DETERRENT Act (HR-1048)

Amendments

HAMDT 14March 25, 2025An amendment numbered 5 printed in House Report 119-38 to amend the definition of "Foreign Country Of Concern" to include any country that is defending a case before the International Court of Justice relating to an alleged violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 or their Additional Protocols or the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; and to include any country the government of which includes officials that have outstanding arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.

HAMDT 12March 25, 2025An amendment numbered 3 printed in House Report 119-38 to amend Section 117 to streamline foreign gift and contract reporting, aligns reporting with other federal research security compliance requirements, establishes sanctions for noncompliance and requires the Secretary of Education to conduct negotiated rulemaking to receive stakeholder feedback.

HAMDT 11March 25, 2025An amendment numbered 2 printed in House Report 119-38 to amend the definition of 'foreign entity of concern' to include Chinese military companies identified on the list required by section 1260H of the FY 2021 NDAA (colloquially referred to as the "Section 1260H list").

HAMDT 10March 25, 2025An amendment numbered 1 printed in House Report 119-38 to include any special administrative region or other territory within one of the covered nations referenced in the bill within the bill's definition of "foreign country of concern.".

HAMDT 13March 25, 2025An amendment numbered 4 printed in House Report 119-38 to amend the threshold value at which gifts must be reported from $50,000 to $1.

HAMDT 15March 25, 2025An amendment numbered 6 printed in House Report 119-38 to amend the definition of "Investment of Concern" to include any entity that the Secretary of State determines consistently, knowingly, and directly facilitates and enables state violence and repression, war and occupation, or severe violations of international law and human rights.

This bill makes colleges and universities more open about money and partnerships they get from other countries. It lowers the reporting threshold to $50,000 for most foreign sources and requires schools to report any amount from “countries or entities of concern” (for example, China or Russia). It also bans new contracts with those countries or entities unless the school gets a short, one‑year waiver. Schools that break the rules can face large fines and can even lose access to federal student aid. The Department of Education (ED) must investigate, keep a public list of countries/entities of concern, and run public, searchable websites so people can see these ties. Some private schools must also report certain “investments of concern.”

Schools must collect yearly disclosures from certain staff and researchers about foreign gifts and contracts, post them in a public, searchable database, and protect most personal details (names are usually kept private unless the deal involves a country/entity of concern). ED will also share unredacted reports with federal security and science agencies to help protect research.

Who is affected
- Colleges and universities across the U.S., with extra duties for larger research schools and those receiving certain federal funds.
- Faculty and researchers who must disclose foreign gifts and contracts to their school.
- Students, since a noncompliant school can face penalties that may affect federal student aid.
What changes
- Annual reporting of $50,000+ from any foreign source, and reporting of any amount from countries/entities of concern.
- New contracts with those countries/entities are banned unless ED grants a one‑year waiver; older contracts must be ended or waived.
- Public, searchable databases at ED and, for some schools, on the school’s website; ED maintains a public list of countries/entities of concern.
- Stronger enforcement, including big fines and other penalties; ED can go to court to compel compliance and shares reports with federal agencies.
When
- Reports are due each year by July 31 for the prior calendar year.
- ED’s public website must be up by May 31 after the bill becomes law.
- If a partner is later labeled a country/entity of concern, the school must end the contract within 60 days (unless covered by a waiver).
- Schools seeking a waiver must ask at least 120 days before entering the contract.

DETERRENT Act

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Amendments