Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 822 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require program participation agreements between institutions of higher education and Hanban if a Confucius Institute operates on the campus of the institution. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2021 Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require program participation agreements between institutions of higher education and Hanban if a Confucius Institute operates on the campus of the institution. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency for Con- 4 fucius Institutes Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S822.IS S822 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 822 IS SEC. 2. PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS BETWEEN 1 INSTITUTIONS AND HANBAN. 2 Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 3 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(30) If a Confucius Institute (as defined in 6 section 1091 of the John S. McCain National De- 7 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (132 8 Stat. 1997; Public Law 115–232)) operates on the 9 campus of the institution, the institution shall enter 10 into a program participation agreement with the Of- 11 fice of Chinese Language Council International 12 (commonly known as ‘Hanban’) that— 13 ‘‘(A) clearly delineates between the Confu- 14 cius Institute’s programs and the institution’s 15 own Chinese language programs; 16 ‘‘(B) locates the Confucius Institute phys- 17 ically apart from the Chinese language pro- 18 grams, Chinese history programs, and Chinese 19 cultural programs within the institution’s orga- 20 nizational structure and separates promotions 21 for the Confucius Institute from promotions for 22 the institution’s Chinese language programs, 23 Chinese history programs, and Chinese cultural 24 programs; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S822.IS S822 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 822 IS ‘‘(C) removes the Chinese assistant direc- 1 tor position from the Confucius Institute; 2 ‘‘(D) subjects the staff and professors of 3 the Confucius Institute to appropriate back- 4 ground checks; 5 ‘‘(E) is publicly available in its entirety on- 6 line; 7 ‘‘(F) does not have a confidentiality sec- 8 tion; and 9 ‘‘(G) provides that the institution has final 10 decision-making authority, including with re- 11 gard to conference themes, guest speakers, and 12 topics for events on campus at the institution.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S822.IS S822 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS