Education

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the Trump administration will “aggressively revoke” visas for a segment of Chinese students.

Chinese foreign nationals studying “critical fields” or with ties to the Chinese Communist Party will be among the students targeted for removal, the top US diplomat said. 

The US grants nearly 300,000 student visas to Chinese nationals every year, according to Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.), who introduced legislation to halt the practice earlier this year.

“The CCP poses an existential threat to the US,” Moore wrote on X following Rubio’s announcement. “We should not be letting 300,000 Chinese nationals into our research institutions every year.

“This is a huge move from the Trump Admin, and now Congress must codify the president’s agenda by passing my Stop CCP Visas Act.”

The congressman noted that Beijing’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires any Chinese organization or citizen to support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work –  both at home and abroad.

“We’ve literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security,” Moore said when he unveiled his bill in March. “Just last year, the FBI charged five Chinese nationals here on student visas after they were caught photographing joint US-Taiwan live fire military exercises.

“This cannot continue.”

Shepherd University celebrated the groundbreaking of its new dining hall and multipurpose building on Wednesday.

Located on the west side of the Shepherd campus near the intramural fields, this project will include state-of-the-art dining facilities, along with new locker rooms and a weight room. It was funded with help from Rep. Riley Moore and former state Sen. Craig Blair.

Representative Riley Moore (R-WV) announces the Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia (Stop CCP VISAs) Act, a bill that would protect U.S. national security by banning Chinese nationals from obtaining student visas. “I don’t remember us having 300,000 Soviets studying here during the Cold War,” he says. “China is our near-peer threat in the world, and we need to act like that.”

SHENANDOAH JUNCTION – Several Jefferson High School graduates returned to their alma mater on Saturday to help inform interested students about their experiences applying for and attending various military service academies, such as West Point.

The event was put on by Rep. Riley Moore, who has already written several letters of recommendation for students looking to attend military academies. He says it’s one of the best parts of his job.

“This is one of my favorite things that I do as a member of Congress,” Moore said. “I've had the opportunity to actually tell a couple young people that they've been accepted to West Point, the Naval Academy or the Air Force Academy, which is really a life changing event for them.”