[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S77-S78]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. Young):
  S. 53. A bill to identify and combat corruption in countries, to 
establish a tiered list of countries with respect to levels of 
corruption by their governments and their efforts to combat such 
corruption, and to evaluate whether foreign persons engaged in 
significant corruption should be specially designated nationals under 
the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act; to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, President Biden, on June 3, 2021, issued 
a memorandum on ``Establishing the Fight Against Corruption as a Core 
United States National Security Interest.'' I want to quote from the 
President when he issued that memorandum. President Biden said:

       Corruption threatens United States national security, 
     economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, 
     and democracy itself. . . . [B]y effectively preventing and 
     countering corruption and demonstrating the advantages of 
     transparent and accountable governance, we can secure a 
     critical advantage for the United States and other 
     democracies.

  Corruption is a national security core interest. Corruption is the 
source of Mr. Putin's resources that he uses for his international 
activities, including the war in Ukraine and to try to bring down 
democratic states.
  Today, the Atlantic Council is releasing a report--the report titled 
``Why the kleptocrats still win: A strategy for the United States and 
Europe to address weaponized corruption.'' The report points out how 
the kleptocrats hide their wealth in Western countries because they 
believe it is safer in Western countries to hide their wealth. And the 
report points out the need for us to coordinate efforts between the 
United States and Europe.
  Today, I am filing legislation, the Combating Global Corruption Act. 
I am joined by my friend Senator Todd Young of Indiana--bipartisan 
legislation--to deal with the U.S. leadership in fighting global 
corruption. It will give the State Department and the United States an 
important tool. It will give the United States leadership in showing 
the international community the steps that need to be taken in order to 
counter corruption. It would require the State Department to publish a 
list of countries in three tiers, the highest tier being those 
countries that are taking the steps necessary to fight corruption; the 
bottom tier would be those countries that are not making the required 
effort to deal with corruption in their country.
  The State Department will be using internationally established 
standards for fighting corruption that the international community has 
already signed off on as being the proper way to fight corruption in 
your particular state.
  For example, it references the Inter-American Convention Against 
Corruption, the Organization of American States--the OAS--that was 
passed in 1996: acknowledged procedures in our hemisphere to deal with 
corruption. It references the Convention on Combating Bribery of 
Foreign Public Officials, international business transactions of the 
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development--the OECD--which 
was adopted in 1997.
  It references the United Nations Convention against Transnational 
Organized Crime that was agreed to in 2000 and the United Nations 
Convention against Corruption, which was agreed to in 2003.
  These guidelines already exist and allow the United States to use 
those guidelines that have already been established by the global 
community to judge how every state is meeting their commitment to fight 
corruption.
  Countries that are not meeting their commitment, we put a spotlight 
on them. That spotlight encourages them to do more. It points out ways 
in which they can take action to fight corruption in their own country.
  Now, this is not a new strategy that we just came up with that we 
start giving a report on all countries on how well they are doing in 
fighting corruption. It is not a new concept. We have done that 
successfully in several other areas. One that we should take great 
pride in this institution--because we were ones who established this--
is the Trafficking in Persons requirements.
  Today, the United States files a report on every country as to how 
well they are meeting their international responsibilities to protect 
the modern victims of slavery, trafficking in persons. It has been 
bipartisan. It has been very effective.
  Secretary of State Blinken said, in releasing the report of this 
year, on July 19, 2022, he said:

       Today we're releasing the 2022 Trafficking in Persons 
     Report. It assesses how 188 countries and territories, 
     including the United States, are performing in terms of 
     preventing trafficking, protecting victims, prosecuting 
     traffickers. That makes this one of the most comprehensive 
     sources of information anywhere on anti-trafficking efforts 
     by government--what works, what doesn't, and how we can 
     continue to do better.

  We do that in preventing trafficking. We can do that in stopping 
corruption.
  We have a country report on human rights. Again, I will quote from 
Secretary of State Blinken when he released this report on April 2, 
2022. This is a report that judges all countries on how well they are 
dealing with human rights. Secretary Blinken said, in releasing that 
report on April 2 of last year:

       For nearly five decades, the United States has issued the 
     Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which strive to 
     provide a factual and objective record on the status of human 
     rights worldwide--in 2021, covering 198 countries and 
     territories. The information contained in these reports could 
     not be more vital or urgent given ongoing human rights abuses 
     and violations in many countries, continued democratic 
     backsliding on several continents, and creeping 
     authoritarianism that threatens both human rights and 
     democracy--most notably, at present, with Russia's unprovoked 
     attack on Ukraine.

