On the recordJuly 29, 2020
Madam Speaker, whether we like it or not, every day the Communist Government of China seeks the downfall of our great Nation. Since 2000, there have been well over 100 documented cases of Chinese espionage in the United States. Many of these have come from the infiltration of American academic institutions. This past year, even the chairman of the Department of Chemistry at Harvard University was charged with academic espionage. This is a national crisis and why I introduced the INFLUENCE Act today. Existing law requires institutions of higher learning to report any gift or contract from a foreign source valued at $250,000 or more. That is simply too high a threshold. My bill lowers this threshold to $50,000 so we can have a better idea of who is influencing American higher education. We cannot be naive to the fact that China desires this Nation's downfall, and their infiltration of American higher education is a clear and present danger to this great Nation's security. I hope my colleagues will bolster our national security by supporting the INFLUENCE Act. ____________________





