Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BEAN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Walberg for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, we have all heard the saying: There is no such thing as a free lunch. It turns out mom and dad were right. Everything comes at a price, and nothing is free.

Every dollar that flows into American classrooms from foreign countries comes with strings attached. This is particularly true for China, whose strategy is to gain a foothold in America's educational system to steal personal data and to manipulate the material children are being taught.

Millions of dollars of Chinese funds have flowed into America's K-12 classrooms where students are subject to Chinese Communist Party propaganda under the guise of Chinese language and culture programming.

In fact, a recent Parents Defending Education investigation found that 143 schools across 34 States hosted a Confucius classroom or otherwise had ties to the Chinese Communist Party. But wait, Mr. Speaker, there is more. Disturbingly, the same investigation found that the CCP specifically targets schools around 20 U.S. military bases.

China is not the only country making sizeable investments in K-12 classrooms across the country. The Qatar Foundation allocated $30.6 million to various schools around the Nation.

What did they get, Mr. Speaker?

What do you get for $30 million invested in our schools?

It is a clear act of anti-Semitism. Classroom maps where they funded omitted Israel and instead labeled it Palestine. Following a congressional hearing last year, New York Public Schools acknowledged receiving large donations from Italy and South Korea. These blatant attempts to inject foreign ideologies into our schools undermines the fundamental purpose of American education. It goes without saying that we should be teaching American values in American schools.

This is what happens when institutions of learning accept the Trojan horse of foreign funding. It shouldn't take an act of Congress or a congressional investigation hearing for parents to know who is funding their schools.

My bill, H.R. 1049, the Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education Act, or let's just call it the TRACE Act, solidifies the rights of parents to know how foreign influence may be impacting their child's classroom and stops foreign nations from reaching America's youth.

Specifically, the TRACE Act requires that as a condition of receiving Federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, public schools would be required to provide each parent the right to review any curricular material provided or purchased with funds from a foreign government or foreign entity of concern.

The bill also guarantees parents the right to know how many personnel at their child's school are being compensated by foreign sources or any donation of foreign transactions between the school and a foreign entity.

The dangers of foreign influence in American K-12 schools cannot be overstated. They threaten our national security, compromise our geopolitical interests, and erode our academic freedom.

American schools are not for sale, and they are for education, not espionage. We cannot allow our students, the future of our great Nation, to be corrupted by foreign adversaries who are systematically and aggressively attempting to influence our Nation's K-12 schools.

Chairman Walberg has been a warrior on this issue to make sure that American schools remain American. I thank Congressman Mackenzie for his partnership on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 1049, the Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education Act, and let's give parents the right to know just who is funding their kids' school.

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