[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6165 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6165

  To amend the Higher Education Act to require disclosure of certain 
                 foreign investments within endowments.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 1, 2023

  Mr. Owens (for himself and Ms. Foxx) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Higher Education Act to require disclosure of certain 
                 foreign investments within endowments.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reporting on Investments in Foreign 
Adversaries Act'' or the ``RIFA Act''.

SEC. 2. INVESTMENT DISCLOSURE REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 117 
the following:

``SEC. 117A. INVESTMENT DISCLOSURE REPORT.

    ``(a) Investment Disclosure Report.--A specified institution shall 
file a disclosure report in accordance with subsection (b) with the 
Secretary on July 1 immediately following any calendar year in which 
the specified institution purchases, sells, or holds (directly or 
indirectly through any chain of ownership) one or more investments of 
concern.
    ``(b) Contents of Report.--Each report to the Secretary required by 
subsection (a) with respect to any calendar year shall contain the 
following:
            ``(1) A list of the investments of concern purchased, sold, 
        or held during such calendar year.
            ``(2) The aggregate fair market value of all investments of 
        concern held as of the close of such calendar year.
            ``(3) The combined value of all investments of concern sold 
        over the course of such calendar year, as measured by the fair 
        market value of such investments at the time of the sale.
            ``(4) The combined value of all capital gains from such 
        sales of investments of concern.
    ``(c) Inclusion of Certain Pooled Funds.--
            ``(1) In general.--An investment of concern acquired 
        through a regulated investment company, exchange traded fund, 
        or any other pooled investment shall be treated as acquired 
        through a chain of ownership referred to in subsection (a), 
        unless such pooled investment is certified by the Secretary as 
        not holding any listed investments in accordance with 
        subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Certifications of pooled funds.--The Secretary, after 
        consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall 
        establish procedures under which certain regulated investment 
        companies, exchange traded funds, and other pooled 
        investments--
                    ``(A) shall be reported in accordance with the 
                requirements under subsection (b); and
                    ``(B) may be certified by the Secretary as not 
                holding any listed investments.
    ``(d) Treatment of Related Organizations.--For purposes of this 
section, assets held by any related organization (as defined in section 
4968(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) with respect to a 
specified institution shall be treated as held by such specified 
institution, except that--
            ``(1) such assets shall not be taken into account with 
        respect to more than 1 specified institution; and
            ``(2) unless such organization is controlled by such 
        institution or is described in section 509(a)(3) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to such institution, 
        assets which are not intended or available for the use or 
        benefit of such specified institution shall not be taken into 
        account.
    ``(e) Valuation of Debt.--For purposes of this section, the fair 
market value of any debt shall be the principal amount of such debt.
    ``(f) Regulations.--The Secretary, after consultation with the 
Secretary of the Treasury, may issue such regulations or other guidance 
as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this 
section, including regulations or other guidance providing for the 
proper application of this section with respect to certain regulated 
investment companies, exchange traded funds, and pooled investments.
    ``(g) Compliance Officer.--Any specified institution that is 
required to submit a report under subsection (a) shall designate, 
before the submission of such report, and maintain a compliance 
officer, who shall--
            ``(1) be a current employee or legally authorized agent of 
        such institution; and
            ``(2) be responsible, on behalf of the institution, for 
        personally certifying accurate compliance with the reporting 
        requirements under this section.
    ``(h) Database Requirement.--Beginning not later than 60 days 
before the July 1 immediately following the date of the enactment of 
the RIFA Act, the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) establish and maintain a searchable database on a 
        website of the Department, under which all reports submitted 
        under this section (including any report submitted under this 
        section before the date of the enactment of the RIFA Act)--
                    ``(A) are made publicly available (in electronic 
                and downloadable format), including any information 
                provided in such reports;
                    ``(B) can be individually identified and compared; 
                and
                    ``(C) are searchable and sortable; and
            ``(2) not later than 30 days after receipt of a disclosure 
        report under this section, include such report in such 
        database.
    ``(i) Interagency Information Sharing.--Not later than 30 days 
after receiving a disclosure report from an institution in compliance 
with this section, the Secretary shall transmit an unredacted copy of 
such report to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the 
Director of National Intelligence, the Assistant Attorney General for 
National Security, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and 
the Director of the National Science Foundation.
    ``(j) Enforcement.--
            ``(1) Investigation.--The Secretary (acting through the 
        General Counsel of the Department) may conduct investigations 
        of possible violations of this section by institutions.
            ``(2) Civil action.--Whenever it appears that an 
        institution has knowingly or willfully failed to comply with a 
        requirement of this section (including any rule or regulation 
        promulgated under this section) based on such an investigation, 
        a civil action may be brought by the Attorney General, at the 
        request of the Secretary, in an appropriate district court of 
        the United States, or the appropriate United States court of 
        any territory or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the 
        United States, to request such court to compel compliance with 
        the requirement of this section.
            ``(3) Costs and other fines.--An institution that is 
        compelled to comply with a requirement of this section pursuant 
        to paragraph (2) shall--
                    ``(A) pay to the Treasury of the United States the 
                full costs to the United States of obtaining compliance 
                with the requirement of this section, including all 
