[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 7, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H1891-H1894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DHS RESTRICTIONS ON CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES AND CHINESE ENTITIES OF
CONCERN ACT
Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 377, I call up
the bill (H.R. 881) to establish Department of Homeland Security
funding restrictions on institutions of higher education that have a
relationship with Confucius Institutes, and for other purposes, and ask
for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 377, in lieu of
the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the
Committee on Homeland Security printed in the bill, an amendment in the
nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print
119-2, is adopted, and the bill, as amended, is considered read.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:
H.R. 881
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 ``DHS Restrictions on
Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES' HOST SCHOOLS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Chinese entity of concern.--The term ``Chinese entity
of concern'' means any university or college in the People's
Republic of China that--
(A) is involved in the implementation of military-civil
fusion;
(B) participates in the Chinese defense industrial base;
(C) is affiliated with the Chinese State Administration for
Science, Technology and Industry for the National Defense;
(D) receives funding from any organization subordinate to
the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist
Party;
(E) provides support to any security, defense, police, or
intelligence organization of the Government of the People's
Republic of China or the Chinese Communist Party;
(F) purposefully undermines the United States' relationship
with Taiwan;
(G) aids, abets, or enables the detention, imprisonment,
persecution, or forced labor of Uyghur Muslims in the
People's Republic of China;
(H) willfully and knowingly engages in malicious
activities, including online disinformation campaigns and
propaganda, for the purpose of interfering with United States
Federal, State, or local elections; or
(I) is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
(2) Confucius institute.--The term ``Confucius Institute''
means a cultural institute funded by the Government of the
People's Republic of China.
(3) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given
such term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1002).
(4) Relationship.--The term ``relationship'' means, with
respect to an institution of higher education, any contract
awarded, or agreement entered into, as well as any in-kind
donation or gift, received from a Confucius Institute or
Chinese entity of concern.
(5) Thousand talents program.--The term ``Thousand Talents
Program'' means any technological or educational program
funded or administered by the Chinese Communist Party's
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
(b) Restrictions on Institutions of Higher Education.--
Beginning with the first fiscal year that begins after the
date that is 12 months after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure
that an institution of higher education (referred to in this
subsection as an ``institution'') which has a relationship
with a Confucius Institute, Thousand Talents Program, or
Chinese entity of concern is ineligible to receive any funds
from the Department of Homeland Security, unless the
institution terminates the relationship between the
institution and such Confucius Institute, Thousand Talents
Program, or Chinese entity of concern, as the case may be.
Upon termination of such a relationship, the institution at
issue shall be eligible to receive funds from the Department
of Homeland Security.
(c) Waiver.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security may,
after consultation with the Director of National
Intelligence, on a case-by-case basis and for a period not to
exceed one year, waive the application of subsection (b) with
respect to an institution of higher education if the
Secretary determines the institution at issue maintains
robust safeguards and enforcement protocols to monitor the
relationship at issue, including active measures to detect
and deter attempts by Chinese nationals affiliated with a
Confucius Institute, Thousand Talents Program, or Chinese
entity of concern that is the subject of such relationship to
gain unauthorized access to sensitive research, data, or
federally funded development activities conducted at or on
the premises of, or by, such institution, and either of the
following conditions is satisfied:
(A) The relationship at issue is in the national security
interests of the United States.
(B) The relationship at issue does not present a direct or
indirect national security risk to the United States or its
allies.
(2) Renewal.--The Secretary of Homeland Security may, after
consultation with the Director of National Intelligence,
annually renew a waiver issued pursuant to paragraph (1) if
the Secretary determines all of the conditions described in
such paragraph continue to be satisfied.
(3) Effective dates.--A waiver issued or renewed pursuant
to paragraph (1) or (2), respectively, takes effect and
applies beginning on the date that is 30 days after such
issuance or renewal, as the case may be.
(4) Notification.--If the Secretary of Homeland Security,
after consultation with the Director of National
Intelligence, issues or renews a waiver pursuant to paragraph
(1) or (2), respectively, not later than 30 days before such
issuance or renewal, as the case may be, takes effect, the
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate written
notification regarding such issuance or renewal, including a
justification relating thereto.
(d) Assistance.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
provide outreach and, upon request, technical assistance to
institutions of higher education relating to compliance with
this Act.
(e) Reports.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the
Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee
on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of
the Senate a report regarding implementation of this section
during the immediately preceding 12 month period. Each such
report shall include information relating to the following:
(1) Any institution of higher education that has a
relationship with a Confucius Institute, Thousand Talents
Program, or Chinese entity of concern and receives funds from
the Department of Homeland Security.
