Over 20 lawmakers have called for an end to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) multi-billion-dollar overseas education program, saying it infringes on academic integrity and national security. The program has been carried out through CCP-run Confucius Institutes on U.S. campuses. In a letter to Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on April 7, the lawmakers called for an end to the institutes and their replacement with “censorship-free alternatives to support the instruction of Mandarin language and Chinese culture, specifically those offered by Taiwan.” “Many recent studies provide examples of PRC [People’s Republic of China] officials pressuring faculty at Confucius Institutes to avoid making statements or holding events on topics that officials consider to be in conflict with the PRC’s national interests,” the letter reads. The call was led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). Several California lawmakers were among the all-Republican signatories, including Reps. Michelle Steel, Young Kim, Ken Calvert, and Doug LaMalfa. The State Department last year designated the Confucius Institute U.S. Center (CIUS)—an affiliate of …