Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday and Thursday to crack down on potential Chinese influence in U.S. Schools.
Hawai‘i Reps. Jill Tokuda and Ed Case were split on three bills this week, beginning with the Combating the Lies of Authoritarians in School Systems Act, or CLASS Act, on Wednesday. That bill prohibits any public elementary or secondary school that receives federal funding from accepting any funds or contracts with the Chinese government or any organization acting on behalf of China or the Chinese Communist Party.
The bill acts in tandem with the Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education Act (or TRACE Act) and the Promoting Responsible Oversight to Eliminate Communist Teachings for Our Kids Act (or PROTECT Our Kids Act), which the House passed Thursday.
The TRACE Act requires that any school receiving federal funds notifies parents of their right to request information about “foreign influence” in schools. Said influence could include any donations or contracts between the school and a foreign country or agency.
Meanwhile the PROTECT Our Kids Act cuts federal funding for any school that has any partnership with a cultural or language institute that is funded by the Chinese government. The bill specifically refers to “Confucius Classrooms,” language and cultural programs funded by the Chinese International Education Foundation.
All three bills passed with similar votes — CLASS passed 242-176, TRACE passed 247-166 and PROTECT passed 247-164. Votes on all three measures were largely split down party lines, although a cadre of about 30 Democrats broke with the rest of the party to support each bill, Case among them.
Meanwhile, the House also voted on another two bills on Wednesday, both related to small businesses.
• The Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act requires the Small Business Administration to ensure that its annual small business regulatory budget — the cost to a small business resulting by any new federal rulemaking — is zero. This vote was largely split on party lines, with 15 Democrats — none of whom were Case or Tokuda — breaking with the party majority to pass the bill 223-190.
• The Destroying Unnecessary, Misaligned and Prohibitive Red Tape Act, or DUMP Red Tape Act, requires the SBA to continue to maintain a Red Tape Hotline, through which small businesses can notify the SBA about prohibitive rules, regulations and policies imposed by a federal agency. This bill garnered more bipartisan support, with 59 Democrats — including Case — voting in favor of the bill, which passed 269-146. Tokuda voted against the bill.
ASD reached out to Case's office for comment.
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