  [A]nd using resources like the Country Reports on Human Rights 
Practices, we can come closer to building a world where respect for 
human rights is truly universal.
  That human rights report works. Putting a spotlight on what countries 
need to do brings about change. It promotes a core value in the United 
States, respect for human rights and good governance. We do that here 
in the United States to show global leadership.
  I will mention one other report that is issued by our State 
Department, one on international religious freedom. Again, this was 
bipartisan. So on June 2 of last year, Secretary Blinken said, when he 
released the International Religious Freedom Report:

       This report offers a thorough, fact-based review of the 
     state of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries and 
     territories around the world. We produced this document every 
     year since 1998. . . . Now, more than two decades later, we 
     have more than 35 governments and multilateral organizations 
     that have created offices that are dedicated to this goal.
       This year's report includes several countries where we see 
     notable progress thanks to the work of governments, civil 
     society organizations, and citizens. For example, last year, 
     the Kingdom of Morocco launched an initiative to renovate 
     Jewish heritage sites like synagogues and cemeteries, and to 
     include Jewish history in the Moroccan public school 
     curriculum. . . . [T]his report is about

[[Page S78]]

     spreading that kind of progress to more parts of the world. . 
     . . Unfortunately, the report also shows that we have more 
     work to do.

  There is value in what we do in showing the international community 
what works, what doesn't work, what countries are doing to make 
progress, whether it is on trafficking, whether it is on human rights, 
whether it is on religious freedom. And we need to do the same on 
fighting corruption. We had the model that works. And the legislation 
that Senator Young and I have introduced today allows us to provide 
such a report in fighting corruption.
  The legislation also gives the Secretary of State some additional 
tools that could be helpful. The bill directs the Secretary of State 
and Treasury to evaluate whether there are foreign persons engaged in 
significant corruption for the purposes of potential imposition of 
sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act in 
the countries listed in tier 3. That is the lowest performing tier.
  I mention that because the Magnitsky Sanctions have had a proud 
history in this Chamber. We initiated the Magnitsky Sanctions 
originally against Russia because of the torture and death of Sergei 
Magnitsky. We then made it global for those that are perpetrating gross 
violations of international human rights.
  I introduced the legislation with my partner who was the late Senator 
McCain. The two of us said we need to include corruption as one of the 
basic human rights violations that would be eligible for individual 
sanctions. And we did.
  In the last Congress, we made the Global Magnitsky Sanctions 
permanent. And I was proud that we were able to do that in the National 
Defense Authorization Act. What is unique by these sanctions is that 
they are individual. They are not against the country. They are 
personal to the individual who violates the basic rights.
  And what does it do? It prevents them from getting a visa to come to 
America because they like to visit their wealth that is here in our 
country. And it prevents them from using our banking system. It works.
  It was reportedly the first issue between Mr. Putin and President 
Trump in their first bilateral summit meeting. Mr. Putin was upset 
about these sanctions. Good. I am glad that he is.
  This legislation that Senator Young and I have introduced allows us 
to look at whether we should be using these individual sanctions--these 
Magnitsky Sanctions--against the perpetrators of corruption who have 
not been held accountable in their own country.
  There is lot to be said about why this legislation is so important. 
So I would like to just conclude by pointing out the bill that we 
introduced today is nearly identical to the bill that we introduced in 
the last Congress. It was reported out on a bipartisan basis by the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
  I want to thank Senator Menendez for his help and Senator Risch for 
his help. This is not a partisan bill. This is a bipartisan bill to 
promote an American value and a national security concern and that is 
making sure that America leads in fighting corruption so we do not have 
the resources going into a country like Russia, where Mr. Putin uses it 
to try to bring down our system of government.
  I urge my colleagues to join me and Senator Young in this effort. I 
hope that we are able to pass this bill quickly in the U.S. Senate.
  We came close to doing it in the last Congress. We can get it passed 
in the House and signed by the President. I think we will look back at 
this day when that report comes out and say that we were able to 
accomplish concrete improvements in making this world a better place, 
in promoting American values, that this report will make a difference.

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