February 5, 2025
Mr. Messmer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require additional information in disclosures of foreign gifts and contracts from foreign sources.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Instructing Noteworthy Steps toward Transparency to Rout and Undo Calamitous Transactions Act of 2025
or the INSTRUCT Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Interagency information sharing
(a) Public records and sharing of reports
Section 117(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f(e)) is amended to read as follows:
(e)
(1) Public inspection
All disclosure reports required by this section shall be public records open to inspection and copying during business hours.
(2) Interagency information sharing
Not later than 30 days after receiving a disclosure report from an institution in compliance with this section, the Secretary shall transmit an unredacted copy of such report (that includes the name and address of a foreign source disclosed in such report) to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Director of the National Institutes of Health.
(b) Interagency information sharing
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall transmit to each individual listed in section 117(e)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended by this Act—
(1)
any report received by the Department of Education under section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f) prior to the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2)
any report, document, or other record generated by the Department of Education in the course of an investigation—
(A)
of an institution with respect to the compliance of such institution with such section; and
(B)
initiated prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) GAO Study and Report
(1) Study
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall initiate a study to identify ways to improve intergovernmental agency coordination regarding implementation and enforcement of sections 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f), as amended by this Act, including increasing information sharing, increasing compliance rates, and establishing processes for enforcement.
(2) Report
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress, and make public, a report containing the results of the study described in paragraph (1).