Reps. Comer, Foxx call for Dept. of Education help in investigating foreign funding into American universities
The letter criticized the Biden administration’s ‘lax approach to monitoring Section 117 disclosures.’
The lawmakers also warned that American universities are a ‘target of foreign malign influence.’
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to the Department of Education to receive information on foreign sources of funding for U.S. universities.
The Feb. 19 letter, addressed to Denise Carter, who was the Acting Education Secretary before the confirmation of current Secretary Linda McMahon, stated: “The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is examining foreign funding of U.S. higher education institutions,” and added that “[t]he Department of Education’s (Department) foreign funding reports show that foreign nations gave more than $57 billion to U.S. institutions since 1981.”
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The letter states that “Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Section 117) requires institutions that receive federal financial assistance to bi-annually file disclosure reports with the Secretary of Education.”
Section 117 “assures transparency and highlights potential foreign influence in U.S. education,” and criticized former President Joe Biden’s administration’s “lax approach to monitoring Section 117 disclosures,” the representatives added.
The lawmakers warned that American colleges and universities are a “target of foreign malign influence,” especially to America’s enemies.
Reps. Comer and Foxx requested that the Department of Education submit by March 5 information related to Section 117, including “[a] list of Section 117 compliance investigations opened since January 20, 2021” and “[a]ll documents and information regarding how the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid tracks institutions’ Section 117 disclosures.”
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In a statement provided to Campus Reform by her office, Rep. Foxx said: “Our aim, and ultimately the desired outcomes of this investigation, are one [and] the same: we want academic freedom, and America’s national security posture, to remain unencumbered. We cannot allow institutions of higher education across America to become repositories for influence peddling schemes of malign foreign interests. Institutions that have evaded compliance measures mandated by law, specifically Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, will soon find themselves in untenable positions.”
