II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 53 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 2023 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Global Cor3 ruption Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) CORRUPT ACTOR.—The term ‘‘corrupt 

7 actor’’ means— 

8 (A) any foreign person or entity that is a 

9 government official or government entity re10 sponsible for, or complicit in, an act of corrup11 tion; and 

12 (B) any company, in which a person or en13 tity described in subparagraph (A) has a sig14 nificant stake, which is responsible for, or 

15 complicit in, an act of corruption. 

16 (2) CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘corruption’’ 

17 means the unlawful exercise of entrusted public 

18 power for private gain, including by bribery, nepo19 tism, fraud, or embezzlement. 

20 (3) SIGNIFICANT CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘sig21 nificant corruption’’ means corruption committed at 

22 a high level of government that— 

23 (A) illegitimately distorts major decision24 making, such as policy or resource determina25 tions, or other fundamental functions of govern26 ance; and 


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1 (B) involves economically or socially large2 scale government activities. 

3 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF TIERED RANKING LIST. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an5 nually publish, on a publicly accessible website, a tiered 

6 ranking of all foreign countries. 

7 (b) TIER 1 COUNTRIES.—A country shall be ranked 

8 as a tier 1 country in the ranking published under sub9 section (a) if the government of such country is complying 

10 with the minimum standards set forth in section 4. 

11 (c) TIER 2 COUNTRIES.—A country shall be ranked 

12 as a tier 2 country in the ranking published under sub13 section (a) if the government of such country is making 

14 efforts to comply with the minimum standards set forth 

15 in section 4, but is not achieving the requisite level of com16 pliance to be ranked as a tier 1 country. 

17 (d) TIER 3 COUNTRIES.—A country shall be ranked 

18 as a tier 3 country in the ranking published under sub19 section (a) if the government of such country is making 

20 de minimis or no efforts to comply with the minimum 

21 standards set forth in section 4. 


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1 SEC. 4. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF 

2 CORRUPTION AND ASSESSMENT OF EFFORTS 

3 TO COMBAT CORRUPTION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The government of a country is 

5 complying with the minimum standards for the elimi6 nation of corruption if the government— 

7 (1) has enacted and implemented laws and es8 tablished government structures, policies, and prac9 tices that prohibit and generally deter corruption, in10 cluding significant corruption; 

11 (2) enforces the laws described in paragraph (1) 

12 by punishing any person who is found, through a 

13 fair judicial process, to have violated such laws; 

14 (3) prescribes punishment for significant cor15 ruption that is commensurate with the punishment 

16 prescribed for serious crimes; and 

17 (4) is making serious and sustained efforts to 

18 address corruption, including through prevention. 

19 (b) FACTORS FOR ASSESSING GOVERNMENT EF20 FORTS TO COMBAT CORRUPTION.—In determining wheth21 er a government is making serious and sustained efforts 

22 to address corruption, the Secretary of State shall con23 sider, to the extent relevant or appropriate, factors such 

24 as— 

25 (1) whether the government of the country has 

26 criminalized corruption, investigates and prosecutes 


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1 acts of corruption, and convicts and sentences per2 sons responsible for such acts over which it has ju3 risdiction, including, as appropriate, incarcerating 

4 individuals convicted of such acts; 

5 (2) whether the government of the country vig6 orously investigates, prosecutes, convicts, and sen7 tences public officials who participate in or facilitate 

8 corruption, including nationals of the country who 

9 are deployed in foreign military assignments, trade 

10 delegations abroad, or other similar missions, who 

11 engage in or facilitate significant corruption; 

12 (3) whether the government of the country has 

13 adopted measures to prevent corruption, such as 

14 measures to inform and educate the public, including 

15 potential victims, about the causes and consequences 

16 of corruption; 

17 (4) whether the government of the country has 

18 taken steps to prohibit government officials from 

19 participating in, facilitating, or condoning corrup20 tion, including the investigation, prosecution, and 

21 conviction of such officials; 

22 (5) the extent to which the country provides ac23 cess, or, as appropriate, makes adequate resources 

24 available, to civil society organizations and other inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53

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1 stitutions to combat corruption, including reporting, 

2 investigating, and monitoring; 

3 (6) whether an independent judiciary or judicial 

4 body in the country is responsible for, and effectively 

5 capable of, deciding corruption cases impartially, on 

6 the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, 

7 without any improper restrictions, influences, in8 ducements, pressures, threats, or interferences (di9 rect or indirect); 

10 (7) whether the government of the country is 

11 assisting in international investigations of 

12 transnational corruption networks and in other coop13 erative efforts to combat significant corruption, in14 cluding, as appropriate, cooperating with the govern15 ments of other countries to extradite corrupt actors; 

