Dhs Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. EVANS of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of H.R. 881, the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act, of which I am an original cosponsor. The stakes for our national security, constitutional freedoms, and the future of American innovation could not be higher.

My 12 years of service in the Army provided me with a deep understanding of the criminal transnational activities of the Chinese Communist Party. CCP intellectual property theft is not a distant threat. It is actively happening, and it is targeting military readiness and the very foundations of American competitiveness.

In my district, where energy production, manufacturing, and agriculture are paramount, we know the looming threat of the Chinese Communist Party on jobs and national security.

Mr. Speaker, as you have heard from my colleagues, the CCP has also systematically expanded its influence throughout Confucius Institutes and affiliate programs on U.S. colleges and campuses. These programs, often cloaked in the promises of language and cultural exchange, have served as vehicles for espionage, intellectual property theft, and transnational repression.

We cannot allow these vulnerabilities to persist. Today, House Republicans are taking action. Our Nation's most innovative breakthroughs have been developed at U.S. universities, while conducting vital research related to defense, energy sciences, and other sensitive industries. Many colleges and universities have accepted CCP funding, hoping to simply expand their foreign language learning. They have, unfortunately, opened the doors for our biggest foreign adversary to exploit breakthroughs for Chinese strategic advantage.

This bill protects our institutions of higher education from the dangers of the CCP by prohibiting American universities that receive Department of Homeland Security funding from continuing relationships with Chinese entities of concern.

Today, foreign language and cultural exchange programs thrive in my State of Colorado, without the influx of CCP dollars, enhancing students' global knowledge and growing our Nation's vital national security workforce.

Congress needs to send a clear message to the CCP that we will not allow foreign powers to erode national security, steal intellectual property, or threaten our immigrant population.

This Congress, I have partnered with my colleagues on other legislation in this area. My bill, the bipartisan Countering Transnational Repression Act, continues this important work by stopping Chinese Communist Party surveillance and intimidating Chinese nationals on U.S. soil.

We have also introduced the Global Investment in American Jobs Act. We must now come together to restrict the infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party onto our college campuses by passing the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stand in defense of American values and support this bill.

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