Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, Pursuant to House Resolution 916, I call up the bill (H.R. 1049) to ensure that parents are aware of foreign influence in their child's public school, and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Mr. WALBERG. 1049.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1049.

We need greater transparency in American education. In recent years, foreign governments have increasingly sought to influence our K-12 schools. It is not for their stated purpose of cultural exchanges or diplomacy, but to push propaganda.

The Chinese Communist Party, for example, has spent untold sums across hundreds of schools to indoctrinate or influence thousands of children. These so-called little red classrooms were sold as opportunities to teach Chinese language and culture. In reality, they required teachers to omit discussion of human rights abuses, present the CCP in a positive light, and rabidly celebrate the regime.

Students in these classrooms rarely learn about events such as the Tiananmen Square massacre or the ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims. Students don't learn about these despicable crimes because the CCP doesn't want them to. This one-sided approach extends beyond K-12 classrooms.

While the CCP operates programs in U.S. schools, American educators are not allowed to expose Chinese students to American culture. The goal is clear. The Chinese Communist Party wants to control information and shape young minds.

Over nearly two decades, the CCP has demonstrated a persistent effort to influence the minds of our children. According to a 2020 State Department report, many of these classrooms are funded and operated, in part, by the CCP's United Front Work Department, a known overseas propaganda and influence operation.

Foreign experience in our schools threatens not only student learning but also our national security. H.R. 1049, the Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education Act, or the TRACE Act, by Representatives Aaron Bean and Ryan Mackenzie, addresses this problem by giving parents the right to review course materials funded or provided by foreign governments and entities of concern.

Students perform better when parents are involved in their education. Yet, in recent years, parents have often been silenced or forced to navigate bureaucratic hurdles just to understand what their children are learning.

The TRACE Act ensures transparency, strengthens parental rights, and protects students from foreign indoctrination. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and defend the role of families in safeguarding our children's education.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I would remind my friend and colleague from Virginia that the U.S. Department of Education has been in place while our concerns with foreign influence have been developed and, ultimately, caused the concerns that we address today. We believe that what is being done with reshaping how we deal from the Federal level with our local community schools will, in fact, be more conducive to the ability for them to deal with key issues of concern such as national security when we see that as necessary.

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Mr. WALBERG.

Mr. Speaker, again, I thank Representative Bean for introducing this important legislation. Again, anytime we have legislation that makes a foundational principle, an actual fact, that we support parents having transparency about what is going on in their schools, for anything, it is important as a discussion and ultimately important to make sure in law that is put into motion in every way possible.

It is also a fact that we look at the malign influence that comes from the CCP, yes, but there are other entities equally determined to undermine America, and they are starting in its educational system. Because if you control the minds of young people and you shape their teachers even before that, so when they enter the classroom, even if it isn't a Confucius classroom, those teachers have been impacted in what they point out about some of these malign actors in the world, even if it puts down some of their concerns, is a problem for the United States.

If there is complete transparency, where we talk about all of the entities with truth, then that is fine. That is America. We can take it, having our students know about the Chinese Communist Party and how they have taken Uyghur Muslims and committed genocide on them for years. If we can talk about the Tiananmen Square massacre that went on, that is not a problem. However, that is not what these malign actors want. They want to cover that over.

Mr. Speaker, there is significant evidence of ongoing threats to U.S. schools from malign actors. They may change names and they may change approaches, but they are there. We wouldn't have seen the type of demonstrations and attacks on our Jewish students on college campuses all over this country if there weren't malign actors changing the focus of our students' minds on key issues.

China strategically deployed and expanded their Confucius classrooms rapidly going from only a few in 2008 to over 1,000 worldwide by 2019. More than 500 American K-12 schools have hosted Confucius classrooms. A 2023 Defending Education report identified 143 schools across 34 States with Chinese ties, with at least 7 still active as of this publication.

The report also found that many of these schools are located near military bases.

My Democrat colleagues are correct that the known number of Confucius classrooms has declined after attention from media and advocacy groups increased, including from Congress, but that doesn't prove the CCP threat is gone.

There are 500 Chinese Communist Party-affiliated Chinese nationals--I say ``affiliated'' because they are required when coming over to work in a new production center in my district that will be opened up very soon by a major corporation. These 500 employees have signed a contractual agreement with the Chinese Communist Party to provide any information back to China that they come up with. Who knows what type of influence will take place within 15 minutes of a National Guard base and a key drone wing of the United States military.

These are concerns that we ought to have, but this doesn't prove that we have done enough yet. I think what we have seen causes us to be concerned about what is taking place. It may be that the CCP has found more covert ways to influence our schools. Schools may still be making contracts with CCP entities. If not, great. We will find that out, just without easily identifiable keywords such as ``Confucius,'' but what else will take place. That is why we need these bills.

Under these bills, schools must avoid contracting with the CCP or its agents. Schools must report gifts from or contracts with foreign governments, and resources must be available for parents to review.

We know this can go on right now. We know contracts are undertaken with all of our school districts now. We know that the lawyers on staff have means by which to make sure that the appropriate t's are crossed and i's are dotted. They can follow the law. We must do that.

Advocacy groups, such as Defending Education, have done tremendous work to ensure we know about the CCP's influence, but it shouldn't take a third-party nonprofit to tell us who is teaching our children.

The CCP remains a threat to American interests. I have no doubt that they would still like to indoctrinate American children and teachers, and that is why we must be vigilant and pass these bills.

H.R. 1049, the TRACE Act, sends a clear message: Parents have a right to know what their children are learning, especially when curricula are funded by authoritarian regimes.

Foreign influence in classrooms not only undermines our cherished American values but also our national security. The TRACE Act allows parents to review foreign-funded materials and raise concerns when needed. Concerned parents should not be labeled as terrorists, domestic or otherwise, or treated like criminals when they stand up for their children.

By empowering parents, we strengthen student outcomes and protect our schools, which should be in the business of public service to our homes, our families, our children, and our parents.

I urge my colleagues to support the TRACE Act and stand with families in defending the integrity of American education from foreign tyranny.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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