The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Week of March 24, 2025

Keeping Foreign Adversaries Out of American Educational Institutions

The future of our nation rests on the shoulders of our next generation of leaders, whose values, intellect, and judgement are often shaped by the institutions of higher education they attend.

Due to their considerable impact on the future leaders of our country, American universities and colleges have been the target of foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party, which seek to exert their influence on students, faculty, and research across the country and subvert U.S. interests.

In order to infiltrate American campuses, foreign nations provide expensive gifts, large donations, and investments to universities and colleges – with strings attached. Although American Universities are required by law (section 117 of the Higher Education Act)  to report these gifts to the Department of Education, they often refuse to adhere to the reporting requirements, bolstering foreign influence in our education system and slashing necessary transparency. 

A report from Network Contagion Research Institute found that around 350 universities, including Harvard and Yale, received nearly $18 million combined from foreign nations between 2014 and 2019. Meanwhile, over 60 percent of foreign money given to American universities comes from China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The first Trump Administration unearthed $6.5 billion in gifts and contributions to elite universities from countries that pose serious national security threats that hadn’t been previously disclosed. Additionally, a 2019 Senate report found that around 70 percent of all institutions failed to comply with reporting requirements in the law, and those that do comply often underreport. 

We cannot allow foreign adversaries like the CCP, whose mission is to undermine American interests, infect our political discourse, and shape young minds to their design, to continue to infiltrate our campuses and influence American higher education. House Republicans are bringing legislation to demand American education institutions stop hiding their dealings with foreign regimes to allow for transparency and oversight.

H.R. 1048, the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, sponsored by Rep. Michael Baumgartner, protects our institutions of higher education from foreign interference by strengthening disclosure requirements for foreign gifts and contracts, and in some cases, banning contracts between these schools and certain foreign entities of concern.

House Republicans will continue working to keep dangerous foreign influence out of our institutions of learning. 

Overturning Burdensome Biden Rules to Protect Consumer Choice 

In 1975, Congress established the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to increase American energy production, encourage efficient energy use, and bolster national energy security. Under the EPCA, the Department of Energy (DOE) sets and enforces efficiency standards for 60 product categories – but these standards must be cost-effective, significantly save energy, and be technologically feasible. 

Unfortunately, President Biden’s DOE consistently abused their authority to push a radical energy agenda on American consumers, attempting to implement conservation standards that are neither economically justifiable nor significantly more energy efficient for several household appliances like refrigerators and washing machines. These overreaching rules take away consumer choice, burden American families, and force Americans to use expensive appliances that do not perform as well. 

By raising production costs and equipment prices for manufacturers, these rules ultimately raise costs for small businesses and consumers. Costly requirements created by these rules also put smaller businesses and manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage, forcing some out of business and resulting in job losses. Additionally, these regulations could cause supply chain disruptions. 

While the Biden Administration fought until the last minute to unleash burdensome regulations for a multitude of vital home appliances like coolers, freezers, refrigerators, air conditioners, and dryers, House Republicans are working to protect consumer choice and keep government agencies out of your home.

Let’s be clear: Biden era regulations and Washington bureaucrats' war on everyday household appliances only hurt American families and small businesses.