June 10, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 107 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Pages S2859-S2861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONCERNS OVER NATIONS FUNDING UNIVERSITY CAMPUS INSTITUTES IN THE 
                           UNITED STATES ACT

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, let me apologize in advance. My accent 
has not changed, but my speech has. I had a little oral surgery, so I 
am going to try to be as clear as I can be.
  I want to talk for a few minutes today about the Communist Party of 
China and Confucius Institutes.
  As you know, Confucius Institutes are the Communist Party of China's 
so-called learning centers that are located on 72 university campuses 
across the continental United States and, of course, Alaska and Hawaii. 
Each one of these symbols is one of these Confucius Institutes located 
at one of our universities.
  Here is how a Confucius Institute works. The Communist Party of China 
gives our universities--these 72 universities--the money to open these 
Confucius Institutes, and supposedly the purpose of these Confucius 
Institutes is to, A, teach the Chinese language, and B,

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to teach culture about the country of China to American students.
  At this juncture, it is important to distinguish between the people 
of China and the Chinese Communist Party. I had the pleasure of 
visiting China a number of times, and I know the Presiding Officer has. 
The Chinese people are wonderful people. They are smart. They are hard-
working. They have a wonderful sense of humor. They are just 
extraordinary people. Their government, the Communist Party of China--
not so much. Not nearly so much. So when I talk today about China, I am 
talking about their government, the Communist Party of China.
  These Confucius Institutes, which are, once again, funded by the 
Communist Party of China, you will not be surprised to learn come with 
a lot of strings attached to that Chinese Communist Party money. For 
example, most of the teachers who teach at these Confucius Institutes 
on American university campuses are trained in China. In fact, the 
Communist Party of China has to approve all the teachers even though 
they are teaching in our universities. The Communist Party of China 
also has to approve all of the events and the speakers at these 
Confucius Institutes.
  In addition, in order to get the money from the Communist Party of 
China, our universities have to agree that the Confucius Institutes 
will be governed by both Chinese law and American law. I have never 
seen anything like that. It is unprecedented.
  In order to get the money from the Communist Party of China, our 
universities also have to agree through these Confucius Institutes that 
certain topics will be off limits. For example, at these institutes, 
you can't talk about Taiwan; you can't talk about civil liberties in 
Hong Kong; you can't talk about Tiananmen Square and the murders there 
by the Communist Party of China; you can't talk about Tibet; you can't 
talk about the Dalai Lama; and you can't talk about the discrimination 
and indeed the imprisonment of the Uighur Muslims in northwest China. 
Once again, these are institutes that are on American campuses, but in 
order to get the money from the Communist Party of China, our 
universities have to agree that these topics are off limits.
  The Communist Party of China, in short, requires that these 
institutes can only teach versions of Chinese history, culture, and 
current events that are approved by the Communist Party of China. That 
is about the furthest thing you can imagine from academic freedom.
  How am I doing? Is my speech OK? I promise you, I haven't been 
drinking.
  The first Confucius Institute was formed on an American campus in 
2004, and since that time, they have evolved--and not in a good way.
  I want to give you a short quotation. You are familiar with the 
Politburo of the Communist Party of China. Back in 2011, a member of 
the Politburo, which is the senior leadership in China in its Communist 
Party, Comrade Li Changchun, described Confucius Institutes in a speech 
he gave in Beijing in 2011. Comrade Li said:

       The Confucius Institutes are an appealing brand for 
     extending China's culture abroad. [They have] made an 
     important contribution toward improving [our] soft power. 
     ``The `Confucius brand' has a natural attractiveness''--

  A natural attractiveness.

       . . . using the excuse of teaching Chinese language, 
     everything looks reasonable and logical.''

  But of course it is not.
  Many of our professors across America have condemned the behavior of 
the Confucius Institutes. The American Association of University 
Professors did a comprehensive study of Confucius Institutes in 2014. 
Here is their report. This is what our professors concluded. I will 
quote from their report.

