Sec. 530. Disclosures of foreign gifts and contracts at institutions of higher education
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Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1011f ) is amended to read as follows: An institution shall file a disclosure report described in subsection
(b)with the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury (in the capacity of the Secretary as the chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States under section 721(k)(3) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 ( 50 U.S.C. 4565(k)(3) )) not later than March 31 immediately following any calendar year in which the institution receives a gift from, or enters into a contract with, a foreign source, the value of which is $50,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from, or contracts with, that foreign source within the calendar year. An institution shall file a disclosure report described in subsection
(b)with the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury (in the capacity of the Secretary as the chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States under section 721(k)(3) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 ( 50 U.S.C. 4565(k)(3) )) not later than March 31 immediately following any calendar year in which the institution enters into a contract with a foreign source that has an undetermined monetary value. In the case of an institution that is owned or controlled by a foreign source, the institution shall file a disclosure report described in subsection
(b)with the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury (in the capacity of the Secretary as the chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States under section 721(k)(3) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 ( 50 U.S.C. 4565(k)(3) )) not later than March 31 of every year. Each report to the Secretary required by subsection
(a)shall contain the following: In the case of an institution required to file a report under paragraph
(1)or
(2)of subsection (a)— for gifts received from or contracts entered into with a foreign government, the aggregate amount of such gifts and contracts received from each foreign government, including the content of each such contract; and for gifts received from or contracts entered into with a foreign source other than a foreign government, the aggregate dollar amount of such gifts and contracts attributable to a particular country and the legal or formal name of the foreign source, and the content of each such contract. For purposes of this paragraph, the country to which a gift is attributable is— the country of citizenship, or if unknown, the principal residence, for a foreign source who is a natural person; or the country of incorporation, or if unknown, the principal place of business, for a foreign source which is a legal entity. In the case of an institution required to file a report under subsection (a)(3)— the information described in paragraph (1)(A) (without regard to any gift or contract threshold described in subsection (a)(1)); the identity of the foreign source that owns or controls the institution; the date on which the foreign source assumed ownership or control; and any changes in program or structure resulting from the change in ownership or control. An assurance that the institution will maintain a true copy of each gift or contract agreement subject to the disclosure requirements under this section, until the latest of— the date that is 4 years after the date of the agreement; the date on which the agreement terminates; or the last day of any period that applicable State public record law requires a true copy of such agreement to be maintained. An assurance that the institution will produce true copies of gift and contract agreements subject to the disclosure requirements under this section upon request of the Secretary during a compliance audit or other institutional investigation and shall ensure all gifts and contracts from the foreign source are translated into English by a third party unaffiliated with the foreign source or institution for this purpose. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b), whenever any institution receives a restricted or conditional gift or contract from a foreign source, the institution shall disclose the following to the Department translated into English by a third party unaffiliated with the foreign source or institution: For such gifts received from or contracts entered into with a foreign source other than a foreign government, the amount, the date, and a description of such conditions or restrictions. The report shall also disclose the country of citizenship, or if unknown, the principal residence for a foreign source which is a natural person, and the country of incorporation, or if unknown, the principal place of business for a foreign source which is a legal entity. For gifts received from or contracts entered into with a foreign government, the amount, the date, a description of such conditions or restrictions, and the name of the foreign government. If an institution that is required to file a disclosure report under subsection
(a)is within a State which has enacted requirements for public disclosure of gifts from or contracts with a foreign source that includes all information required under this section for the same or an equivalent time period, a copy of the disclosure report filed with the State may be filed with the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury in lieu of the report required under such subsection. The State in which the institution is located shall provide to the Secretaries such assurances as the Secretaries may require to establish that the institution has met the requirements for public disclosure under State law if the State report is filed. If an institution receives a gift from, or enters into a contract with, a foreign source, where any other department, agency, or bureau of the executive branch requires a report containing all the information required under this section for the same or an equivalent time period, a copy of the report may be filed with the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury in lieu of a report required under subsection (a). In this subsection, the term Confucius Institute means a cultural institute directly or indirectly funded by the Government of the People’s Republic of China. Any institution that has entered into an agreement with a Confucius Institute shall immediately make the full text of such agreement available— on the publicly accessible website of the institution; to the Department of Education; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives. In subsection (i), as redesignated— in paragraph (2), by amending subparagraph
