Bipartisan bill seeks to block China, Qatar funding to US universities

SPECIAL: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is moving to crack down on foreign influence in American education by targeting universities’ financial ties to rival countries.

The package would ban federal funding from universities that operate “branch” campuses in rival countries or accept research funding for sensitive areas such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology and quantum computing. For example, China has been a significant source of foreign influence in American education through the Confucius Classes suppressed by states such as Oklahoma.

At the federal level, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Y., has taken on the task of defending education against issues ranging from foreign influences to anti-Semitism on campus; headlined a famous trial and then UPenn the then president resigned amid pressure on his responses to the latter.

Stefanik is again at the forefront of an education protection effort, telling Fox News Digital that she is part of a bicameral, bipartisan group focused on keeping foreign influence out of America’s young and growing minds.

“I introduced the Campus Branch Ban Act in Hostile Countries with Senator Rick Scott, and it’s part of the broader higher education reform effort that I’m leading in Congress,” Stefanik said in an exclusive interview.

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“One of the challenges that I see is that foreign adversaries are sowing discord on our higher education campuses. Part of that is due to foreign dollars flowing in, but also the presence of affiliates in these foreign adversaries’ countries.”

He said there are major universities in his hometown of New York that operate branch campuses in China, but the problem has spread beyond the Empire State to other top schools in Chicago, Washington and elsewhere.

Confucius Institutes and classrooms were recently banned through the national defense bill, Stefanik added, and just as that effort is bipartisan, so is the second education security bill this week.

The Defensive American Research Act blocks any higher education institution that receives funding from certain foreign countries, such as Qatar, Venezuela, Türkiye and North Korea, from receiving federal research funding for five years.

Stefanik’s own book, “Poison Ivy,” dove into the dangerous aspects of today’s campus life, from foreign influences to anti-Semitism, he noted.

“[Ours] It was the most watched hearing in the history of Congress. It led to the resignation of many university presidents, but more importantly, it set off an earthquake in higher education reform. “When you see parents and students voting with their wallets and their feet, there have been seismic changes both in the marketplace and in higher education,” Stefanik said, adding that many American youth are seeking a college education at schools in the liberal northeast and south, where west coast influence is quieter.

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A Chinese flag flies near the Capitol in Washington, D.C., amid new legislation targeting former government officials’ lobbying on China’s behalf. (Douglas Rising/Getty Images)

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., join Stefanik in the effort, and Scott told Fox News Digital that America “has enemies” and needs to “start acting that way” when it comes to their impact on higher education.

“Countries like Communist China and terrorist-supporting Qatar should not be able to use America’s colleges and universities as outposts to spy on us, steal sensitive research, and spread anti-American propaganda, yet we have allowed them to do so for years,” Scott said.

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“This legislation is critical to America’s national security and the future of our higher education system—none of which should be for sale.”

While the list includes more prominent entries like North Korea, Cuba, and China, Qatar also appears on the list, though it remains a somewhat neutral or cooperative partner on national security concerns such as evacuations from Afghanistan and the Iran conflict.

But when it comes to her influence on education in the United States, Stefanik said her research received “billions of dollars” from Doha and supported anti-Semitic interests and “pro-terrorism professors” at some universities, including her own state.

“I think this is one of the most important ways we need to push back against this foreign influence that is really taking away from the founding missions of these institutions of higher education,” he said.

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Other countries on the list of both bills include the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation.

The common hope of the bill’s supporters is that their measures will provide the leverage needed to force U.S. universities to cut ties with rival governments or risk their profits.