Owens Fights Foreign Influence in U.S. Universities

WASHINGTON D.C. — Education and Workforce Committee Vice Chair Burgess Owens (R-UT) helped pass the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, legislation he co-sponsored to bring much-needed transparency, accountability, and clarity to foreign gift reporting requirements for colleges and universities nationwide.

Owens’ legislation, the Reporting on Investments in Foreign Adversaries (RIFA) Act, is included in the DETERRENT Act, strengthening oversight of foreign influence in higher education.

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“America’s adversaries are using our colleges and universities as entry points to infiltrate our institutions, steal our research, and undermine our national security,” said Rep. Owens. “The DETERRENT Act, which includes provisions from my RIFA Act, exposes unchecked foreign influence, eliminates hidden financial ties with hostile regimes, and ensures that students learn in an environment that upholds American values—not one that sells them out to the highest bidder.”

The Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act:

• Slashes the foreign gift reporting threshold for colleges and universities from $250,000 down to $50,000, with an even stricter $0 threshold for countries of concern.
• Closes reporting loopholes and provides transparency to Congress, intelligence agencies, and the public.
• Requires disclosure of foreign gifts to individual staff and faculty at research-heavy institutions to protect those targeted the most by our adversaries.
• Holds our largest private institutions accountable for their financial partnerships by revealing concerning foreign investments in their endowments.
• Implements a series of repercussions for colleges and universities that remain noncompliant in foreign gift reporting such as fines and the loss of Title IV funding.

The Reporting on Investments in Foreign Adversaries (RIFA) Act: 

RIFA requires private universities with endowments above $6 billion or with more than $250 million in investments of concern to report on:

• A list of investments of concern purchased, sold, or held during the calendar year.
• The aggregate fair market value of all investments of concern held as of the close of the calendar year.
• The combined value of all investments of concern sold over the calendar year, as measured by the fair market value of such investments at the time of the sale.
• The combined value of all capital gains from sales of investments of concern.

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