Messmer Celebrates Passage of DETERRENT Act in House of Representatives

Washington, D.C., March 27, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House of Representatives passed the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act (H.R. 1048).

The DETERRENT Act safeguards American colleges and universities from hostile foreign influence by ensuring the gifts and donations they receive are not attached to regimes that wish to do us harm.

One of the DETERRENT Act’s main provisions is Rep. Mark Messmer’s (R-IN) bill called the INSTRUCT Act, which improves the gift and donation information colleges and universities are required to disclose to America’s intelligence agencies.

“For decades, the Chinese Communist Party, Iran, and Russia have targeted America’s college systems by pushing dangerous propaganda aimed at influencing impressionable students,” said Rep. Messmer. “By passing the DETERRENT Act, the House of Representatives will bring vital transparency and accountability to gift reporting requirements for colleges and universities, keeping our students safe in the process.”

The DETERRENT Act:

  • Slashes the foreign gift reporting threshold for colleges and universities from $250,000 down to $50,000, with an even stricter $0 threshold for countries of concern;
  • Closes reporting loopholes and provides transparency to Congress, intelligence agencies, and the public;
  • Requires disclosure of foreign gifts to individual staff and faculty at research-heavy institutions to protect those targeted the most by our adversaries;
  • Holds our largest private institutions accountable for their financial partnerships by revealing concerning foreign investments in their endowments; and
  • Implements a series of repercussions for colleges and universities that remain noncompliant in foreign gift reporting such as fines and the loss of Title IV funding.

Listen to Rep. Messmer’s full remarks in defense of the DETERRENT Act on the Floor of the House of Representatives here.

Read the full text of the DETERRENT Act here.

Read more about what Rep. Messmer is doing for Indiana’s 8th Congressional District here.

###