Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, if there was real evidence of influence, I think we would have heard specifically what that evidence is. We haven't. My colleagues keep talking about China, about the Confucius Institute. At last count, there were only five active programs in 15,000 school divisions. There used to be more. There are only about five now. This bill is going to be hard to manage. It is difficult, if not impossible, to easily access the most recent list of foreign entities of concern. As we have pointed out, this bill doesn't talk about China. It talks about foreign entities of concern. That list can change without notice. In fact, the most recent list from the Department of State has 91 listings, 12 added since Labor Day of this year. Good luck to those 15,000 superintendents who have to keep up with that list, with the added problem that the Departments of Energy and the Treasury also keep separate lists. Those 15,000 superintendents have to keep up with those lists, too. At its core, this is just another unfunded mandate, where you have to train 15,000 superintendents and unlimited numbers of principals so they will know what a foreign entity of concern is and how to deal with it with this new legislation. It burdens our already overstretched schools with new reporting requirements, new paperwork, and new bureaucratic hurdles, all without adding a single dollar to help them meet their obligations.”