piece of bipartisan legislation amends the Higher Education Act to lower the reporting threshold for foreign gifts to U.S. universities and to restrict contracts with foreign entities of concern, including the Chinese Communist Party and radical Middle Eastern regimes.

The DETERRENT act is necessary because U.S. universities, left largely to their own devises, have failed to adequately guard themselves against malign foreign influences. This failure has enabled foreign rivals to gain access to sensitive technologies and intellectual property. Additionally, financial contributions made by foreign extremists to academic programs, cultural centers, and faculty contribute to the concerning proliferation of antisemitic and other un-American sentiments on college and university campuses.

Malign foreign influence in higher education thus threatens both U.S. national security, and the civil rights and liberties of American students. The DETERRENT Act will help to arrest this influence and restore transparency to U.S. higher education.”