Notice of Investigation and Record Requests, 26674-26676 [2020-09567]
Download as PDF
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
26674
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 87 / Tuesday, May 5, 2020 / Notices
judicial punishments involving
midshipmen attending the Naval
Academy to include but not limited to,
individual honor or conduct violations
within the Brigade, the disclosure of
which would constitute a clearly
unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy. For this reason, the executive
session of this meeting will be closed to
the public, as the discussion of such
information cannot be adequately
segregated from other topics, which
precludes opening the executive session
of this meeting to the public.
Accordingly, the (Acting) Secretary of
the Navy, in consultation with the
Department of the Navy General
Counsel, has determined in writing that
the meeting shall be partially closed to
the public because the discussions
during the executive session from 11
a.m. to noon (12 p.m.) will be concerned
with matters protected under sections
552b(c) (5), (6), and (7) of title 5, United
States Code.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552b.
Meeting Accessibility: Pursuant to
FACA and 41 CFR 102–3.140, this
meeting is virtually open to the public.
This meeting will be broadcasted live
from the United States Naval Academy
to include audio and video. The
broadcast will be close captioned for the
duration of the public portion of the
meeting. The link to view the meeting
will be posted at https://www.usna.edu/
PAO/Superintendent/bov.php fortyeight hours prior to the meeting. Due to
expected health directives in light of
COVID–19, the public cannot be
accommodated to attend the meeting in
person.
Written Statements: Per Section
10(a)(3) of the FACA and 41 CFR 102–
3.105(j) and 102–3.140, interested
persons may submit a written statement
for consideration at any time, but
should be received by the Designated
Federal Officer a least 15 business days
prior to the meeting date so that the
comments may be made available to the
Board for their consideration prior to
the meeting. Written statements should
be submitted via mail to 121 Blake Rd,
Annapolis MD 21402. Please note that
since the Board operates under the
provisions of the FACA, as amended, all
submitted comments and public
presentations will be treated as public
documents and will be made available
for public inspection, including, but not
limited to, being posted on the board
website.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:16 May 04, 2020
Jkt 250001
Dated: April 28, 2020.
D.J. Antenucci,
Commander, Judge Advocate General’s Corps,
U.S. Navy, Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020–09489 Filed 5–4–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Notice of Investigation and Record
Requests
You may also access documents of the
Department published in the Federal
Register by using the article search
feature at www.federalregister.gov.
Specifically, through the advanced
search feature at this site, you can limit
your search to documents published by
the Department.
Reed D. Rubinstein,
Principal Deputy General Counsel, Delegated
the Authority to Perform the Functions and
Duties of the General Counsel.
Office of the General Counsel,
Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice.
Appendix—Letter to University of
Texas System
The Department publishes a
letter, dated April 24, 2020, notifying
the University of Texas System of an
investigation related to the University of
Texas System’s reports of defined gifts
and contracts, including restricted and
conditional gifts or contracts, from or
with a statutorily defined foreign
source.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patrick Shaheen, U.S. Department of
Education, Office of the General
Counsel, 400 Maryland Avenue SW,
Room 6E300, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202) 453–6339. Email:
Patrick.Shaheen@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay
Service, toll free, at 1–800–877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Department publishes this letter, dated
April 24, 2020, notifying the University
of Texas System of an investigation
related to the University of Texas
System’s reports of defined gifts and
contracts, including restricted and
conditional gifts or contracts, from or
with a statutorily defined foreign
source. The letter to the University of
Texas System is in the Appendix of this
notice.
Accessible Format: Individuals with
disabilities can obtain this document in
an accessible format (e.g., braille, large
print, audiotape, or compact disc) on
request to the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document:
The official version of this document is
the document published in the Federal
Register. You may access the official
edition of the Federal Register and the
Code of Federal Regulations at
www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can
view this document, as well as all other
documents of this Department
published in the Federal Register, in
text or Portable Document Format
(PDF). To use PDF you must have
Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is
available free at the site.
James B. Milliken, Chancellor
Office of the Chancellor
The University of Texas System
210 West 7th St.
Austin, TX 78701
AGENCY:
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00019
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
April 24, 2020
Re: Notice of 20 U.S.C. 1011f
Investigation and Record Request/
University of Texas System
Dear Chancellor Milliken:
Section 117 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f) requires
institutions of higher education (IHEs),
including the University of Texas
System (UT), to fully report statutorily
defined gifts, contracts, and/or restricted
and conditional gifts or contracts from
or with a foreign source to the U.S.
Department of Education (Department).
These reports are posted at https://
studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/
school/foreign-gifts.
According to UT’s Medical Branch
(UTMB), it is responsible for the
operation of the Galveston National
Laboratory (GNL) under UTMB’s
Institute for Human Infections and
Immunity. GNL, in turn, has substantial
contractual relations with a maximum
biocontainment laboratory (MCL) in
Wuhan, China (Wuhan MCL) (also
known as the Wuhan Institute of
Virology) which is upon information
and belief owned by the Chinese
government’s Chinese Academy of
Sciences. See https://www.utmb.edu/
gnl/news/2018/11/28/scientificdiplomacy-and-internationalcooperation-key-say-bsl4-directors;
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/
coronavirus/wuhan-institute-virologyorigin-coronavirus-or-conspiracynonsense-144082; https://
www.foxnews.com/world/wuhanlaboratory-china-coronaviruscontroversy. On November 28, 2018,
GNL claimed in SCIENCE Magazine:
We direct a newly constructed MCL
in Wuhan, China (Z.Y.) and an
established MCL in the United States
(J.W.L), in Galveston, Texas. In
preparation for the opening of the new
E:\FR\FM\05MYN1.SGM
05MYN1
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 87 / Tuesday, May 5, 2020 / Notices
China MCL, we engaged in short- and
long-term personnel exchanges focused
on biosafety training, building
operations and maintenance, and
collaborative scientific investigations in
biocontainment. We succeeded in
transferring proven best practices to the
new Wuhan facility. Both labs recently
signed formal cooperative agreements
that will streamline future scientific and
operational collaborations on dangerous
pathogens, although funding for
research and the logistics of exchanging
specimens are challenges that we have
yet to solve.
https://www.utmb.edu/gnl/news/2018/
11/28/scientific-diplomacy-andinternational-cooperation-key-say-bsl4directors.
Between June 6, 2014, and June 3,
2019, UT reported approximately
twenty-four contracts with various
Chinese state-owned universities and
ten contracts with Huawei
Technologies, all purportedly worth a
reported total of $12,987,896. It is not
clear, however, whether UT has in fact
reported all gifts from or contracts with
or relating to the Wuhan MCL, the
Wuhan Institute of Virology, and/or all
other foreign sources, including agents
and instrumentalities of the government
of the Peoples’ Republic of China.
Therefore, to verify UT’s compliance
with Section 117, the Department
requests that your Institution produce
the following records within thirty (30)
days. Unless otherwise noted, the
relevant time frame for these requests is
January 1, 2012 through the present.
1. True copies of each gift or donation
agreement, contract, and/or conditional
gift or donation agreement or contract to
which your Institution and the Wuhan
MCL, the Wuhan Institute of Virology,
or the Chinese Academy of Sciences are
parties.
2. True copies of each gift or donation
agreement, contract, and/or conditional
gift or donation agreement or contract
with or between your Institution and
any of the following:
a. BGp Inc.
b. Educational Advisors Deda Co. Ltd.
c. Xi’an Jintong University
d. University of Beijing
e. University of Shanghai
f. Dalian Auto Tech. Inc.
g. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
h. Tafel New Energy Tech Co. Ltd.
i. Zhejiang Normal University
j. ATEC Shenzhen Expressway
Engineering
k. Huawei Software Technologies Co.
Ltd.
