[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 206 (Thursday, December 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7220-S7221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1275. Mr. McCONNELL (for Mr. Cardin) proposed an amendment to the
bill S. 1309, to identify and combat corruption in countries, to
establish a tiered system of countries with respect to levels of
corruption by their governments and their efforts to combat such
corruption, and to assess United States assistance to designated
countries in order to advance anti-corruption efforts in those
countries and better serve United States taxpayers; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) it is in the foreign policy interest of the United
States to help foreign countries promote good governance and
combat public corruption;
(2) multiple Federal departments and agencies operate
programs that promote good governance in foreign countries
and enhance such countries' ability to combat public
corruption; and
(3) the Department of State should--
(A) promote coordination among the Federal departments and
agencies implementing programs to promote good governance and
combat public corruption in foreign countries in order to
improve effectiveness and efficiency; and
(B) identify areas in which United States efforts to help
other countries promote good governance and combat public
corruption could be enhanced.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL ASSESSMENT.
(a) In General.--For each of the fiscal years 2020 through
2026, the Secretary of State shall assess the capacity and
commitment of foreign governments to which the United States
provides foreign assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) or the Arms Export Control
Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) to combat public corruption.
Each such assessment shall--
(1) utilize independent, third party indicators that
measure transparency, accountability, and corruption in the
public sector in such countries, including the extent to
which public power is exercised for private gain, to identify
those countries that are most vulnerable to public
corruption;
(2) consider, to the extent reliable information is
available, whether the government of a country identified
under paragraph (1)--
(A) has adopted measures to prevent public corruption, such
as measures to inform and educate the public, including
potential victims, about the causes and consequences of
public corruption;
[[Page S7221]]
(B) has enacted laws and established government structures,
policies, and practices that prohibit public corruption;
(C) enforces such laws through a fair judicial process;
(D) vigorously investigates, prosecutes, convicts, and
sentences public officials who participate in or facilitate
public corruption, including nationals of such country who
are deployed in foreign military assignments, trade
delegations abroad, or other similar missions who engage in
or facilitate public corruption;
(E) prescribes appropriate punishment for serious,
significant corruption that is commensurate with the
punishment prescribed for serious crimes;
(F) prescribes appropriate punishment for significant
corruption that provides a sufficiently stringent deterrent
and adequately reflects the nature of the offense;
(G) convicts and sentences persons responsible for such
acts that take place wholly or partly within the country of
such government, including, as appropriate, requiring the
incarceration of individuals convicted of such acts;
(H) holds private sector representatives accountable for
their role in public corruption; and
(I) addresses threats for civil society to monitor anti-
corruption efforts; and
(3) further consider--
(A) verifiable measures taken by the government of a
country identified under paragraph (1) to prohibit government
officials from participating in, facilitating, or condoning
public corruption, including the investigation, prosecution,
and conviction of such officials;
(B) the extent to which such government provides access,
or, as appropriate, makes adequate resources available, to
civil society organizations and other institutions to combat
public corruption, including reporting, investigating, and
monitoring;
(C) the extent to which an independent judiciary or
judicial body in such country is responsible for, and
effectively capable of, deciding public corruption cases
impartially, on the basis of facts and in accordance with
law, without any improper restrictions, influences,
inducements, pressures, threats, or interferences, whether
direct or indirect, from any source or for any reason;
(D) the extent to which such government cooperates
meaningfully with the United States to strengthen government
and judicial institutions and the rule of law to prevent,
prohibit, and punish public corruption;
(E) the extent to which such government--
(i) is assisting in international investigations of
transnational public corruption networks and in other
cooperative efforts to combat serious, significant
corruption, including cooperating with the governments of
other countries to extradite corrupt actors;
(ii) recognizes the rights of victims of public corruption,
ensures their access to justice, and takes steps to prevent
such victims from being further victimized or persecuted by
corrupt actors, government officials, or others; and
(iii) refrains from prosecuting legitimate victims of
public corruption or whistleblowers due to such persons
having assisted in exposing public corruption, and refrains
from other discriminatory treatment of such persons; and
(F) contain such other information relating to public
corruption as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(b) Identification.--After conducting each assessment under
subsection (a), the Secretary of State shall identify, of the
countries described in subsection (a)(1)--
(1) which countries are meeting minimum standards to combat
public corruption;
(2) which countries are not meeting such minimum standards,
but are making significant efforts to do so; and
(3) which countries are not meeting such minimum standards
and are not making significant efforts to do so.
(c) Report.--Except as provided in subsection (d), not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and annually thereafter through fiscal year 2026, the
Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appropriate
congressional committees, and make such report publicly
available. Such report shall--
(1) identify the countries described in subsection (a)(1)
and paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b);
(2) describe the methodology and data utilized in the
assessments under subsection (a); and
(3) identify the reasons for the identifications referred
to in paragraph (1).
(d) Briefing in Lieu of Report.--The Secretary of State may
waive the requirement to submit and make publicly available a
written report under subsection (c) if the Secretary--
(1) determines that publication of such report would--
(A) undermine existing United States anti-corruption
efforts in 1 or more countries; or
(B) threaten the national interests of the United States;
and
(2) provides a briefing to the appropriate congressional
committees that--
(A) identifies the countries described in subsection (a)(1)
and paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b);
(B) describes the methodology and data utilized in the
assessment under subsection (a); and
(C) identifies the reasons for such identifications.
(e) Appropriate Congressional Committee Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
(2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives; and
(4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
For each country identified under paragraphs (2) and (3) of
section 2(b), the Secretary of State, in coordination with
the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, as appropriate, shall--
(1) ensure that a corruption risk assessment and mitigation
strategy is included in the integrated country strategy for
such country; and
(2) utilize appropriate mechanisms to combat corruption in
such countries, including by ensuring--
(A) the inclusion of anti-corruption clauses in contracts,
grants, and cooperative agreements entered into by the
Department of State or the United States Agency for
International Development for or in such countries, which
allow for the termination of such contracts, grants, or
cooperative agreements, as the case may be, without penalty
if credible indicators of public corruption are discovered;
(B) the inclusion of appropriate clawback or flowdown
clauses within the procurement instruments of the Department
of State and the United States Agency for International
Development that provide for the recovery of funds
misappropriated through corruption;
(C) the appropriate disclosure to the United States
Government, in confidential form, if necessary, of the
beneficial ownership of contractors, subcontractors,
grantees, cooperative agreement participants, and other
organizations implementing programs on behalf of the
Department of State or the United States Agency for
International Development; and
(D) the establishment of mechanisms for investigating
allegations of misappropriated resources and equipment.
SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF EMBASSY ANTI-CORRUPTION POINTS OF
CONTACT.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall annually
designate an anti-corruption point of contact at the United
States diplomatic post to each country identified under
paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 2(b), or which the
Secretary otherwise determines is in need of such a point of
contact. The point of contact shall be the Chief of Mission
or the Chief of Mission's designee.
(b) Responsibilities.--Each anti-corruption point of
contact designated under subsection (a) shall be responsible
for coordinating and overseeing the implementation of a
whole-of-government approach among the relevant Federal
departments and agencies operating programs that--
(1) promote good governance in foreign countries; and
(2) enhance the ability of such countries--
(A) to combat public corruption; and
(B) to develop and implement corruption risk assessment
tools and mitigation strategies.
(c) Training.--The Secretary of State shall implement
appropriate training for anti-corruption points of contact
designated under subsection (a).
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Corrupt actor.--The term ``corrupt actor'' means--
(A) any foreign person or entity that is a government
official or government entity responsible for, or complicit
in, an act of public corruption; and
(B) any company, in which a person or entity described in
subparagraph (A) has a significant stake, which is
responsible for, or complicit in, an act of public
corruption.
(2) Foreign assistance.--The term ``foreign assistance''
means assistance made available under--
(A) the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et
seq.); or
(B) the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.).
(3) 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.
(4) Petty corruption.--The term ``petty corruption'' means
the unlawful exercise of entrusted public power for private
gain by low- or mid-level public officials in their
interactions with ordinary citizens, including by bribery,
nepotism, fraud, or embezzlement.
(5) Public corruption.--The term ``public corruption''
means the unlawful exercise of entrusted public power for
private gain, including by bribery, nepotism, fraud, or
embezzlement.
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