(2) The implementation of subsections (b), (c), and (d).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill, as amended, shall be debatable for
1 hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on Homeland Security or their respective
designees.
The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Pfluger) and the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on H.R. 881.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 881, the DHS
Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern.
I have long been concerned that the threats the Chinese Communist
Party poses to our homeland are not only real, but they are right here.
In the Homeland Security Committee and on my Subcommittee on
Counterterrorism and Intelligence, we have heard from a wide array of
national security experts and law enforcement officials who have
continuously raised alarms about the CCP's increasing subversive
activities inside our country through organizations like the CCP's
Confucius Institutes, the Thousand Talents Program, and other CCP-
affiliated groups.
While Confucius Institutes are presented as centers for promoting
Chinese language and culture, it is proven that they have been used to
steal critical research, recruit talent for military-civil fusion
enterprises, conduct espionage, commit transnational repression, and
influence academic institutions to the benefit of the CCP.
At their peak, the United States hosted approximately 118 Confucius
Institutes, primarily at colleges and universities. Now, there are
fewer than 14 active Confucius Institutes today, but the danger still
remains. Many of these programs have rebranded themselves within
universities with the same mission as before, and that is to subvert
national security and expand CCP influence operations.
[[Page H1892]]
Another example is the CCP's Thousand Talents Program, which the FBI
has listed as the most prolific sponsor of State-sponsored talent
recruitment programs that bring outside knowledge and innovation back
to China, often through stealing trade secrets, breaking export control
laws, or violating conflict of interest policies.
These talent recruitment programs are a win-win for China. China wins
twice. First, U.S. taxpayers are funding their research, not China;
and, second, China then uses the research it would not have otherwise
had to advance its own economic and military interests.
Today, we are debating H.R. 881, my legislation which, by the way, is
bipartisan, that would prohibit DHS from funding American universities
that host a Confucius Institute or Thousand Talents Program or maintain
relationships with Chinese entities of concern. H.R. 881 also ensures
that universities prioritize the education of their students over any
of their partnerships with these institutions.
This legislation passed the House last year with bipartisan support,
and this year H.R. 881 passed the Committee on Homeland Security with
unanimous, bipartisan support.
I thank Chairman Green; Ranking Member Thompson; my counterpart on
the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Ranking Member
Magaziner; and the Committee on Homeland Security staff for moving this
critical legislation forward.
The DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of
Concern Act would play a vital role in protecting our students,
intellectual property, and national security. Together, this effort
demonstrates a unified, bipartisan way to protect our Nation from the
insidious influence of the CCP, and that our students, our intellectual
property, and our national security are protected from the malign
influence of the CCP.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my Republican and Democratic colleagues to
support this legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as
I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 881, the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes
and Chinese Entities of Concern Act seeks to help address the threat
posed to U.S. colleges and universities by the People's Republic of
China and Chinese Communist Party.
The People's Republic of China and the CCP have poured hundreds of
millions of dollars into U.S. universities through Confucius Institutes
and other programs. These programs have given China, a strategic
competitor, a platform to potentially interfere with academic freedom
and free speech as well as greater access to sensitive intellectual
property and national security information.
To curtail these efforts, H.R. 881 requires the Secretary of Homeland
Security to ensure that U.S. institutions of higher education that have
relationships with Confucius Institutes, Thousand Talents Program, or
vaguely defined Chinese entities of concern do not receive any funds
from the Department of Homeland Security.
This funding prohibition is similar to those found for the Department
of Defense in the 2019 and 2021 National Defense Authorization Acts and
the National Science Foundation in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
However, the restrictions in those measures were limited to
universities with Confucius Institutes only, and the ban was so
successful there are only a handful of Confucius Institutes remaining
on U.S. campuses.
That is why H.R. 881 includes a new category of banned relationships:
those between U.S. institutions of higher education and so-called
Chinese entities of concern. In the bill, a Chinese entity of concern
is any university or college in the People's Republic of China that
meets at least one of nine very broad criteria. As a result, H.R. 881
has the possibility to prohibit any DHS funding from going to any U.S.
university that has any relationship with virtually any Chinese
university.
That is why Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee have
worked to bring H.R. 881 more in line with the funding bans found in
previous legislation by including a waiver for the Secretary of
Homeland Security like those the past legislation had for the Secretary
of Defense and National Science Foundation Director.
Now, H.R. 881 contains a waiver provision that allows the Secretary
of Homeland Security to permit Department funding to go to U.S.
institutions of higher education that maintain a relationship with
programs and entities in China if the relationship is either in the
national security interests of the United States or has no bearing on
the national security interests of the United States or its allies.
