Dhs Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CLINE. Mr. Chair, this amendment to H.R. 1516, the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act, adds a clear and concise reporting requirement to provide greater transparency to Congress.

This amendment requires the Department of Homeland Security to submit a report to the House and Senate committees of jurisdiction detailing any institution of higher education that maintains a relationship with a Confucius Institute or Chinese entity of concern while receiving Federal funding from DHS.

Throughout many industries and sectors of the PRC, we have seen repeated attempts to disguise the fusion between civil and military life. Undoubtedly, however, the Chinese Communist Party uses Confucius Institutes to extend its national strategy of malign influence abroad.

It is well documented that the CCP uses Confucius Institutes to disseminate their Communist propaganda, encourage censorship, and discourage academic freedom in the United States. In fact, many colleges and universities have ended their relationships with Confucius Institutes or entities of concern over the past 5 years due to the threats that they pose.

Moreover, FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed to Congress the existential threat caused by counterintelligence and economic espionage from the PRC. Every sector of American society is fair game for the PRC, and infiltrating our colleges and universities to undermine our national security is no different.

In closing, the Department of Defense has already restricted funds to these institutions that host a Confucius Institute. It is time for the Department of Homeland Security to fall into line. Congress has a duty to conduct oversight of institutes of higher education that value their relationships with Communist China over national security for the American people.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment and support the underlying bill offered by Congressman Pfluger of Texas.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CLINE. Mr. Chair, I will respond to the gentleman by saying that the Confucius Institutes are indeed a threat. They have actively rebranded their efforts and are alive and well on university campuses across the United States, and Congress has not been able to keep up in combating these new entities because of the rapidly evolving nature of these threats.

There is little to no transparency from universities in what type of assistance they receive from the PRC.

This is about taxpayer dollars. This is about taxpayer dollars flowing from the Department of Homeland Security to institutions of higher education in this country that are maintaining relationships with Confucius Institutes or Chinese entities of concern, and we owe it to taxpayers to ensure that their dollars are not going to further Chinese soft-power influence in this country.

Over $3 billion has flowed from entities connected to the PRC and CCP to universities in the United States between 2020 and 2023.

Mr. Chair, I think it is high time we take action. I urge support for the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CLINE. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this amendment that adds the Chinese Academy of Sciences, or CAS, to the list of Chinese entities of concern outlined within the bill due to the vulnerabilities and threats posed by openly collaborating with an organization that answers to the Chinese Communist Party and compares notes with the People's Liberation Army.

CAS has repeatedly been called out for its problematic ties with the CCP by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China stating that it not only is a state-controlled entity but reports directly to China's State Council.

Further, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission reports that CAS has connections to Chinese military, nuclear, and cyber espionage programs.

If that wasn't enough to raise alarm bells, it may be of interest to know that the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the parent organization of the now infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology, which engaged in gain-of- function research.

This amendment is essential because, even as I speak here today, there are American institutions of higher learning engaging with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to study the highly infectious avian bird flu, and they are being paid taxpayer dollars in the form of USDA grants to do it.

So long as colleges and universities are comparing notes with Chinese entities of concern like CAS, they should not be receiving DHS grants to conduct research on sensitive topics related to Homeland Security.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences should be included within this bill and treated in the same manner as a CCP-controlled Confucius Institute would be.

I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment and pass this important bill.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source