West Virginia Republican Representative Riley Moore introduced legislation that will prevent Chinese nationals from obtaining student visas and attending universities in the United States.

The lawmaker referenced the many examples of Chinese Communist Party agents conducting espionage activities, in some cases obtaining research or national security secrets. Moore also noted that there are about 300,000 students from China currently enrolled with student visas.

Moore asked Congress to stop “China’s exploitation of our student visa program” and said “it’s time we turn off the spigot and immediately ban all student visas going to Chinese nationals.”

The proposal comes after the Justice Department charged five Chinese citizens who were students at the University of Michigan with “conspiracy, false statements, and destruction of records” after they were caught “photographing military equipment during a joint training exercise involving the Michigan National Guard and the Taiwanese military at Camp Grayling.”

Tennessee Republican Representative Andy Ogles, Pennsylvania Republican Representative Scott Perry, and Texas Republican Representative Brandon Gill are sponsors of the legislation.

There have been at least 224 instances of Chinese espionage directed at the United States over the past twenty-five years, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The report did not count espionage against American firms in China.

Moore remarked in an interview about the bill that “I don’t remember during the Cold War allowing hundreds of thousands of Soviets to come here and study in our top-tier universities.”