[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4264 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4264
To amend section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify the
enforcement of such section, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 2021
Mrs. Harshbarger (for herself and Mr. Keller) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify the
enforcement of such section, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Requiring Education Providers to
Observe Requirements or Trigger Fines Act'' or the ``REPORT Fines
Act''.
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURES OF FOREIGN GIFTS.
(a) Disclosure Report.--Section 117(a) of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f(a)) is amended by striking ``the value of
which is $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all
other gifts from or contracts with that foreign source within a
calendar year'' and inserting ``the value of which is $50,000 or more
within a calendar year''.
(b) Enforcement.--Section 117(f) of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f(f)) is amended to read as follows:
``(f) Enforcement.--
``(1) System of penalties.--
``(A) First instance of failure.--Whenever it
appears that an institution has failed to comply with
the requirements of this section for the first time in
a 3-year period, and except in a case in which a civil
action is brought against an institution under
paragraph (3)--
``(i) the Secretary shall issue a written
warning to such institution that sets forth
each failure of compliance, each corrective
action that the institution shall take to be in
compliance, and the requisite time period in
which the institution must take such corrective
action; and
``(ii) the institution shall be provided
the opportunity to respond to the Secretary not
later than 60 days after the date on which the
warning is received by the institution.
``(B) Second instance of failure.--In a case in
which an institution received a written warning under
subparagraph (A), and the institution appears to have
failed to comply with the requirements of this section
for the second time during the 3-year period beginning
on the date on which such warning was received by the
institution under subparagraph (A), upon a judicial
finding that such institution has failed to comply with
the requirements of this section, including any rule or
regulation promulgated under this section, the Court
shall impose a civil penalty in an amount that does not
exceed amount of funds provided by the foreign source
to the institution and which is the subject of the
institution's failure under this subparagraph.
``(C) Third or subsequent instance of failure.--
``(i) Judicial finding.--In a case of an
institution on which a civil penalty was
imposed under subparagraph (B), and such
institution appears to have failed to comply
with the requirements of this section for a
third time, or any time thereafter, during the
3-year period beginning on the date on which a
warning was received under subparagraph (A),
upon a judicial finding that an institution has
failed to comply with the requirements of this
section, including any rule or regulation
promulgated under this section, the Court shall
impose a civil penalty in an amount equal to
the amount of funds provided by the foreign
source to the institution and which is the
subject of the institution's failure under this
subparagraph.
``(ii) Ineligibility.--In a case in which
the court finds that an institution has failed
to comply with the requirements of this section
for a third time, or any time thereafter,
during the 3-year period beginning on the date
on which a warning was received under
subparagraph (A), including any rule or
regulation promulgated under this section, the
institution shall be ineligible for new Federal
research funding during the fiscal year
following such a finding.
``(2) Accelerated penalties.--
``(A) In general.--In any instance in which a court
determines under subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph
(1) that an institution received funding, and the
funding was from a foreign adversary, or any entity
associated with a foreign adversary, such institution
shall immediately be assessed a civil penalty under
paragraph (1)(C).
``(B) Foreign adversary defined.--For purposes of
this paragraph, the term `foreign adversary' has the
meaning given the term in the rule issued by the
Department of Commerce entitled `Securing the
Information and Communications Technology and Services
Supply Chain' (86 Fed. Reg. 4913 (January 19, 2021)).
Such foreign adversaries include--
``(i) the People's Republic of China,
including the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region (China);
``(ii) the Republic of Cuba (Cuba);
``(iii) the Islamic Republic of Iran
(Iran);
``(iv) the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (North Korea); the Russian Federation
(Russia); and
``(v) Venezuelan politician Nicolas Maduro
(Maduro Regime).
``(3) Court orders.--Whenever it appears that an
institution violated this section, other than in a case in
which such institution receives a warning under paragraph
(1)(A), a civil action shall be brought by the Attorney
General, at the request of the Secretary, in an appropriate
district court of the United States, or the appropriate United
States court of any territory or other place subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States, to request such court compel
compliance with the requirements of this section and impose
civil penalties, as appropriate.
``(4) Costs.--For any failure to comply with the
requirements of this section, including any rule or regulation
promulgated thereunder, the institution shall pay to the
Treasury of the United States the full costs to the United
States of obtaining compliance, including all associated costs
of investigation and enforcement.''.
SEC. 3. RULES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall promulgate
rules to clarify the amendments made by section 2.
(b) Rulemaking Requirements.--The amendments made by section 2
shall not--
(1) be subject to the master calendar requirements under
section 482 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1089); or
(2) the public involvement and negotiated rulemaking
requirements under section 492 of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098a).
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