The deterrence law deals with foreign intervention in higher education
Last week, the California-Berkeley University adviser appeared in front of Congress and refused to adhere to transparency about foreign financing. When I asked Counselor Rich Leon if Berkeley would reveal every dollar he received from foreign governments, she has escaped – over and over again. “I am not ready to pick up this commitment today,” he said.
And more anxious, he admitted that hostile foreign actors are approaching regularly from the university, but he claimed that he was “not in a position” to name one example. The American people deserve to know who generates our general universities. If Berkeley is not clean, this raises a serious question: What are the hidden universities – and why?
This is not just an academic issue. It is a direct threat to our national security.
In January, the University of Michigan cut its relations with a Chinese university due to fears that its financing can be linked to the Beijing Military Industrial Complex. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education has opened an investigation at the university to assess its compliance with federal law and the accuracy of foreign financing disclosure.
While welcoming the University of Michigan’s decision to stop the flow of funds from the Communist Party of China, there are dangerous questions. Why was tens of millions reported in foreign financing late – and in some cases, they were classified as coming from “non -governmental entities” when the money seems directly related to foreign governments? What do they hide?
For this reason, I have reinforced the deterrent law, legislation designed to bring a long transparency of foreign influence in higher education. The bill does three things:
- It highlights foreign financing-it reduces the threshold of detecting foreign gifts from $ 250,000 to $ 50,000 and requires faculty and employees in heavy research institutions to detect foreign financial relations.
- It holds the institutions responsibility – it provides fines and a possible suspension for federal assistance to their failure to report foreign financing.
- National security protects – it is treated gifts from hostile countries to greater scrutiny, with the realization that foreign funds are often used to buy influence and suppress academic freedom.
I believe in the power of international educational exchange. I lived that.
As a son of Washington State University Forests, I saw directly how cultural exchange can enrich learning. As a university student, she studied in France, Jordan, Syria and Kuwait, keen to understand the different views of the world. I served with the Jesuits in Mozambique, and I teach students and train basketball.
But there is a big difference between real academic cooperation and foreign interference that denies charitable works.
The acknowledgment of the deterrent law with the support of the two parties is a great and attractive victory in the battle to protect academic integrity from foreign interference. The draft law reflects this increasing consensus that transparency and accountability are necessary in protecting American universities from the impact of foreign opponents, especially the Chinese Communist Party.
It is a decisive step forward, but universities do not have to wait to take federal measures. The adoption of the deterrent framework now – by revealing foreign financing, creating oversight and ensuring that no external authority can be undermined, can help our academic institutions – in maintaining the free exchange of ideas that define the American academic circles.
In April, President Trump signed an executive order to increase transparency and impose the most striking reporting requirements for foreign gifts and financing. President Trump salutes decisive measures by signing an executive order that emphasizes the critical issues that were highlighted in the deterrence law. This executive matter enhances our commitment to protecting academic integrity and defending our universities from foreign influence, especially from hostilities such as the Chinese Communist Party.
While the deterrence law is a big step forward – the passing of the House of Representatives with strong support from the two parties – I still urge the Senate to act until the Law of the Earth becomes, not just an executive action that can be reversed. It’s time to work now.
This issue is greater than just a foreign effect. It relates to those who serve our universities.
For a very long time, the Americans have seen an increase in tuition fees, an ideological compatibility that replaces the strict exchange of ideas, and academic institutions are larger than the needs of workers and local societies. The public has every right to ask whether our universities serve the American people – or the highest foreign bidding.
It is time for our universities to return to the basics:
- Maintaining education costs.
- Enhancing free exchange of ideas.
- Alignment of degrees with the labor market.
- Helping students graduation and employment.
- Place students and taxi first.
The house was spent. The president has acted. Now it is the role of the Senate.
Let’s make the deterrent law the Law of the Earth – ending the malicious foreign influence in our educational system and putting American interests first.
Michael Baumgartner represents the fifth province in Washington and is a member of education and workforce.
