The convening of the new Congress brings renewed bipartisan interest in China and its influence on American society. During its first week of business, Congress established a new Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
 
The Select Committee on China will take a cross-jurisdictional look at a variety of things related to China’s role in the U.S. The committee was created by a bipartisan vote of 365-65 and will be chaired by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), a former CIA analyst.  The Democratic ranking member will be chosen by the Democratic Caucus in the coming days.
 
Rep. Gallagher’s said his priorities will be focused on “ways to beef up U.S. military posture, end dependencies on China in supply chains, curtail theft of U.S. intellectual property, and highlight Beijing’s authoritarian state.”
 
This exploration of Chinese influence is expected to include Education and the Workforce Committee review of how higher education interacts with China in providing or collaborating on research and language and cultural studies. Most notable will be how institutions report foreign gifts through the Higher Education Act Section 117 disclosure process and the activities of Confucius Institutes. The Committee on Science will continue its look at research security as it has the last few years.
 
Both the Biden and Trump administrations have had ongoing concerns about China, each noting that the Chinese government is the most significant threat to U.S. security. With that in mind, Congress is not the only entity looking at Chinese influence.
 
In related action, the Department of Education issued an Information Collection Request (ICR) announcing that oversight for Section 117 disclosure of foreign gifts is moving from the Office of General Counsel to the Office of Federal Student Aid. In the notice, the public is encouraged to provide feedback on the forms used to report gifts. Unfortunately, the forms include the same problematic language from the Trump Administration that change the enforcement for compliance from civil action by the Attorney General to criminal action under federal fraud and false statements law remains.
 
Also, the General Accounting Office (GAO) is in the process of surveying roughly 100 institutions that currently have a Confucius Institute (CI) or that recently closed a CI to find out more about the programs and activities they offer. If a CI closed, the GAO is particularly interested in why it closed and what replaced the CI-sponsored activities on campus.
 
Finally, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a report on institutions with CI and related Department of Defense funding waivers. The report defines CIs by activity rather than just using the “Confucius Institute” moniker, which brings in many more institutions to be reviewed.  
 
NAICU will keep the membership informed as the Select Committee gets established and other efforts continue.