The House of Representatives is considering a rule that would require think tanks to disclose any funding by foreign governments, the New York Times reports.
The rule is an effort to prevent think tanks from pushing the agendas of foreign government donors.
The proposal follows a Times report that found "at least 64 foreign governments, state-controlled entities, or government officials had contributed a minimum of $92 million to a group of 29 major United States-based research organizations in the last four years." The Times notes that the total of these donations is bound to be much higher as it only calculated donations made public by think tanks or the foreign governments themselves.
The rule has received support form both sides of the aisle and could be adopted next year.
Representative Jackie Speier, Democrat of California, who drafted the proposal, said lawmakers had a right to know when a foreign government was financing a scholar’s research, even if the foreign government did not control the scholar’s recommendations. […]
Witnesses who appear before the House, under the so-called Truth in Testimony rule, are already required to disclose if they or the organization they work for has received financial support from the federal government that relates to the topic they are discussing. But there is no such requirement for donations from foreign governments.
Critics of the rule say it could restrict academic freedom.