Rep. Elise Stefanik proposed legislation to limit federal funding for colleges and postsecondary education institutions with partnerships with The People’s Republic of China. The bill aptly named the “End College Chinese Communist Partnerships Act” or the “End College CCP Act” comes after the Biden administration reversed a rule which required schools to disclose Confucius Institutes, which have been widely accused of pushing the CCP’s views in U.S. classrooms.
Fox News reports:
Stefanik’s bill would allow institutions to restore eligibility to receive federal funding if they disclose to the secretary of education “all contractual partnerships” with a related entity from the previous 10 years and provide to the Education Department “sufficient evidence that such partnerships have been terminated.”
“House Democrats may have blocked my amendment last week, but their dangerous partisan obstruction will not stop me from standing up for America and strongly against China,” Stefanik told Fox News. “I’m proud to introduce the End College Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Act to halt taxpayer dollars from flowing through American education institutions to benefit the CCP once and for all.”
Stefanik, R-N.Y., last week proposed a similar amendment to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which would have barred federal funds from U.S. schools that partner with China’s Confucius Institutes. That amendment was blocked by Democrats.
Stefanik’s legislation states that Congress has found that the Chinese Communist Party has “been engaged in a sustained effort to undermine all facets of American power through influence campaigns within the United States,” and that the CCP has “engaged in the theft of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of intellectual property and academic and scientific research on college campuses, within national labs, and within the private sector.”
Students receiving direct payments from the Department of Education would be exempt from the legislation.
Recently, Republcian Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio blasted the administration’s choice to end the Trump-era policy which tracked Chinese influence in U.S. classrooms and universities. [Keep reading: Biden Ends Policy Tracking Chinese Influence on College Campuses, Republicans Fight Back]
