During a debate on the House floor last week, Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) spoke in opposition to DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act or H.R.1516, a bill that restricts funding to higher education institutions that have a relationship with a Confucius Institute.
00:00Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume the gentleman woman from California.
00:13The gentleman woman is recognized for such time as she may consume.
00:18On behalf of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 881.
00:27This bill would block Department of Homeland Security funding from colleges and universities with a Confucius Institute, which is known to have CCP ties.
00:36But it expands the prohibition to any institution that has a relationship with a Chinese entity of concern.
00:45What is a Chinese entity of concern?
00:49Because a bill defines such entities so broadly, that list could potentially include every single college in China.
00:56And because this is a new definition that is not shared with any other federal agency, universities would be required to independently verify that their Chinese counterpart institutions do not meet this broad definition just to cooperate on activities as simple as study abroad programs.
01:15The University of California has said they do not have an intelligence agency within their structure that can do this.
01:23This is a completely unreasonable expectation of universities.
01:27And that is because the real goal of the legislation is to completely sever academic relations with institutions in China.
01:35But ending study abroad programs, student exchanges and every research agreement will do nothing to make America safer.
01:45In fact, the only improvement that this bill makes over the version that Republicans advanced last year is giving the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to grant waivers.
01:55That means universities are expected to ask for a waiver from the same administration that is continually threatening their federal funding and their tax exempt status.
02:09This is a harmful bill that would only serve to weaken America and give the Trump administration yet another weapon to attack the American institutions that they deem are insufficiently loyal to President Trump.
02:25I urge my colleagues to vote no and I yield back.