This is critical, as the bill's language could encompass all sorts of
agreements between academic institutions in the United States and
China, including student exchange programs and other cultural programs
that benefit American students, and ultimately our country.
Along those same lines, the bill now also includes a provision that
requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide outreach and,
upon request, technical assistance to U.S. institutions of higher
education relating to compliance with the bill.
I appreciate Representative Pfluger's willingness to work with us to
improve his bill by including the waiver and technical assistance
language.
Mr. Speaker, House Democrats share concerns that Chinese Communist
Party interference with U.S. colleges and universities could lead to a
wide variety of negative outcomes. That said, House Democrats do not
want to see legitimate academic activity between the United States and
China hindered.
The compromise language recognizes the spirit of the bill--the need
to protect America's intellectual property and academic freedom--and
takes steps to mitigate the risk of going too far and denying critical
Homeland Security funding to U.S. universities for any relationship
with virtually any Chinese university.
I do not support creating another pretext for the Trump
administration to deny U.S. universities Federal funding, but I also do
not want to see our greatest strategic competitor gain a greater
foothold on college campuses that could put our national security at
risk, either.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Moolenaar), the chair of the China select
committee.
Mr. MOOLENAAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of
Representative Pfluger's bipartisan bill, H.R. 881, the DHS
Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern
Act.
{time} 1415
Mr. Speaker, this legislation is about one thing, and that is
protecting American students, American research, and America's future
from malign foreign influence, especially from the Chinese Communist
Party.
The CCP is engaged in a persistent strategic campaign to influence
every corner of American life, and one of their most dangerous efforts
is to target our education system.
Often disguised as cultural exchange programs, the CCP efforts to
infiltrate America's universities are intended to manipulate
curriculum, suppress academic freedom, and monitor Chinese students
here in the United States.
Let's be clear. The Chinese Government isn't investing in these
programs to teach language. They are trying to shape how young
Americans see the world and to rewrite the story of the Chinese
Communist Party one classroom at a time.
This is part of a broader effort by Beijing to manipulate the next
generation, whether through TikTok on their phones or authoritarian
propaganda on their campuses, and it is working. That is why this bill
matters.
H.R. 881 makes it simple. If a university wants DHS funding, it
cannot maintain ties to CCP influence operations. If we want taxpayer
dollars, we cannot partner with a foreign adversary.
We have already made real progress. The number of Confucius
Institutes in the U.S. has dropped from over 100 to just a few.
However, too many Confucius Institutes are rebranding or maintaining
quiet ties behind the scenes.
As chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, I
can
[[Page H1893]]
tell you the threat is real, and the evidence is overwhelming. This
isn't about blocking cultural exchange. It is about blocking foreign
exploitation. Academic freedom is not for sale. It is not for sale to
Beijing and not on our watch.
Let's stand together, Republicans and Democrats, to protect our
students, safeguard our campuses, and push back on foreign influence. I
ask my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 881.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she
may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu).
Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Congressional Asian Pacific
American Caucus, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 881. This bill
would block Department of Homeland Security funding from colleges and
universities with a Confucius Institute, which is known to have CCP
ties, but it expands the prohibition to any institution that has a
relationship with a Chinese entity of concern.
What is a Chinese entity of concern? Because a bill defines such
entities so broadly, that list could potentially include every single
college in China.
Because this is a new definition that is not shared with any other
Federal agency, universities would be required to independently verify
that their Chinese counterpart institutions do not meet this broad
definition just to cooperate on activities as simple as study abroad
programs. The University of California has said they do not have an
intelligence agency within their structure that can do this.
This is a completely unreasonable expectation of universities, and
that is because the real goal of the legislation is to completely sever
academic relations with institutions in China.
Ending study abroad programs, student exchanges, and every research
agreement will do nothing to make America safer. In fact, the only
improvement that this bill makes over the version that Republicans
advanced last year is giving the Secretary of Homeland Security the
authority to grant waivers. That means universities are expected to ask
for a waiver from the same administration that is continually
threatening their Federal funding and their tax-exempt status.
This is a harmful bill that would only serve to weaken America and
give the Trump administration yet another weapon to attack the American
institutions that they deem are insufficiently loyal to President
Trump.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill.
Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, I will point out that this bill was
actually brought up during the Biden administration and has nothing to
do with one administration or another. It was bipartisan, and those
entities of concern are named in and are labeled within the DOD. We do
have a pattern of history of Confucius Institutes switching names but
remaining the same for the purpose of malign influence.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from
Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).
Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule on the
DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of
Concern Act.
