WASHINGTON, D.C. — May 4, 2026

A coalition of 26 major organizations announced Monday the submission of a joint letter to all four top Congressional leaders — Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — urging adoption of the DETERRENT Act (H.R. 1048 and S. 1296) during the 119th Congress.

The Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions Act passed the House with bipartisan support — a 241–169 vote in March 2025 — and is now under active consideration in the Senate. The legislation dramatically strengthens Section 117 reporting requirements governing foreign donations and contracts to institutions of higher education, aiming to close longstanding gaps in oversight and ensure full accountability over foreign influence on American campuses.

BC
Louis D. Brandeis Center
@brandeiscenter
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law is proud to join a coalition of 26 major organizations in urging Congressional leadership to adopt the DETERRENT Act (H.R. 1048 and S.1296) during this 119th Congress.
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Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 has long required institutions receiving federal funding to disclose foreign gifts and contracts to the U.S. Department of Education. Yet compliance has been notoriously inconsistent. Recent investigations have found that billions of dollars in foreign funding — particularly from non-democratic states — have gone entirely unreported or severely underreported, undermining both public transparency and national security safeguards.

ISGAP’s Follow the Money Project has uncovered systematic efforts to circumvent existing transparency requirements under Section 117. Universities have chronically underreported or entirely omitted foreign gifts and contracts from mandatory federal disclosures. The time for voluntary compliance has passed.
— Dr. Charles Asher Small, Founder & Executive Director, ISGAP

Dr. Charles Asher Small, Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), whose organization’s “Follow the Money Project” has been instrumental in surfacing the scope of the problem, issued a pointed call for legislative action:

“We urge Congress to act decisively to ensure transparency, accountability, and the protection of American academic institutions — from foreign influence and from efforts that undermine Western and liberal values while advancing extremist narratives,” Dr. Small said.

IS
ISGAP
@ISGAP
ISGAP’s Follow the Money Project has uncovered systematic efforts to circumvent existing transparency requirements under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. Universities have chronically underreported or entirely omitted foreign gifts and contracts from mandatory federal disclosures.
↗ View on X (Twitter)

Key Provisions of the DETERRENT Act

  • Lowered reporting threshold — From $250,000 (biannual) to $50,000 (annual); zero-dollar threshold for gifts from countries/entities of concern including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
  • Mandatory public database — The Department of Education must maintain a searchable, downloadable public registry of all foreign gift and contract disclosures.
  • Contract prohibitions — Institutions generally barred from entering contracts with adversarial countries or entities without a time-limited, Secretary-approved waiver subject to congressional notification.
  • Faculty and staff reporting — New personal reporting requirements for research staff on foreign gifts and contracts above $5,000, with institutional counter-espionage plans.
  • Escalating civil penalties — Fines tied to unreported amounts; repeat violators risk losing Title IV student aid eligibility.
  • Full disclosure details — Reports must include names, purposes, restrictions, foreign source affiliations (including terrorist organization ties), and translated unredacted contract copies for concern entities.

The House bill (H.R. 1048) was introduced on February 6, 2025 by Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA-5) and passed with 31 Democrats crossing the aisle to support it. The Senate companion, S. 1296, was introduced in April 2025 by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) alongside co-sponsors including Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). For the Senate’s legislative summary, see Sen. Tillis’s one-pager.

Supporters of the bill — including national security-focused advocacy groups and the now-26-member coalition — argue the measure closes critical loopholes, deters espionage and intellectual property theft, and brings meaningful accountability to what critics describe as decades of lax enforcement. Higher education associations such as the American Association of Universities (AAU) and the American Council on Education (ACE) have raised concerns about administrative burden and potential disruption to legitimate research partnerships, while stating they broadly support transparency goals.

If enacted, the DETERRENT Act would represent the most significant overhaul of foreign gift and contract oversight in American higher education in nearly four decades — shifting from largely voluntary self-reporting to a fully enforceable framework integrated with national security oversight. With Senate hearings on foreign influence already underway, the coalition’s letter signals mounting pressure for the Senate to act before the 119th Congress concludes.