                associated costs of investigation and enforcement; and
                    ``(B) be subject to the applicable fines described 
                in paragraph (4).
            ``(4) Fines for violations.--The Secretary shall impose a 
        fine on an institution that knowingly or willfully fails to 
        comply with a requirement of this section as follows:
                    ``(A) First-time violations.--In the case of a 
                specified institution that knowingly or willfully fails 
                to comply with a requirement of this section with 
                respect to a calendar year, and that has not previously 
                knowingly or willfully failed to comply with such a 
                requirement, the Secretary shall impose a fine on the 
                institution in an amount that is not less than 50 
                percent and not more than 100 percent of the sum of--
                            ``(i) the aggregate fair market value of 
                        all investments of concern held by such 
                        institution as of the close of such calendar 
                        year; and
                            ``(ii) the combined value of all 
                        investments of concern sold over the course of 
                        such calendar year, as measured by the fair 
                        market value of such investments at the time of 
                        the sale.
                    ``(B) Subsequent violations.--In the case of a 
                specified institution that has been fined pursuant to 
                clause (i) with respect to a calendar year, and that 
                knowingly or willfully fails to comply with a 
                requirement of this section with respect to any 
                additional calendar year, the Secretary shall impose a 
                fine on the institution with respect to any such 
                additional calendar year in an amount that is not less 
                than 100 percent and not more than 200 percent of the 
                sum of--
                            ``(i) the aggregate fair market value of 
                        all investments of concern held by such 
                        institution as of the close of such additional 
                        calendar year; and
                            ``(ii) the combined value of all 
                        investments of concern sold over the course of 
                        such additional calendar year, as measured by 
                        the fair market value of such investments at 
                        the time of the sale.
    ``(k) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Foreign country of concern.--The term `foreign 
        country of concern' includes the following:
                    ``(A) A country that is a covered nation (as 
                defined in section 4872(d) of title 10, United States 
                Code).
                    ``(B) Any country that the Secretary, in 
                consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the 
                Secretary of State, and the Director of National 
                Intelligence, determines to be engaged in conduct that 
                is detrimental to the national security or foreign 
                policy of the United States.
            ``(2) Foreign entity of concern.--The term `foreign entity 
        of concern' has the meaning given such term in section 10612(a) 
        of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 19221(a)) and includes a foreign entity that is 
        identified on the list published under section 1286(c)(8)(A) of 
        the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for 
        Fiscal Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 22 4001 note; Public Law 115-232).
            ``(3) Institution.--The term `institution' means an 
        institution of higher education (as such term is defined in 
        section 102, other than an institution described in subsection 
        (a)(1)(c) of such section).
            ``(4) Investment of concern.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `investment of concern' 
                means any specified interest with respect to any of the 
                following:
                            ``(i) A foreign country of concern.
                            ``(ii) A foreign entity of concern.
                    ``(B) Specified interest.--The term `specified 
                interest' means, with respect to any entity--
                            ``(i) stock or any other equity or profits 
                        interest of such entity;
                            ``(ii) debt issued by such entity; and
                            ``(iii) any contract or derivative with 
                        respect to any property described in clause (i) 
                        or (ii).
            ``(5) Specified institution.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `specified 
                institution', as determined with respect to any 
                calendar year, means an institution if--
                            ``(i) such institution is not a public 
                        institution; and
                            ``(ii) the aggregate fair market value of--
                                    ``(I) the assets held by such 
                                institution at the end of such calendar 
                                year (other than those assets which are 
                                used directly in carrying out the 
                                institution's exempt purpose) is in 
                                excess of $6,000,000,000; or
                                    ``(II) the investments of concern 
                                held by such institution at the end of 
                                such calendar year is in excess of 
                                $250,000,000.
                    ``(B) References to certain terms.--For the purpose 
                of applying the definition under subparagraph (A), the 
                terms `aggregate fair market value' and `assets which 
                are used directly in carrying out the institution's 
                exempt purpose' shall be applied in the same manner as 
                such terms are applied for the purposes of section 
                4968(b)(1)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.''.
    (b) Program Participation Agreement.--Section 487(a) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
            ``(30)(A) An institution will comply with the requirements 
        of section 117A.
            ``(B) An institution that, for 3 consecutive institutional 
        fiscal years, violates any requirement of section 117A shall--
                    ``(i) be ineligible to participate in the programs 
                authorized by this title for a period of not less than 
                2 institutional fiscal years; and
                    ``(ii) in order to regain eligibility to 
                participate in such programs, demonstrate compliance 
                with all requirements of such section for not less than 
                2 institutional fiscal years after the institutional 
                fiscal year in which such institution became 
                ineligible.''.
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