l. Beijing Normal University
m. Nanjing University
n. China University of Mining and
Technology
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:16 May 04, 2020
Jkt 250001
o. Chengdu Technological University
p. Sichuan University
q. Southwest Jiaotong University
r. Jilin University
s. South China University of Technology
t. China University of Petroleum
u. Southwest Petroleum University
v. Shandong University of Science and
Technology
w. The Communist Party of China, its
agents, employees, representatives,
and instrumentalities (including but
not limited to the agents, employees,
representatives, and instrumentalities
of entities such as the Communist
Party of China’s Central Committee,
Central Office, and Politburo Standing
Committee; the General Office of the
Central Military Commission; the
Chinese Ministry of Education; the
Chinese Ministry of Science and
Technology; the People’s Liberation
Army; the Chinese Ministry of State
Security; the Chinese Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology;
the Chinese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs; the Chinese Ministry of
National Defense; the Central Bank of
the People’s Republic of China; and
any People’s Republic of China
province, autonomous region, or
municipality)
3. A complete list identifying and
providing the last known contact
information for your Institution’s faculty
and staff (including full and part time
employees and contractors) involved in
the administration, direction, or
scientific and/or other research
cooperation, fund raising, or any other
efforts involving (a) the Wuhan MCL;
and/or (b) persons employed by or
agents for any of the entities listed in
section 2(a)–(w) above. The geographic
location of your Institution’s faculty and
staff and/or of the persons employed by
or agents for any of the listed entities is
not determinative of your obligations
hereunder (e.g., all employees, agents,
lobbyists, and attorneys of or for the
listed entities must also be identified
and disclosed regardless of citizenship
and place of residence). Provided
contact information should include
names, position(s) held, email
addresses, mailing addresses, phone
numbers, and a brief description of the
administration, direction, scientific and/
or other research cooperation, fund
raising, and/or other efforts associated
with the listed person.
4. A complete list identifying and
providing last known contact
information for your Institution’s
administrators, contractors, or other
personnel with responsibility for and/or
oversight of faculty and staff involved in
any capacity with the Wuhan MCL. The
PO 00000
Frm 00020
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
26675
geographic location of the
administrators, contractors, or other
personnel at the time of cooperation or
other execution of efforts is in no way
determinative of such involvement.
Provided contact information should
include names, specific responsibilities,
position(s) held, email addresses,
mailing addresses, and phone numbers.
5. All records (including but not
limited to emails and true copies of
contracts and/or gift or donation
agreements) of, regarding, or relating to
(a) the Wuhan MCL, the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Wuhan MCL
researcher Shi Zhengli, and Eric Yuan,
Chief Executive Officer of Zoom
Communications; and/or (b) any gift,
contract, or conditional gift or contract
from or with the Communist Party of
China, its agents, employees,
representatives, and instrumentalities.
6. All records (including but not
limited to emails and true copies of
contracts and/or gift or donation
agreements) of, regarding, or related to
gifts, contracts and/or restricted or
conditional gifts or contracts to or with
the Institution from or with any foreign
source. The time frame for this request
is January 1, 2016, to the present.
The Department requests that UT
produce records as follows:
• Searches for records in electronic
form should include searches of all
relevant mobile devices, hard drives,
network drives, offline electronic
folders, thumb drives, removable drives,
records stored in the cloud, and archive
files, including, but not limited to,
backup tapes. Do not time stamp or
modify the content, the create date, or
the last date modified of any record and
do not scrub any metadata. Electronic
records should be produced in native
format. For emails, please place
responses in one .pst file per employee.
For .pdf files, please provide searchable
file format and not image file format.
• All email searches should be
conducted by the agency’s information
technology department, or its
equivalent, and not by the individuals
whose records are being searched.
Please provide the name and contact
information of the individual(s) who
conducted the search, as well as an
explanation of how the search was
conducted.
• To the extent practicable, please
produce all records in a searchable
electronic format and not hardcopies.
Should you have any questions about
the method or format of production
please contact the undersigned to
coordinate.
As used in this Notice of Investigation
and Information Request:
E:\FR\FM\05MYN1.SGM
05MYN1
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
26676
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 87 / Tuesday, May 5, 2020 / Notices
‘‘Agent’’ has its plain and ordinary
meaning, indicating that a person,
organization, or entity, is acting on
behalf of another person, organization,
or entity, whether that agency is
disclosed or undisclosed.
‘‘Contract’’ has the meaning given at
20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)(1).
‘‘Faculty’’ refers to all teaching
positions at the university (including
professors of all ranks, teachers,
lecturers, and/or researchers whether in
a classroom, laboratory, or other
educational environment—whether
physically or electronically present).
‘‘Foreign source’’ has the meaning
given at 20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)(2).
‘‘Gift’’ has the meaning given at 20
U.S.C. 1011f(h)(3).
‘‘Institution’’ has the meaning given at
20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)(4) and for the
purposes of this request includes all UT
campuses and facilities. Section 117
requires that when an institution
receives the benefit of a gift from or a
contract with a foreign source in the
applicable amount, even if by an agent
(e.g., employee) and through an
intermediary (e.g., non-profit
organization), it must disclose the gift or
contract to the Department. Where a
legal entity (e.g., centers, boards,
foundations, research groups,
partnerships, or non-profit
organizations, whether or not organized
under the laws of the United States and
including, by way of example and not
limitation, UTMB and GNL) operates
substantially for the benefit or under the
auspices of an IHE, there is a rebuttable
presumption that when that legal entity
receives money or enters into a contract
with a foreign source, it is for the benefit
of the institution, and, thus, must be
disclosed.
‘‘Record’’ means all recorded
information, regardless of form or
characteristics, made or received, and
including metadata, such as email and
other electronic communication, word
processing documents, PDF documents,
animations (including PowerPointTM
and other similar programs)
spreadsheets, databases, calendars,
telephone logs, contact manager
information, internet usage files,
network access information, writings,
drawings, graphs, charts, photographs,
sound recordings, images, financial
statements, checks, wire transfers,
accounts, ledgers, facsimiles, texts,
animations, voicemail files, data
generated by calendaring, task
management and personal information
management (PIM) software (such as
Microsoft Outlook), data created with
the use of personal data assistants
(PDAs), data created with the use of
document management software, data
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:16 May 04, 2020
Jkt 250001
created with the use of paper and
electronic mail logging and routing
software, and other data or data
compilations, stored in any medium
from which information can be obtained
either directly or, if necessary, after
translation by the responding party into
a reasonably usable form. The term
‘‘recorded information’’ also includes all
traditional forms of records, regardless
of physical form or characteristics.
‘‘Restricted or conditional gift or
contract’’ has the meaning given at 20
U.S.C. 1011f(h)(5).
‘‘Staff’’ refers to all members of the
university involved in administration of
the university and its obligations and
commitments (including deans of all
ranks, administration officials, and
support personnel).
‘‘Wuhan MCL’’ refers to the maximum
biocontainment laboratory in Wuhan,
China, as referenced in GNL documents,
and which may also be known as the
Wuhan Institute of Virology.
If UT asserts attorney-client or
attorney-work product privilege for a
given record, then it must prepare and
submit a privilege log expressly
identifying each such record and
describing it so the Department may
assess the claim’s validity. Please note
that no other privileges apply. UT’s
record and data preservation obligations
are outlined at Exhibit A.
Please note that Section 117(f), 20
U.S.C. 1011f(f), provides that whenever
it appears an IHE has failed to fully
comply with the law, the Secretary of
Education may, among other things,
request that the Attorney General
commence an enforcement action to
compel compliance and to recover the
full costs to the United States of
obtaining compliance, including all
associated costs of investigation and
enforcement. Please further note there
may also be other penalties triggered by
the knowing and intentional submission
of false reports and/or information.
The Department recognizes that the
COVID–19 virus may have a significant
impact on certain UT operations.
Nonetheless, the critical importance of
the Department’s investigation into the
accuracy of UT’s foreign source
reporting with respect to the Wuhan
MCL and other Chinese Communist
Party-related persons and entities is not
diminished. Accordingly, the
Department expects UT’s timely
response to this investigation.
This investigation is being directed by
the Department’s Office of the General
Counsel. To arrange transmission of the
requested information, or should you
have any other questions, please
contact:
PO 00000
Frm 00021
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Paul R. Moore, Esq.
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave. SW, Room 6E300
Washington, DC 20202
Paul.Moore@ed.gov.