(A)to read as follows: a foreign government, including— any agency of a foreign government, and any other unit of foreign governmental authority, including any foreign national, State, local, and municipal government; any international or multinational organization whose membership is composed of any unit of foreign government described in clause (i); and any agent or representative of any such unit or such organization, while acting as such; ; and in paragraph (3), by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: , or the fair market value of an in-kind gift . Not later than 30 days after receiving a disclosure report under this section, the Secretary shall make such report electronically available to the public for downloading on a searchable database under which institutions can be individually identified and compared. The Secretary shall incorporate a process permitting institutions to revise and update previously filed disclosure reports under this section to ensure accuracy, compliance, and ability to cure. As a sanction for noncompliance with the requirements under this section, the Secretary may impose a fine on an institution that in any year knowingly or willfully violates this section, that is— in the case of a failure to disclose a gift or contract with a foreign source as required under this section or to comply with the requirements of subsection (b)(4), in an amount that is not less than $250 but not more than the amount of the gift or contract with the foreign source; or in the case of any violation of the requirements of subsection (a)(3), in an amount that is not more than 25 percent of the total amount of funding received by the institution under this Act. In addition to a fine for a violation in any year in accordance with paragraph
(1)and subject to subsection (e)(2), the Secretary shall impose a fine on an institution that knowingly and willfully fails in 3 consecutive years to comply with the requirements of this section, that is— in the case of a failure to disclose a gift or contract with a foreign source as required under this section or to comply with the requirements of subsection (b)(4), in an amount that is not less than $100,000 but not more than twice the amount of the gift or contract with the foreign source; or in the case of any violation of the requirements of subsection (a)(3), in an amount that is not more than 25 percent of the total amount of funding received by the institution under this Act. The Secretary shall impose a fine on an institution that fails to comply with the requirements of this section in 3 consecutive years, in an amount that is not less than $250 but not more than the amount of the gift or contract with the foreign source. An institution that fails to file a disclosure report for a receipt of a gift from or contract with a foreign source in 2 consecutive years, shall be required to submit a compliance plan to Secretary. Any institution that is required to report a gift or contract under this section shall designate and maintain a compliance officer who— shall be a current employee or legally authorized agent of such institution; and shall be responsible, on behalf of the institution, for compliance with the foreign gift reporting requirement under this section and section 124, if applicable. The Secretary shall maintain a single point of contact to— receive and respond to inquiries and requests for technical assistance from institutions of higher education regarding compliance with the requirements of this section; and coordinate the disclosure of information on the searchable database, and process for modifications of disclosures and ability to cure, as described in subsection (e). The following shall not be considered a gift from a foreign source under this section: Any payment of one or more elements of a student’s cost of attendance (as defined in section 472) to an institution by, or scholarship from, a foreign source who is a natural person, acting in their individual capacity and not as an agent for, at the request or direction of, or on behalf of, any person or entity (except the student), made on behalf of no more than 15 students that is not made under contract with such foreign source, except for the agreement between the institution and such student covering one or more elements of such student’s cost of attendance. Assignment or license of registered industrial and intellectual property rights, such as patents, utility models, trademarks, or copyrights, or technical assistance, that are not identified as being associated with a national security risk or concern by the Federal Research Security Council as described under section 7902 of title 31, United States Code, as added by section 4493 of the Securing America’s Future Act. Any gift to, or contract with, an entity or organization, such as a research foundation, that operates substantially for the benefit or under the auspices of an institution shall be considered a gift to or with respectively, such institution. In this section— the term contract — means any— agreement for the acquisition by purchase, lease, or barter of property or services by the foreign source, for the direct benefit or use of either of the parties, except as provided in subparagraph (B); or affiliation, agreement, or similar transaction with a foreign source and is based on the use or exchange of an institution’s name, likeness, time, services, or resources, except as provided in subparagraph (B); and does not include any agreement made by an institution located in the United States for the acquisition, by purchase, lease, or barter, of property or services from a foreign source; the