To amend the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to require each institution of higher education to certify as part of an application for a research and development award that such institution does not operate certain branch campuses, and for other purposes.

Key Points

• Colleges and universities that operate branch campuses in certain countries would be barred from receiving federal research and development grants. The restricted countries include China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Turkey, and Qatar.
• To qualify for funding, schools would need to formally certify on their grant applications that they do not run a permanent campus in any listed country. A branch campus is defined as a geographically separate location with its own faculty, administration, budget, and degree programs.
• Federal research agencies would have two years after enactment to begin requiring this certification on all research award applications.
• The Secretary of State could add more countries to the restricted list beyond the eight already named, giving the executive branch flexibility to respond to future national security concerns.
• The bill is bipartisan, introduced by Rep. Stefanik and Rep. Gottheimer, and aims to protect American research from foreign influence by countries considered adversarial or strategically sensitive.