Rep. Crank Votes to Require Academic Institutions to Report Foreign Gifts and Funding

March 27, 2025 Press Release WASHINGTON  – Today, Rep. Jeff Crank (CO-05) voted in favor of the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, which would strengthen reporting requirements related to foreign gifts and funding received by academic institutions. Currently, many schools fail to report foreign gifts and funding, which is required under section 117 of the Higher Education Act. This allows America's adversaries to take advantage of our academic institutions and access taxpayer funded research. Funding from foreign entities that do not share American values comes with strings attached and undermines national interests. "The DETERRENT Act will make it harder for our foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party to target our nation's brightest minds and most advanced research," said Rep. Crank. "House Republicans are working towards halting bad actors from having influence on our academic institutions." The DETERRENT Act will bring much needed transparency, accountability, and clarity to foreign gift reporting requirements to academic institutions. The Act will bring down the threshold of reporting from $250,000 down to $50,000, with a $0 threshold for countries and entities of concern. Background: A congressional investigation of two top research universities uncovered nearly $40 million in unreported research contracts with the Chinese Communist Party. Nearly 30 percent of foreign funding schools disclosed had missing dates, with billions reported as “anonymous.” The Biden-Harris administration failed to open a single investigation into this dangerous threat. ### Issues : Education