# 119-s-1296: DETERRENT Act

119-s-1296, DETERRENT Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-15).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1296
- As of: 2026-07-15
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-1296
- Congress: 119
- Title: DETERRENT Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-04-03
- Sponsor: Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC)
- Cosponsors: 24
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-15

## Summary

**Limits and public reporting of foreign gifts and contracts.** This bill would require colleges and universities to disclose most foreign gifts and contracts, ban certain deals with foreign countries or entities of concern, and create public and federal databases to track them. - Students and researchers would see more public transparency about outside funding. Institutions must report gifts of $50,000 or more from the same foreign source each year and post received disclosures in searchable databases soon after receipt. - Colleges would face new compliance duties. Covered institutions must adopt written policies, designate 1 to 3 compliance officers, keep contracts and translations, and follow a 1‑year, renewable waiver process for prohibited contracts. - Institutions risk large fines and program penalties for willful noncompliance. Waiver violations can trigger fines tied to Federal research funding of 5 to 10 percent for a first violation and 20 percent for subsequent violations. Other civil fines start at $250,000 for first violations of disclosure rules and rise on repeat violations. - The Department of Education must build a public database by May 31 after enactment and share unredacted reports with national security and science agencies within 30 days, plus transmit prior reports within 90 days.

## Cosponsors (24)

- Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA] (R-LA), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] (R-WV), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (R-IA), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] (R-FL), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (R-NE), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schmitt, Eric [R-MO] (R-MO), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY] (R-WY), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-04-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] (R-ME), 2025-06-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (R-SD), 2025-07-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA), 2026-03-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Tuberville, Tommy [R-AL] (R-AL), 2026-04-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC] (R-NC), 2026-04-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] (R-AR), 2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN), 2026-05-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA] (R-PA), 2026-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND), 2026-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA), 2026-06-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (R-AK), 2026-06-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK), 2026-07-13T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Ban on some foreign contracts, narrow waivers: cost, medium. If enacted, institutions would be barred from entering contracts with a listed foreign country or entity of concern unless they get a contract-specific waiver. Waiver requests would have to be filed at least 120 days before the contract, include the full unredacted contract (with English translatio…
- Stronger enforcement, fines, and bans: cost, medium. If enacted, the Education Secretary could investigate violations and the Attorney General could sue to force compliance. Institutions forced to comply by a court would pay the government's enforcement costs. The bill would allow tiered civil fines: for some first-time failures the fine would be the…
- New disclosure rules for covered individuals: mixed, medium. If enacted, certain faculty and staff at covered institutions would have to file annual reports by July 31 listing foreign gifts and contracts they received the prior year. Reports would cover gifts above the minimal value in 5 U.S.C. 7342(a) or of indeterminate value, and contracts (not with liste…
- New foreign gift and contract reporting: mixed, medium. If enacted, colleges and universities would have to report foreign gifts and contracts to the Department of Education each year by July 31. Gifts of $50,000 or more from the same foreign source in a year must be reported, and any gift or contract from a listed foreign country or entity of concern m…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-5: Laken Riley Act
- 119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former United States Senator for the State of Kansas.
- 119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewellyn Kyl, former Senator for the State of Arizona.
- 119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham, a Senator from the State of South Carolina.
- 119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former Senator for the State of Michigan.

## Sources
- [119-s-1296 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1296)

## Related
- [119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1071)
- [119-s-5: Laken Riley Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5)
- [119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former Uni…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-913)
- [119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewel…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-897)
- [119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham,…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-801)
- [119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former S…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-755)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1296 (as of 2026-07-15).