       Confucius Institutes function as an arm of the Chinese 
     state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom. Their 
     academic activities are under the supervision of Hanban, a 
     Chinese state agency which is chaired by a member of the 
     Politburo and the vice-premier of the People's Republic of 
     China. Most agreements establishing Confucius Institutes 
     feature nondisclosure clauses and unacceptable concessions 
     to the political aims and practices of the government of 
     China. Specifically, North American universities permit 
     Confucius Institutes to advance a state agenda in the 
     recruitment and control of academic staff, in the choice 
     of curriculum, and in the restriction of debate.

  I don't want to beat this to death, but I have a number of studies. 
There is another one right here from the GAO.
  I won't bore you with the details, but here is a 2019 report calling 
for either the overhaul or the closure of Confucius Institutes in 
America, which was issued by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on 
Investigations.
  Many U.S. colleges have disbanded Confucius Institutes. I want to be 
fair. Not that many years ago, there were over 100 of these little 
symbols. Now there are 72. About 30 universities have said: No, we 
believe in academic freedom--universities like the University of 
Chicago, Miami-Dade College, and Pennsylvania State University.
  Senator Doug Jones, our colleague from Alabama, the distinguished 
junior Senator from Alabama, and I have a bill. It deals with Confucius 
Institutes, but it wouldn't abolish them. It would not. The name of the 
bill--it is called the Concerns Over Nations Funding University Campus 
Institutes in the United States Act, the CONFUCIUS Act, by Senator Doug 
Jones and myself.
  Our bill would reform Confucius Institutes. Our bill would allow them 
to exist, but it would require all American universities that choose to 
sign a contract and receive money from and with the Communist Party of 
China to enter into contracts that require the Confucius Institutes to 
do the following: The Confucius Institute, by contract, would have to 
provide that it would protect academic freedom at the university; that 
it would prohibit the application of any foreign law on any campus of 
the institution; and that rather than granting full managerial control 
to the Chinese Party of China, it would grant full managerial authority 
of the Confucius Institute to the campus on which the Confucius 
Institute is situated. That would include full control over what is 
being taught, the activities carried out, the research grants that are 
made, and who was employed at the Confucius Institute.
  If the Confucius Institutes are going to be part of our universities, 
they should be part of our universities. Freedom of speech, full 
academic freedom--anything is open for discussion, and we don't have to 
have it first approved by the Communist Party of China.
  I think Senator Jones' and my bill would restore balance. It would 
restore truth. It would restore transparency. I know it would restore 
academic freedom to these Confucius Institutes that are operating in 
the United States of America.
  Toward that end, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from 
further consideration of S. 939--that is the CONFUCIUS Act--and the 
Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 939) to establish limitations regarding 
     Confucius Institutes, and for other purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to proceeding to the 
measure?
  There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the 
Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, with gratitude to my coauthor, Senator 
Doug Jones, who has done an extraordinary job on this legislation, I 
ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and 
passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid 
upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 939) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                 S. 939

       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 ``Concerns Over Nations 
     Funding University Campus Institutes in the United States 
     Act'' or the ``CONFUCIUS Act''.

     SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES.

       (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Confucius 
     Institute'' means a cultural institute directly or indirectly 
     funded by the

[[Page S2861]]

     Government of the People's Republic of China.
       (b) Restrictions on Confucius Institutes.--An institution 
     of higher education or other postsecondary educational 
     institution (referred to in this section as an 
     ``institution'') shall not be eligible to receive Federal 
     funds from the Department of Education (except funds under 
     title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 
     et seq.) or other Department of Education funds that are 
     provided directly to students) unless the institution ensures 
     that any contract or agreement between the institution and a 
     Confucius Institute includes clear provisions that--
       (1) protect academic freedom at the institution;
       (2) prohibit the application of any foreign law on any 
     campus of the institution; and
       (3) grant full managerial authority of the Confucius 
     Institute to the institution, including full control over 
     what is being taught, the activities carried out, the 
     research grants that are made, and who is employed at the 
     Confucius Institute.

  Mr. KENNEDY. Thank you.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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