term foreign source means— a foreign government, including an agency of a foreign government; a legal entity, governmental or otherwise, created under the laws of a foreign state or states; an individual who is not a citizen or a national of the United States or a trust territory or protectorate thereof; and an agent, including a subsidiary or affiliate of a foreign legal entity, acting on behalf of a foreign source; the term gift means any gift of money, property, resources, staff, or services; the term institution means an institution of higher education, as defined in section 102, or, if a multicampus institution, any single campus of such institution, in any State; and the term restricted or conditional gift or contract means any endowment, gift, grant, contract, award, present, or property of any kind which includes provisions regarding— the employment, assignment, or termination of faculty; the establishment of departments, centers, institutes, instructional programs, research or lecture programs, or new faculty positions; the selection or admission of students; or the award of grants, loans, scholarships, fellowships, or other forms of financial aid restricted to students of a specified country, religion, sex, ethnic origin, or political opinion. . Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: Each institution of higher education described in subsection
(b)shall— maintain a policy requiring faculty, professional staff, and other staff engaged in research and development (as determined by the institution) employed at such institution to disclose to such institution any gifts received from, or contracts entered into with, a foreign source; maintain a searchable database of information disclosed in paragraph
(1)for the previous five years, except an institution shall not be required to include in the database gifts or contracts received or entered into before the date of enactment of the Securing America’s Future Act; and maintain a plan to effectively identify and manage potential information gathering by foreign sources through espionage targeting faculty, professional staff, and other staff engaged in research and development (as determined by the institution) that may arise from gifts received from, or contracts entered into with, a foreign source, including through the use of periodic communications and enforcement of the policy described in paragraph (1). An institution of higher education shall be subject to the requirements of this section if such institution— is an institution of higher education as defined under section 102; and had more than $5,000,000 in research and development expenditures in any of the previous five years. As a sanction for noncompliance with the requirements under this section, the Secretary may impose a fine on an institution that in any year knowingly or willfully violates this section, in an amount that is not less than $250 but not more than $1,000. In addition to a fine for a violation in accordance with paragraph (1), the Secretary shall impose a fine on an institution that knowingly, willfully, and repeatedly fails to comply with the requirements of this section in a second consecutive year in an amount that is not less than $1,000 but not more than $25,000. In addition to a fine for a violation in accordance with paragraph
(1)or (2), the Secretary shall impose a fine on an institution that knowingly, willfully, and repeatedly fails to comply with the requirements of this section in a third consecutive year, or any consecutive year thereafter, in an amount that is not less than $25,000 but not more than $50,000. The Secretary shall impose a fine on an institution that fails in 3 consecutive years to comply with the requirements of this section in an amount that is not less than $250 but not more than $25,000. An institution that fails to comply with the requirements under this section for 2 consecutive years shall be required to submit a compliance plan to the Secretary. In this section— the terms foreign source and gift have the meaning given the terms in section 117; the term contract means any— agreement for the acquisition by purchase, lease, or barter of property or services by the foreign source, for the direct benefit or use of either of the parties; or affiliation, agreement, or similar transaction with a foreign source based on the use or exchange of the name, likeness, time, services, or resources of faculty, professional staff, and other staff engaged in research and development (as determined by the institution); and the term professional staff means professional employees, as defined in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 203 ). . Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall begin the negotiated rulemaking process under section 492 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1098a ) to carry out the amendments made by subsections
(a)and (b). Regulations issued pursuant to paragraph
(1)to carry out the amendment made by subsection
(a)shall, at a minimum, address the following issues: Instructions on reporting structured gifts and contracts. The inclusion in institutional reports of gifts received from, and contracts entered into with, foreign sources by entities and organizations, such as research foundations, that operate substantially for the benefit or under the auspices of the institution. Procedures to protect confidential or proprietary information included in gifts and contracts. The alignment of such regulations with the reporting and disclosure of foreign gifts or contracts required by other Federal agencies. The treatment of foreign gifts or contracts involving research or technologies identified as being associated with a national security risk or concern by the Federal Research Security Council as described under section 7902 of title 31, United States Code, as added by section 4493 of this Act. The amendments made by subsections
(a)and
(b)shall take effect on the date on which the regulations issued under paragraph
(1)take effect.
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Sec. 530
Disclosures of foreign gifts and contracts at institutions of higher education
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