America FIRST Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7170 To require institutions of higher education to disclose gifts from foreign sources in the publications of certain professors and affiliates, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2020 Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma (for himself, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. SPANO, Mr. BROOKS of Alabama, Mr. POSEY, Mr. ROY, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. BABIN, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. PERRY, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, and Mr. GARCIA of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To require institutions of higher education to disclose gifts from foreign sources in the publications of certain profes- sors and affiliates, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘America: Foreign In- 4 fluence Resistance Starts with Transparency Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘America FIRST Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7170.IH H7170 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7170 IH SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FOREIGN GIFTS. 1 (a) DISCLOSURE FOR INSTITUTIONS.—Any institu- 2 tion of higher education that receives a gift from, con- 3 tracts with, or has financial assets in a foreign source shall 4 disclose the total value of such gifts, contracts, and finan- 5 cial assets received from such foreign source in the byline 6 of each publication relating to such foreign source made 7 by a professor employed by such institution of higher edu- 8 cation. 9 (b) DISCLOSURE FOR DEPARTMENTS.—Any non- 10 profit department within an institution of higher edu- 11 cation that receives a gift from, contracts with, or has fi- 12 nancial assets in a foreign source shall disclose the total 13 value of such gifts, contracts, and financial assets received 14 from such foreign source in the byline of each publication 15 relating to such foreign source made by a professor em- 16 ployed by such department. 17 (c) DISCLOSURE FOR AFFILIATES.—Any affiliate of 18 an institution of higher education shall disclose the total 19 value of gifts, contracts, or other financial assets from a 20 foreign source in the byline of each publication relating 21 to such foreign source made by such affiliate. 22 (d) FOREIGN SOURCES WITH SIMILAR LOCATIONS.— 23 For purposes of the byline disclosures required under this 24 section, funding from different foreign sources that are lo- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7170.IH H7170 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7170 IH cated within the same nation shall be totaled and reported 1 as funding from such foreign source. 2 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 4 take such steps as may be necessary to enforce the provi- 5 sions of section 2. 6 (b) PENALTIES.—Upon determination that an insti- 7 tution of higher education or a nonprofit department or 8 affiliate of such an institution has failed to meet the re- 9 quirements of section 2, the Secretary shall determine the 10 appropriate enforcement action to take with respect to 11 such institution, which may include any of the following: 12 (1) Imposing a probationary period on, or lim- 13 iting eligibility for, the institution, department, affil- 14 iate, or professors in violation of this Act to receive 15 Federal funds. 16 (2) Loss of nonprofit status for a nonprofit in- 17 stitution, department, or affiliate. 18 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURES OF FOREIGN GIFTS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 117 of the Higher Edu- 20 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f) is amended— 21 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol- 22 lows: 23 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE REPORT.—An institution shall file 24 a disclosure report with the Secretary on January 31 or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7170.IH H7170 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7170 IH July 31, whichever is sooner, whenever one or more of the 1 following paragraphs applies to such institution: 2 ‘‘(1) The institution is owned or controlled by 3 a foreign source. 4 ‘‘(2) The institution receives a gift from or en- 5 ters into a contract with a foreign source, the value 6 of which is $50,000 or more, considered in combina- 7 tion with all other gifts from or contracts with that 8 foreign source within a calendar year.’’; 9 (2) in subsection (b)— 10 (A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, 11 by inserting before the period at the end the 12 following: ‘‘, and the content of each such con- 13 tract’’; and 14 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting before 15 the period the following: ‘‘, and the content of 16 each such contract’’; 17 (3) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘, including 18 the contents of any contracts,’’ after ‘‘reports’’; and 19 (4) in subsection (h)(3), by inserting before the 20 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, or the fair 21 market value of an in-kind gift’’. 22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 23 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to gifts received 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7170.IH H7170 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7170 IH or contracts entered into, or other activities carried out, 1 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 2 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) AFFILIATE.—The term ‘‘affiliate’’ refers to 5 any entity that invokes the name of an institution of 6 higher education in the byline of a publication, in- 7 cluding professors, lecturers, researchers, graduate 8 students, and non-employee alumni. 9 (2) ASSET.—The term ‘‘asset’’ includes stocks, 10 bonds, retirement accounts, personal bank accounts, 11 liabilities such as mortgages or real estate that 12 produce income, and terms of agreement for future 13 employment. 14 (3) CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘contract’’ has the 15 meaning given the term in section 117(h) of the 16 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 17 1011f(h)). 18 (4) FOREIGN SOURCE.—The term ‘‘foreign 19 source’’ has the meaning given the term in section 20 117(h) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 21 U.S.C. 1011f(h)). 22 (5) GIFT.—The term ‘‘gift’’ has the meaning 23 given the term in section 117(h) of the Higher Edu- 24 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(h)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7170.IH H7170 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7170 IH (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 1 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 2 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7170.IH H7170 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS