II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 710 

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study 

to evaluate the activities of sister city partnerships operating within 

the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. 

RUBIO, and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to 

conduct a study to evaluate the activities of sister city 

partnerships operating within the United States, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sister City Trans5 parency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

5 the Senate; 

6 (B) the Committee on Health, Education, 

7 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 

8 (C) the Committee on Armed Services of 

9 the Senate; 

10 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

11 the House of Representatives; 

12 (E) the Committee on Education and 

13 Labor of the House of Representatives; and 

14 (F) the Committee on Armed Services of 

15 the House of Representatives. 

16 (2) FOREIGN COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘foreign 

17 community’’ means any subnational unit of govern18 ment outside of the United States. 

19 (3) SISTER CITY PARTNERSHIP.—The term 

20 ‘‘sister city partnership’’ means a formal agreement 

21 between a United States community and a foreign 

22 community that— 

23 (A) is recognized by Sister Cities Inter24 national; and 

25 (B) is operating within the United States. 


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1 (4) UNITED STATES COMMUNITY.—The term 

2 ‘‘United States community’’ means a State, county, 

3 city, or other unit of local government in the United 

4 States. 

5 SEC. 3. STUDY OF SISTER CITY PARTNERSHIPS OPERATING 

6 WITHIN THE UNITED STATES INVOLVING 

7 FOREIGN COMMUNITIES IN COUNTRIES WITH 

8 SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC SECTOR CORRUPTION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

10 United States shall conduct a study of the activities of 

11 sister city partnerships involving foreign communities in 

12 countries receiving a score of 45 or less on Transparency 

13 International’s 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index. 

14 (b) ELEMENTS OF THE STUDY.—The study con15 ducted under subsection (a) shall— 

16 (1) identify— 

17 (A) the criteria by which foreign commu18 nities identify United States communities as 

19 candidates for sister city partnerships, including 

20 themes with respect to the prominent economic 

21 activities and demographics of such United 

22 States communities; 

23 (B) the activities conducted within sister 

24 city partnerships; 


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1 (C) the economic and educational outcomes 

2 of such activities; 

3 (D) the types of information that sister 

4 city partnerships make publicly available, in5 cluding information relating to contracts and 

6 activities; 

7 (E) the means by which United States 

8 communities safeguard freedom of expression 

9 within sister city partnerships; and 

10 (F) the oversight practices that United 

11 States communities implement to mitigate the 

12 risks of foreign espionage and economic coer13 cion within sister city partnerships; 

14 (2) assess— 

15 (A) the extent to which United States com16 munities ensure transparency regarding sister 

17 city partnership contracts and activities; 

18 (B) the extent to which sister city partner19 ships involve economic arrangements that make 

20 United States communities vulnerable to malign 

21 market practices; 

22 (C) the extent to which sister city partner23 ships involve educational arrangements that di24 minish the freedom of expression; 


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1 (D) the extent to which sister city partner2 ships allow foreign nationals to access local 

3 commercial, educational, and political institu4 tions; 

5 (E) the extent to which foreign commu6 nities could use sister city partnerships to real7 ize strategic objectives that do not conduce to 

8 the economic and national security interests of 

9 the United States; 

10 (F) the extent to which sister city partner11 ships could enable or otherwise contribute to 

12 foreign communities’ malign activities globally, 

13 including activities relating to human rights 

14 abuses and academic and industrial espionage; 

15 and 

16 (G) the extent to which United States com17 munities seek to mitigate foreign nationals’ po18 tentially inappropriate use of visa programs to 

19 participate in activities relating to sister city 

20 partnerships; and 

21 (3) review— 

22 (A) the range of activities conducted within 

23 sister city partnerships, including activities re24 lating to cultural exchange and economic devel25 opment; 


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1 (B) how such activities differ between sis2 ter city partnerships; and 

3 (C) best practices to ensure transparency 

4 regarding sister city partnerships’ agreements, 

5 activities, and employees. 

6 (c) REPORT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

8 after initiating the study required under subsection 

9 (a), the Comptroller General shall submit a report to 

10 the appropriate congressional committees that con11 tains the results of such study, including the find12 ings, conclusions, and recommendations (if any) of 

13 the study. 

14 (2) FORM.—The report required under para15 graph (1) may include a classified annex, if nec16 essary. 

Æ 


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