Washington, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik voted to pass legislation she helped introduce, the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act. This legislation brings necessary oversight and transparency to foreign gift reporting requirements to help colleges and universities across the country counter foreign influence and protect our nation’s students.
This bill also includes the Halting Academic Liaisons To (HALT) our Adversaries Act which Congresswoman Stefanik introduced earlier this year to ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars do not contribute to the advancement of the militaries of Communist China or the Russian Federation.
“Harvard President Claudine Gay’s refusal to answer my question about whether Harvard University received $1.5 billion in funding from foreign entities and governments for its Middle East Studies Department at yesterday’s Education and Workforce hearing is a prime example of why the DETERRENT Act is desperately needed to hold colleges and universities across America accountable and bring transparency to foreign gift reporting,” said Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. “The American people have a right to know how foreign governments are influencing our colleges and universities.”
The DETERRENT Act:
- Slashes the foreign gift reporting threshold for colleges and universities from $250,000 down to $50,000, with an even stricter $0 threshold for countries of concern.
- Closes reporting loopholes and provides transparency to Congress, intelligence agencies, and the public.
- Requires disclosure of foreign gifts to individual staff and faculty at research-heavy institutions to protect those targeted the most by our adversaries.
- Holds our largest private institutions accountable for their financial partnerships by revealing concerning foreign investments in their endowments.
- Implements a series of repercussions for colleges and universities that remain noncompliant in foreign gift reporting such as fines and the loss of Title IV funding.
