PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 5, 2025
Instructing Noteworthy Steps toward Transparency to Rout and Undo Calamitous Transactions Act of 2025 or the INSTRUCT Act of 2025
This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to share foreign gift and contract reports from institutions of higher education (IHEs) with specified federal agencies.
Under current law, an IHE must disclose to ED a gift from or contract with a foreign source that is valued at $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with that foreign source. This bill requires ED, within 30 days of receiving a disclosure report from an IHE, to transmit an unredacted copy of the report to 11 listed agencies (e.g., the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security).
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
The bill also requires ED, within 90 days of the bill's enactment, to transmit additional information to these federal agencies. Specifically, ED must transmit (1) any disclosure report received by ED prior to the bill's enactment; and (2) any report, document, or other record generated by ED in the course of investigating an IHE's compliance with disclosure requirements (and such investigation was initiated prior to the bill's enactment).
The Government Accountability Office must study and report on ways to improve intergovernmental agency coordination for implementing and enforcing disclosure reporting requirements.
People & committees
Rep. Messmer, Mark [R-IN-8] · R–IN
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Jul 21, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-05 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would require the Education Department to share institutions’ disclosure reports, including disclosed foreign sources’ names and addresses, with specified federal officials. It would also require sharing older reports and records from earlier compliance investigations. A government study would examine ways to improve coordination and enforcement. These are proposed requirements; the supplied record does not establish enactment.
Not later than 30 days after receiving a disclosure report from an institution in compliance with this section, the Secretary shall transmit an unredacted copy of such report (that includes the name and address of a foreign source disclosed in such report)
(1) any report received by the Department of Education under section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f) prior to the date of enactment of this Act; and (2) any report, document, or other record generated by the Department of Education in the course of an investigation— (A) of an institution with respect to the compliance of such institution with such section; and (B) initiated prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
the Comptroller General of the United States shall initiate a study to identify ways to improve intergovernmental agency coordination regarding implementation and enforcement
The bill would replace section 117(e) of the Higher Education Act with language requiring all disclosure reports required by section 117 to be public records available for inspection and copying during business hours.
Section 117(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f(e)) is amended to read as follows: (e) (1) Public inspection All disclosure reports required by this section shall be public records open to inspection and copying during business hours.
Within 30 days of receiving an institution’s disclosure report submitted in compliance with section 117, the Secretary would have to send a copy with no information removed, including the disclosed foreign source’s name and address, to 11 specified federal officials. Recipients would include intelligence, law enforcement, diplomatic, defense, commerce, homeland security, energy, science, and health research officials.
Not later than 30 days after receiving a disclosure report from an institution in compliance with this section, the Secretary shall transmit an unredacted copy of such report (that includes the name and address of a foreign source disclosed in such report) to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Director of the National Institutes of Health.
Within 90 days after enactment, the Education Secretary would have to send those same officials all section 117 reports received before enactment. The Secretary would also have to send Department-generated reports, documents, and other records from investigations into institutions’ compliance with section 117 that began before enactment.
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall transmit to each individual listed in section 117(e)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended by this Act— (1) any report received by the Department of Education under section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f) prior to the date of enactment of this Act; and (2) any report, document, or other record generated by the Department of Education in the course of an investigation— (A) of an institution with respect to the compliance of such institution with such section; and (B) initiated prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
Within 180 days after enactment, the Comptroller General would have to start a study on improving coordination in implementing and enforcing section 117. The study would cover increased information sharing, improved compliance rates, and processes for enforcement; these are study topics, not established results.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall initiate a study to identify ways to improve intergovernmental agency coordination regarding implementation and enforcement of sections 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f), as amended by this Act, including increasing information sharing, increasing compliance rates, and establishing processes for enforcement.
Within three years after enactment, the Comptroller General would have to submit the study’s results to Congress and make the report public.
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress, and make public, a report containing the results of the study described in paragraph (1).
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated July 21, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Education and Workforce on February 5, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2025-07-21T19:44:15Z. 2025-02-05: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. 2025-02-05: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-05. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jul 21, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI