Bean’s TRACE Act Gains Senate Momentum as Florida Students Head Back to School

WASHINGTON— As Florida students head back to school this week, U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean (FL-04) applauded Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) introduction of the Senate companion to his Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act. The legislation strengthens parents’ right to know how foreign funding is influencing their child’s education and aims to prevent adversarial nations from accessing America’s youth.

Upon the Senate introduction, Congressman Bean said: “As Florida families send their children back to school, they deserve confidence that the classrooms are free from foreign interference. The TRACE Act ensures parents have the right to know how foreign influence may be affecting their child’s education and takes real steps to stop adversarial nations from targeting our youth. I’m proud to have Senator Cruz leading this effort in the Senate and thank him for joining me in the fight to protect the integrity of American education.”

Senator Cruz said: “The Chinese Communist Party spends vast resources to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think. Our foreign adversaries are actively targeting American educational institutions, and the TRACE Act will help protect our classrooms from foreign influence by providing parents with the transparency they deserve. I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation without delay.”

Parents Defending Education Action and Heritage Action support this bill. 

Director of Federal Affairs for Parents Defending Education Action Alfonso Aguilar said: “Parents should know if a foreign government or entity is providing funding to their children’s schools, trying to influence what is taught to them or seeking to access important data and intellectual property. A 2023 investigation from our partner organization Defending Education uncovered Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence in numerous public schools and school districts across the nation. Their research showed that entities with ties to the CCP such as the Confucius Institutes have provided curriculum content, funding and Chinese teachers to U.S. public schools. Disturbingly, they also found that the Chinese government efforts appeared to target school districts near over twenty American bases. Our investigation, however, only discovered some or the CCP’s growing involvement in our public schools. The TRACE Act would ensure that parents have a full and continuous accounting of China’s meddling in their children’s education.”

BACKGROUND 

The TRACE Act, which has already passed the House Committee on Education and the Workforce will: 

• Require schools to allow parents to review any curriculum that has been provided by or purchased with foreign funds.
• Require that schools notify parents of any foreign contracts or financial transactions they receive.
• Stipulate that parents be notified of how many school employees, if any, are being compensated by another country or foreign adversary, and whether foreign nations have donated to the institution.

Congressman Bean first introduced the legislation in 2024.

Read the full bill text HERE.

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