Last week, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) introduced a bill that would prevent high-ranking officials of the Chinese Communist Party and their families from studying at American universities, the Epoch Times reported.

Hartzler said that barring CCP officials and their family members from attending American universities would “undermine” the Chinese government’s attempts at harming the United States.

The congresswoman said, “We have to realize that China has a plan for world domination. It sounds like some Hollywood movie; that’s the reality.”

“We shouldn’t be aiding and abetting those who want to do us harm. It’s just wrong,” she added.

Hartzler’s bill, the “Protecting Higher Education from the Chinese Communist Party Act,” would immediately stop the government from issuing student and research visas to senior CCP officials and their family members. This would prohibit the CCP members’ children and grandchildren from attending American universities.

According to data gathered by the Institute of International Education and the U.S. State Department, during the 2020-2021 academic year, there were significantly more than 300,000 Chinese nationals enrolled in American institutions of higher learning.

Chinese nationals account for 35% of international college students.

Hartzler asserted that these students might have family members who are high-ranking officials in the CCP.

She noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s daughter received an undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 2014 and re-enrolled in an American university in 2019 to pursue a graduate degree.

In 2019, the FBI warned that the Chinese government was using students and professors who maintained ties to the Chinese government to “operate as non-traditional collectors of intellectual property.”

The FBI stated, “These Chinese scholars may serve as collectors – wittingly or unwittingly – of economic, scientific, and technological intelligence from U.S. institutions to ultimately benefit Chinese academic institutions and business.”

The FBI estimates that between $225 billion and $600 billion is lost every year due to theft of trade secrets.

Beyond academia, the CCP has infiltrated almost every major American institution.

More and more, popular culture in America is being influenced by the Chinese government. American producers bend over backward to market their products to China as the Chinese foreign market has quickly become one of the most lucrative places for media companies to sell their products.

Recently, talk show host Bill Maher accused pro wrestler turned movie star John Cena of bending the knee to China so that he could make a quick buck.

Maher said, “That’s the deal China offers American companies and celebrities: ‘We’ll give you access to our billion-plus consumers as long as you shut up about the whole police-state genocide thing.’ John Cena took that deal.”