Sincerely yours,
Reed D. Rubinstein,
Principal Deputy General Counsel delegated
the authority and duties of the General
Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020–09567 Filed 5–4–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[Docket No. ED–2020–SCC–0039]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget for Review
and Approval; Comment Request;
Impact Evaluation To Inform the
Teacher and School Leader Incentive
Program
National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES), Department of
Education (ED).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is
proposing a revision of an existing
information collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before June 4,
2020.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for proposed
information collection requests should
be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/
do/PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection request by
selecting ‘‘Department of Education’’
under ‘‘Currently Under Review,’’ then
check ‘‘Only Show ICR for Public
Comment’’ checkbox.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
specific questions related to collection
activities, please contact Thomas Wei,
646–428–3892.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Department of Education (ED), in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general
public and Federal agencies with an
opportunity to comment on proposed,
revised, and continuing collections of
information. This helps the Department
assess the impact of its information
collection requirements and minimize
the public’s reporting burden. It also
helps the public understand the
Department’s information collection
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\05MYN1.SGM
05MYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 87 (Tuesday, May 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26674-26676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09567]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Notice of Investigation and Record Requests
AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department publishes a letter, dated April 24, 2020,
notifying the University of Texas System of an investigation related to
the University of Texas System's reports of defined gifts and
contracts, including restricted and conditional gifts or contracts,
from or with a statutorily defined foreign source.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Shaheen, U.S. Department of
Education, Office of the General Counsel, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room
6E300, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 453-6339. Email:
[email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-
877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department publishes this letter, dated
April 24, 2020, notifying the University of Texas System of an
investigation related to the University of Texas System's reports of
defined gifts and contracts, including restricted and conditional gifts
or contracts, from or with a statutorily defined foreign source. The
letter to the University of Texas System is in the Appendix of this
notice.
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print,
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at
the site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Reed D. Rubinstein,
Principal Deputy General Counsel, Delegated the Authority to Perform
the Functions and Duties of the General Counsel.
Appendix--Letter to University of Texas System
April 24, 2020
James B. Milliken, Chancellor Office of the Chancellor The University
of Texas System 210 West 7th St. Austin, TX 78701
Re: Notice of 20 U.S.C. 1011f Investigation and Record Request/
University of Texas System
Dear Chancellor Milliken:
Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f)
requires institutions of higher education (IHEs), including the
University of Texas System (UT), to fully report statutorily defined
gifts, contracts, and/or restricted and conditional gifts or contracts
from or with a foreign source to the U.S. Department of Education
(Department). These reports are posted at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/school/foreign-gifts.
According to UT's Medical Branch (UTMB), it is responsible for the
operation of the Galveston National Laboratory (GNL) under UTMB's
Institute for Human Infections and Immunity. GNL, in turn, has
substantial contractual relations with a maximum biocontainment
laboratory (MCL) in Wuhan, China (Wuhan MCL) (also known as the Wuhan
Institute of Virology) which is upon information and belief owned by
the Chinese government's Chinese Academy of Sciences. See https://www.utmb.edu/gnl/news/2018/11/28/scientific-diplomacy-and-international-cooperation-key-say-bsl4-directors; https://nationalinterest.org/blog/coronavirus/wuhan-institute-virology-origin-coronavirus-or-conspiracy-nonsense-144082; https://www.foxnews.com/world/wuhan-laboratory-china-coronavirus-controversy. On November 28,
2018, GNL claimed in SCIENCE Magazine:
We direct a newly constructed MCL in Wuhan, China (Z.Y.) and an
established MCL in the United States (J.W.L), in Galveston, Texas. In
preparation for the opening of the new
[[Page 26675]]
China MCL, we engaged in short- and long-term personnel exchanges
focused on biosafety training, building operations and maintenance, and
collaborative scientific investigations in biocontainment. We succeeded
in transferring proven best practices to the new Wuhan facility. Both
labs recently signed formal cooperative agreements that will streamline
future scientific and operational collaborations on dangerous
pathogens, although funding for research and the logistics of
exchanging specimens are challenges that we have yet to solve.
https://www.utmb.edu/gnl/news/2018/11/28/scientific-diplomacy-and-international-cooperation-key-say-bsl4-directors.
Between June 6, 2014, and June 3, 2019, UT reported approximately
twenty-four contracts with various Chinese state-owned universities and
ten contracts with Huawei Technologies, all purportedly worth a
reported total of $12,987,896. It is not clear, however, whether UT has
in fact reported all gifts from or contracts with or relating to the
Wuhan MCL, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and/or all other foreign
sources, including agents and instrumentalities of the government of
the Peoples' Republic of China. Therefore, to verify UT's compliance
with Section 117, the Department requests that your Institution produce
the following records within thirty (30) days. Unless otherwise noted,
the relevant time frame for these requests is January 1, 2012 through
the present.