Mr. Speaker, over the past decade, Communist China has persecuted the
Uyghur population for their religious and cultural practices. Xinjiang
authorities have detained Uyghurs in internment camps without formal
charges, forced them into slave labor, and have committed numerous
other human rights abuses against the Uyghur people.
This includes severe physical abuse, as well as the forced collection
of biometric data like DNA and fingerprint samples.
While the Chinese Communist Party refuses to admit it, researchers
believe these abuses are a part of China's ``second-generation ethnic
policy.'' This policy advocates the forced assimilation of minorities
to create a ``state race.'' One of the founding fathers of Communist
China's second-generation ethnic policy is Hu Angang, who leads the
Institute for Contemporary China Studies at Tsinghua University.
Unfortunately, American universities such as Yale, Harvard, and the
University of Pennsylvania have engaged in partnerships with Tsinghua
University. There is no reason why our universities should be
complacent in religious persecutions in the 21st century.
Last Congress, the House adopted my amendment to address the
persecution of Uyghur Muslims in the previous iteration of this
legislation. I am grateful that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Pfluger)
has included the language in this year's bill text. We should all agree
that higher education's willingness to look the other way is always
unacceptable.
For these reasons, I encourage my colleagues to support this rule,
which is the first step in ending our universities' appeasement of
China's crimes against the Uyghur people and countering China's malign
influence and espionage at our academic institutions.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Colorado (Mr. Evans), also a cosponsor of this bill.
Mr. EVANS of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of
H.R. 881, the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese
Entities of Concern Act, of which I am an original cosponsor. The
stakes for our national security, constitutional freedoms, and the
future of American innovation could not be higher.
My 12 years of service in the Army provided me with a deep
understanding of the criminal transnational activities of the Chinese
Communist Party. CCP intellectual property theft is not a distant
threat. It is actively happening, and it is targeting military
readiness and the very foundations of American competitiveness.
In my district, where energy production, manufacturing, and
agriculture are paramount, we know the looming threat of the Chinese
Communist Party on jobs and national security.
Mr. Speaker, as you have heard from my colleagues, the CCP has also
systematically expanded its influence throughout Confucius Institutes
and affiliate programs on U.S. colleges and campuses. These programs,
often cloaked in the promises of language and cultural exchange, have
served as vehicles for espionage, intellectual property theft, and
transnational repression.
We cannot allow these vulnerabilities to persist. Today, House
Republicans are taking action. Our Nation's most innovative
breakthroughs have been developed at U.S. universities, while
conducting vital research related to defense, energy sciences, and
other sensitive industries. Many colleges and universities have
accepted CCP funding, hoping to simply expand their foreign language
learning. They have, unfortunately, opened the doors for our biggest
foreign adversary to exploit breakthroughs for Chinese strategic
advantage.
This bill protects our institutions of higher education from the
dangers of the CCP by prohibiting American universities that receive
Department of Homeland Security funding from continuing relationships
with Chinese entities of concern.
Today, foreign language and cultural exchange programs thrive in my
State of Colorado, without the influx of CCP dollars, enhancing
students' global knowledge and growing our Nation's vital national
security workforce.
Congress needs to send a clear message to the CCP that we will not
allow foreign powers to erode national security, steal intellectual
property, or threaten our immigrant population.
This Congress, I have partnered with my colleagues on other
legislation in this area. My bill, the bipartisan Countering
Transnational Repression Act, continues this important work by stopping
Chinese Communist Party surveillance and intimidating Chinese nationals
on U.S. soil.
We have also introduced the Global Investment in American Jobs Act.
We must now come together to restrict the infiltration of the Chinese
Communist Party onto our college campuses by passing the DHS
Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern
Act.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stand in defense of American
values and support this bill.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance
of my time.
Mr. Speaker, we must carefully balance potential risks to homeland
security posed by the CCP with the benefits
[[Page H1894]]
of educational and cultural exchange programs.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member and the gentleman from Rhode
Island (Mr. Magaziner) for his work on this bill. This is a process
that has taken a couple of years, and I believe that we have a good,
bipartisan bill that addresses the issue at hand.
Mr. Speaker, let me close with this. Continuing to use our taxpayer
dollars to give the Chinese Communist Party a seat in the front row of
our universities' classrooms and research labs would be a catastrophic
mistake.
It has been proven that the CCP does use programs like Confucius
Institutes, not to build bridges or promote culture, as they may say,
but to expand their influence inside the United States for malign
purposes. This legislation would put an end to this egregious national
security threat. Quite frankly, it is well overdue.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come
together, to stand firm for our American education system, and to vote
``yes'' on this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 377, the previous question is ordered on
the bill, as amended.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
____________________