Washington, D.C. – This week, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04) co-signed a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin demanding stricter oversight of the federal funding ban on Confucius Institutes at American colleges and universities.

“Communist China is our biggest adversary on the world stage, and we must hold them accountable for decades of genocide, human rights abuses, and corruption,” said Rep. Owens. “As we continue countering the generational threats posed by the CCP, I am calling on the Department of Defense to utilize stricter oversight of the federal funding ban on American colleges and universities with ties to the Chinese government. Confucius Institutes are not welcome in America.”

In the letter, the Members write, “As the deadline for implementation of Section 1062 approaches we are concerned that the universities have not addressed the concerns about Confucius Institutes and similar programs identified by Congress. We are also concerned about how DoD is preparing to meet its deadlines that would require it to cut off funding to these institutes, including potential funding that might be in the middle of a grant or research cycle.”

The full letter is available here.

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