1. True copies of each gift or donation agreement, contract, and/or
conditional gift or donation agreement or contract to which your
Institution and the Wuhan MCL, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, or the
Chinese Academy of Sciences are parties.
2. True copies of each gift or donation agreement, contract, and/or
conditional gift or donation agreement or contract with or between your
Institution and any of the following:
a. BGp Inc.
b. Educational Advisors Deda Co. Ltd.
c. Xi'an Jintong University
d. University of Beijing
e. University of Shanghai
f. Dalian Auto Tech. Inc.
g. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
h. Tafel New Energy Tech Co. Ltd.
i. Zhejiang Normal University
j. ATEC Shenzhen Expressway Engineering
k. Huawei Software Technologies Co. Ltd.
l. Beijing Normal University
m. Nanjing University
n. China University of Mining and Technology
o. Chengdu Technological University
p. Sichuan University
q. Southwest Jiaotong University
r. Jilin University
s. South China University of Technology
t. China University of Petroleum
u. Southwest Petroleum University
v. Shandong University of Science and Technology
w. The Communist Party of China, its agents, employees,
representatives, and instrumentalities (including but not limited to
the agents, employees, representatives, and instrumentalities of
entities such as the Communist Party of China's Central Committee,
Central Office, and Politburo Standing Committee; the General Office of
the Central Military Commission; the Chinese Ministry of Education; the
Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology; the People's Liberation
Army; the Chinese Ministry of State Security; the Chinese Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology; the Chinese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs; the Chinese Ministry of National Defense; the Central Bank of
the People's Republic of China; and any People's Republic of China
province, autonomous region, or municipality)
3. A complete list identifying and providing the last known contact
information for your Institution's faculty and staff (including full
and part time employees and contractors) involved in the
administration, direction, or scientific and/or other research
cooperation, fund raising, or any other efforts involving (a) the Wuhan
MCL; and/or (b) persons employed by or agents for any of the entities
listed in section 2(a)-(w) above. The geographic location of your
Institution's faculty and staff and/or of the persons employed by or
agents for any of the listed entities is not determinative of your
obligations hereunder (e.g., all employees, agents, lobbyists, and
attorneys of or for the listed entities must also be identified and
disclosed regardless of citizenship and place of residence). Provided
contact information should include names, position(s) held, email
addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and a brief description of
the administration, direction, scientific and/or other research
cooperation, fund raising, and/or other efforts associated with the
listed person.
4. A complete list identifying and providing last known contact
information for your Institution's administrators, contractors, or
other personnel with responsibility for and/or oversight of faculty and
staff involved in any capacity with the Wuhan MCL. The geographic
location of the administrators, contractors, or other personnel at the
time of cooperation or other execution of efforts is in no way
determinative of such involvement. Provided contact information should
include names, specific responsibilities, position(s) held, email
addresses, mailing addresses, and phone numbers.
5. All records (including but not limited to emails and true copies
of contracts and/or gift or donation agreements) of, regarding, or
relating to (a) the Wuhan MCL, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan
MCL researcher Shi Zhengli, and Eric Yuan, Chief Executive Officer of
Zoom Communications; and/or (b) any gift, contract, or conditional gift
or contract from or with the Communist Party of China, its agents,
employees, representatives, and instrumentalities.
6. All records (including but not limited to emails and true copies
of contracts and/or gift or donation agreements) of, regarding, or
related to gifts, contracts and/or restricted or conditional gifts or
contracts to or with the Institution from or with any foreign source.
The time frame for this request is January 1, 2016, to the present.
The Department requests that UT produce records as follows:
Searches for records in electronic form should include
searches of all relevant mobile devices, hard drives, network drives,
offline electronic folders, thumb drives, removable drives, records
stored in the cloud, and archive files, including, but not limited to,
backup tapes. Do not time stamp or modify the content, the create date,
or the last date modified of any record and do not scrub any metadata.
Electronic records should be produced in native format. For emails,
please place responses in one .pst file per employee. For .pdf files,
please provide searchable file format and not image file format.
All email searches should be conducted by the agency's
information technology department, or its equivalent, and not by the
individuals whose records are being searched. Please provide the name
and contact information of the individual(s) who conducted the search,
as well as an explanation of how the search was conducted.
