Foreign Influence Transparency Act
Latest action · May 18, 2021 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 3, 2021
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Foreign Influence Transparency Act
This bill addresses foreign influence in higher education and in certain other academic, religious, and artistic pursuits.
Current law exempts from foreign agent registration requirements a person engaging in activities in furtherance of religious, scholastic, academic, or scientific pursuits or of the fine arts. The bill specifies that this exemption applies only to those activities that do not promote the political agenda of a foreign government.
Under current law, an institution of higher education (IHE) must disclose to the Department of Education (ED) a gift or contract that is from a foreign source and is valued at $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with the foreign source. The bill instead requires an IHE to disclose such a gift or contract that is valued at $50,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts or contracts. An IHE must include in its disclosure report the contents of any such contract and make the contents available for public disclosure.
Additionally, an IHE that enters into an agreement with a Confucius Institute (i.e., a cultural institute directly or indirectly funded by the Chinese government) must immediately make available the full text of the agreement to the public, ED, and Congress.
Finally, the bill prohibits an IHE that does not comply with these disclosure requirements from enrolling foreign students under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
Cosponsors 34
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 3, 2021 to Mar 18, 2021; 30 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-MD | Andy Harris | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-OH | Anthony Gonzalez | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-GA | Barry Loudermilk | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-MI | Bill Huizenga | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-FL | Bill Posey | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-OH | Bob Gibbs | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-TX | Brian Babin | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-FL | Brian J. Mast | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-NC | Dan Bishop | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-CA | Darrell Issa | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-NC | David Rouzer | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-CO | Doug Lamborn | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-NY | Elise M. Stefanik | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-FL | Gus M. Bilirakis | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-TX | John R. Carter | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-TX | Lance Gooden | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-FL | Matt Gaetz | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-TX | Michael C. Burgess | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-MS | Michael Guest | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-OH | Michael R. Turner | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-AL | Mo Brooks | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-FL | Neal P. Dunn | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-SC | Ralph Norman | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-TX | Randy K. Weber, Sr. | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-GA | Rick W. Allen | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-TN | Scott DesJarlais | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-WI | Scott Fitzgerald | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-TN | Tim Burchett | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-SC | Tom Rice | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-SC | William R. Timmons IV | Original | Mar 3, 2021 |
| R-CA | Ken Calvert | Mar 8, 2021 | |
| R-MO | Vicky Hartzler | Mar 8, 2021 | |
| R-FL | W. Gregory Steube | Mar 8, 2021 | |
| R-FL | Mario Diaz-Balart | Mar 18, 2021 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Mar 3, 2021 |
| Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee | Referred May 18, 2021 | |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Mar 3, 2021 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 18, 2021Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
- Mar 3, 2021Introduced in House
- Mar 3, 2021Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 167, no. 40, March 3, 2021, page H1080.
Printed hearings 3
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 117-459 | CLOSING THE TAX GAP: LOST REVENUE FROM NONCOMPLIANCE AND THE ROLE OF OFFSHORE TAX EVASION164 pages | Finance Committee | May 11, 2021 |
| S. Hrg. 117-373 | CREATING OPPORTUNITY THROUGH A FAIRER TAX SYSTEM160 pages | Finance Committee | Apr 27, 2021 |
| S. Hrg. 117-383 | COMBATING INEQUALITY: THE TAX CODE AND RACIAL, ETHNIC, AND GENDER DISPARITIES130 pages | Finance Committee | Apr 20, 2021 |
CRS reports 2
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 2
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| IF11180 | Confucius Institutes in the United States: Selected Issues | Resource | May 2, 2023 |
| TE10072 | Enhancing the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 | Testimony | Apr 8, 2022 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 577 | Foreign Influence Transparency Act | Identical bill | Mar 3, 2021 |
| HR 1819 | Foreign Influence Transparency Act | Reintroduced Bill | Mar 28, 2023 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to limit the exemption from the registration requirements of such Act for persons engaging in activities in furtherance of bona fide religious, scholastic, academic, or scientific pursuits or the fine arts to activities which do not promote the political agenda of a foreign government, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify the disclosures of foreign gifts by institutions, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Foreign Influence Transparency Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: International Affairs.
- Art, artists, authorship
- Asia
- China
- Congressional oversight
- Cultural exchanges and relations
- General science and technology matters
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Higher education
- International Affairs
- International exchange and broadcasting
- International organizations and cooperation
- Performing arts
- Public participation and lobbying
- Religion
- Teaching, teachers, curricula
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 3, 2021Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
