US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) speaks during the House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, DC, Sept. 30, 2021. Photo: Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS

US Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) introduced legislation that would bar universities from accepting gifts from foreign countries that have provided assistance to terrorist groups. 

The “No Foreign Gifts Act” would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ban institutions of higher learning from taking donations from countries that “have provided financial support of foreign terrorist organizations, including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.” The legislation would also mandate that universities report gift offers from terror-supporting countries to the US Secretary of State. 

“The No Foreign Gifts Act represents a crucial step toward safeguarding the integrity of our nation’s higher education system from malicious foreign influence, which has become increasingly pronounced in the aftermath of Oct. 7,” Torres wrote, referring to the day when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel.

“By prohibiting gifts from countries that have supported foreign terrorist organizations, like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, this legislation would ensure that institutions of higher learning remain free from malign financial manipulation that is corrupting the minds of America’s next generation and causing social disorder,” the New York Democrat added.

The growing influence of foreign money on American universities has become a major point of discussion in the months following the Hamas terrorist group’s slaughter of roughly 1,200 people and kidnapping of some 250 throughout southern Israel.

According to a recent report by foreign policy analyst Mitchell Bard, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kuwait have donated a combined $12.3 billion to American universities since 1981.

These donations have influenced the academic curriculum and program offerings of many prestigious American universities. For example, Brown University accepted a donation to create a professorship in Palestinian Studies. Saudi Arabia also donated $200,000 to Duke University to bankroll the creation of an Islamic and Arabian development studies major. The United Arab Emirates gave $250,000 to Georgetown University to fund a visiting professorship of Arab civilization.

“Foreign influence has no place in our education system — especially when it’s aimed at spreading antisemitism and anti-American sentiment on our college campuses,” Garbarino said in a statement. “For far too long, radical organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine have been propped up by foreign entities with connections to terrorism. Allowing these malign actors to continue funneling money into our colleges and universities would be the height of recklessness.”

Many hobservers ave suggested that foreign actors have influenced the narratives surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on American university campuses. US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines in July warned that “actors tied to Iran’s government” have encouraged and provided financial support to rampant protests opposing Israel’s defensive military operations against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

Haines also told Congress that Iran is becoming “increasingly aggressive” in its efforts to “stoke discord” in American institutions. Gabriel Noronha, an expert on Iran and former US State Department official, told National Review that Individuals tied to the Iranian government have been observed “posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support for protesters.”