[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5501 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5501

    To direct the Secretary of State to take certain actions to end 
corruption in the Northern Triangle region of Central America, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 12, 2018

 Mrs. Torres introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To direct the Secretary of State to take certain actions to end 
corruption in the Northern Triangle region of Central America, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``End Corruption in the Northern 
Triangle Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
            (2) Grand corruption.--The term ``grand corruption'' means 
        public corruption committed at a high level of government 
        that--
                    (A) distorts policies or the central functioning of 
                the country; and
                    (B) enables leaders to benefit at the expense of 
                the public good.
            (3) Northern triangle.--The term ``Northern Triangle'' 
        means the region of Central America that encompasses the 
        countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
            (4) Northern triangle countries.--The term ``Northern 
        Triangle countries'' means the countries of Guatemala, 
        Honduras, and El Salvador.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the February 9, 2017, Presidential 
        Executive order on ``Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to 
        Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing 
        International Trafficking'', transnational criminal 
        organizations ``are drivers of crime, corruption, violence, and 
        misery'', and ``a comprehensive and decisive approach is 
        required to dismantle these organized crime syndicates and 
        restore safety for the American people.''.
            (2) Since 2008, the United States has provided more than $1 
        billion through the Central America Regional Security 
        Initiative in order to address violence, organized crime, and 
        narcotics trafficking and in Central America.
            (3) The 2017 International Narcotics Control Strategy 
        Report stated that ``corruption within the Salvadoran political 
        system remains a serious problem''.
            (4) According to the same report, in Guatemala ``widespread 
        corruption permeates public and private institutions and 
        exacerbates the country's security, governmental, and economic 
        challenges''.
            (5) The same report notes that in Honduras, corruption has 
        undermined progress on disrupting and degrading illegal 
        trafficking, because ``trafficking organizations have 
        infiltrated some military units in active drug corridors''.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) systemic corruption constitutes a significant threat to 
        the long-term prospects for democratic governance, prosperity, 
        and security in the Northern Triangle, and is an impediment to 
        United States efforts to reduce the flow of cocaine and other 
        narcotics from South America to the United States;
            (2) the International Commission against Impunity in 
        Guatemala and the Mission to Support the Fight against 
        Corruption and Impunity in Honduras have made important 
        contributions to the fight against corruption in Guatemala and 
        Honduras, respectively; and
            (3) the lack of an international commission against 
        impunity in El Salvador is a limiting factor in efforts to 
        combat corruption in that country.

SEC. 5. ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a strategy to enhance United 
States efforts to dismantle systemic corruption in the Northern 
Triangle.
    (b) Elements.--The strategy shall include the following elements:
            (1) Diplomatic and financial support for international 
        commissions against impunity.
            (2) Enhanced cooperation with local prosecutors, 
        investigative units within national and local police forces, 
        and revenue and customs authorities of each Northern Triangle 
        country.
            (3) Exchange of information relevant to ongoing criminal 
        investigations, where possible, with local prosecutors and the 
        international commissions against impunity.
            (4) The designations of individuals within the Northern 
        Triangle that meet the requirements for designations under--
                    (A) the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act 
                (21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.);
                    (B) section 212(a)(2)(C) of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(C)); or
                    (C) the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
                Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public 
                Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).

SEC. 6. REPORT ON CORRUPTION AND NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
intelligence community (as such term is defined in section 3(4) of the 
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)), shall submit to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report regarding 
corruption and illicit campaign finance in the Northern Triangle.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required under subsection 
(a) shall include--
            (1) the names of senior government officials in any of the 
        Northern Triangle countries who are known to have committed or 
        facilitated acts of grand corruption or narcotics trafficking;
            (2) the names of elected officials in any of the Northern 
        Triangle countries who are known to have received campaign 
        funds that are the proceeds of narco-trafficking or other 
        illicit activities in the last 2 years; and
            (3) the names of individuals who are known to have 
        facilitated the financing of political campaigns in any of the 
        Northern Triangle countries with the proceeds of narco-
        trafficking or other illicit activities in the last 2 years.
    (c) Form.--The report submitted under subsection (a) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

SEC. 7. CENTRAL AMERICA REGIONAL SECURITY INITIATIVE.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of State shall make available on the website of the 
Department of State the total amounts of assistance under the Central 
America Regional Security Initiative that have been provided to each 
country within Central America since fiscal year 2008.
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