To the extent practicable, please produce all records in a
searchable electronic format and not hardcopies. Should you have any
questions about the method or format of production please contact the
undersigned to coordinate.
As used in this Notice of Investigation and Information Request:
[[Page 26676]]
``Agent'' has its plain and ordinary meaning, indicating that a
person, organization, or entity, is acting on behalf of another person,
organization, or entity, whether that agency is disclosed or
undisclosed.
``Contract'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)(1).
``Faculty'' refers to all teaching positions at the university
(including professors of all ranks, teachers, lecturers, and/or
researchers whether in a classroom, laboratory, or other educational
environment--whether physically or electronically present).
``Foreign source'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)(2).
``Gift'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)(3).
``Institution'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)(4) and
for the purposes of this request includes all UT campuses and
facilities. Section 117 requires that when an institution receives the
benefit of a gift from or a contract with a foreign source in the
applicable amount, even if by an agent (e.g., employee) and through an
intermediary (e.g., non-profit organization), it must disclose the gift
or contract to the Department. Where a legal entity (e.g., centers,
boards, foundations, research groups, partnerships, or non-profit
organizations, whether or not organized under the laws of the United
States and including, by way of example and not limitation, UTMB and
GNL) operates substantially for the benefit or under the auspices of an
IHE, there is a rebuttable presumption that when that legal entity
receives money or enters into a contract with a foreign source, it is
for the benefit of the institution, and, thus, must be disclosed.
``Record'' means all recorded information, regardless of form or
characteristics, made or received, and including metadata, such as
email and other electronic communication, word processing documents,
PDF documents, animations (including PowerPointTM and other
similar programs) spreadsheets, databases, calendars, telephone logs,
contact manager information, internet usage files, network access
information, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound
recordings, images, financial statements, checks, wire transfers,
accounts, ledgers, facsimiles, texts, animations, voicemail files, data
generated by calendaring, task management and personal information
management (PIM) software (such as Microsoft Outlook), data created
with the use of personal data assistants (PDAs), data created with the
use of document management software, data created with the use of paper
and electronic mail logging and routing software, and other data or
data compilations, stored in any medium from which information can be
obtained either directly or, if necessary, after translation by the
responding party into a reasonably usable form. The term ``recorded
information'' also includes all traditional forms of records,
regardless of physical form or characteristics.
``Restricted or conditional gift or contract'' has the meaning
given at 20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)(5).
``Staff'' refers to all members of the university involved in
administration of the university and its obligations and commitments
(including deans of all ranks, administration officials, and support
personnel).
``Wuhan MCL'' refers to the maximum biocontainment laboratory in
Wuhan, China, as referenced in GNL documents, and which may also be
known as the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
If UT asserts attorney-client or attorney-work product privilege
for a given record, then it must prepare and submit a privilege log
expressly identifying each such record and describing it so the
Department may assess the claim's validity. Please note that no other
privileges apply. UT's record and data preservation obligations are
outlined at Exhibit A.
Please note that Section 117(f), 20 U.S.C. 1011f(f), provides that
whenever it appears an IHE has failed to fully comply with the law, the
Secretary of Education may, among other things, request that the
Attorney General commence an enforcement action to compel compliance
and to recover the full costs to the United States of obtaining
compliance, including all associated costs of investigation and
enforcement. Please further note there may also be other penalties
triggered by the knowing and intentional submission of false reports
and/or information.
The Department recognizes that the COVID-19 virus may have a
significant impact on certain UT operations. Nonetheless, the critical
importance of the Department's investigation into the accuracy of UT's
foreign source reporting with respect to the Wuhan MCL and other
Chinese Communist Party-related persons and entities is not diminished.
Accordingly, the Department expects UT's timely response to this
investigation.
This investigation is being directed by the Department's Office of
the General Counsel. To arrange transmission of the requested
information, or should you have any other questions, please contact:
Paul R. Moore, Esq. Office of the General Counsel U.S. Department of
Education 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Room 6E300 Washington, DC 20202
[email protected].
Sincerely yours,
Reed D. Rubinstein,
Principal Deputy General Counsel delegated the authority and duties
of the General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-09567 Filed 5-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P