BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA – U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) are requesting the U.S. Department of Education conduct a nationwide audit to determine how much funding has flowed from hostile foreign governments to America’s K-12 classrooms. The inquiry stems from new data showing entities with links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have sent millions of dollars to schools in 34 states, including Iowa. 

“The Chinese Communist Party is constantly working to move the needle in its brazen desire for global dominance. The CCP is playing a strategic long-game – by buying up farmland near military installations, gaining control of critical supply chains and attempting to influence our students, to name a few ways. The United States must keep our eye on the ball and hold China accountable,” Grassley said. 

In yesterday’s letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Grassley, Scott and their colleagues raised concerns the CCP is threatening national security and the integrity of America’s education system through its use of grants, sister school partnerships, “Confucius Classrooms” and other state-sponsored programming. The lawmakers are driving awareness of CCP-linked organizations supporting American K-12 schools and urging the administration to address the issue, first by determining its extent.

Schools across the U.S. have reportedly received over $17.9 million in the last 14 years from organizations with CCP ties. This included the Cedar Rapids Community School District, which allegedly received funding from the Asia Society for Chinese language instruction from 2011 to 2019. During that time, Grassley served as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. He sounded alarms about adversaries targeting intellectual property developed through taxpayer-funded research. In an op-ed, Grassley noted China is the most prolific foreign actor attempting espionage in the U.S. – in part through Confucius Institutes, which incorporate CCP-influenced teachings into curricula.

Grassley and Scott were joined by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-Idaho), as well as Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).

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