16 (8) whether the government of the country rec17 ognizes the rights of victims of corruption, ensures 

18 their access to justice, and takes steps to prevent 

19 victims from being further victimized or persecuted 

20 by corrupt actors, government officials, or others; 

21 (9) whether the government of the country pro22 tects victims of corruption or whistleblowers from re23 prisal due to such persons having assisted in expos24 ing corruption, and refrains from other discrimina25 tory treatment of such persons; 


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1 (10) whether the government of the country is 

2 willing and able to recover and, as appropriate, re3 turn the proceeds of corruption; 

4 (11) whether the government of the country is 

5 taking steps to implement financial transparency 

6 measures in line with the Financial Action Task 

7 Force recommendations, including due diligence and 

8 beneficial ownership transparency requirements; 

9 (12) whether the government of the country is 

10 facilitating corruption in other countries in connec11 tion with state-directed investment, loans or grants 

12 for major infrastructure, or other initiatives; and 

13 (13) such other information relating to corrup14 tion as the Secretary of State considers appropriate. 

15 (c) ASSESSING GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO COMBAT

16 CORRUPTION IN RELATION TO RELEVANT INTER17 NATIONAL COMMITMENTS.—In determining whether a 

18 government is making serious and sustained efforts to ad19 dress corruption, the Secretary of State shall consider the 

20 government of a country’s compliance with the following, 

21 as relevant: 

22 (1) The Inter-American Convention against 

23 Corruption of the Organization of American States, 

24 done at Caracas March 29, 1996. 


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1 (2) The Convention on Combating Bribery of 

2 Foreign Public Officials in International Business 

3 Transactions of the Organisation of Economic Co4 operation and Development, done at Paris December 

5 21, 1997 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Anti-Brib6 ery Convention’’). 

7 (3) The United Nations Convention against 

8 Transnational Organized Crime, done at New York 

9 November 15, 2000. 

10 (4) The United Nations Convention against 

11 Corruption, done at New York October 31, 2003. 

12 (5) Such other treaties, agreements, and inter13 national standards as the Secretary of State con14 siders appropriate. 

15 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS UNDER GLOBAL 

16 MAGNITSKY HUMAN RIGHTS ACCOUNT17 ABILITY ACT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi19 nation with the Secretary of the Treasury, should evaluate 

20 whether there are foreign persons engaged in significant 

21 corruption for the purposes of potential imposition of 

22 sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Ac23 countability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 

24 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note) in all countries identified 

25 as tier 3 countries under section 3. 


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1 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after publishing the list required by section 3(a) and annu3 ally thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 

4 committees specified in subsection (e) a report that in5 cludes— 

6 (1) a list of foreign persons with respect to 

7 which the President imposed sanctions pursuant to 

8 the evaluation under subsection (a); 

9 (2) the dates on which such sanctions were im10 posed; and 

11 (3) the reasons for imposing such sanctions. 

12 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report required by sub13 section (b) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 

14 include a classified annex. 

15 (d) BRIEFING IN LIEU OF REPORT.—The Secretary 

16 of State, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treas17 ury, may provide a briefing to the committees specified 

18 in subsection (e) instead of submitting a written report 

19 required under subsection (b), if doing so would better 

20 serve existing United States anti-corruption efforts or the 

21 national interests of the United States. 

22 (e) COMMITTEES SPECIFIED.—The committees speci23 fied in this subsection are— 

24 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

25 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on 


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1 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Com2 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 

3 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

4 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Fi5 nancial Services, and the Committee on the Judici6 ary of the House of Representatives. 

7 SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF EMBASSY ANTI-CORRUPTION 

8 POINTS OF CONTACT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an10 nually designate an anti-corruption point of contact at the 

11 United States diplomatic post to each country identified 

12 as tier 2 or tier 3 under section 3, or which the Secretary 

13 otherwise determines is in need of such a point of contact. 

14 The point of contact shall be the chief of mission or the 

15 chief of mission’s designee. 

16 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each anti-corruption point 

17 of contact designated under subsection (a) shall be respon18 sible for enhancing coordination and promoting the imple19 mentation of a whole-of-government approach among the 

20 relevant Federal departments and agencies undertaking 

21 efforts to— 

22 (1) promote good governance in foreign coun23 tries; and 

24 (2) enhance the ability of such countries— 

25 (A) to combat public corruption; and 


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1 (B) to develop and implement corruption 

2 risk assessment tools and mitigation strategies. 

3 (c) TRAINING.—The Secretary of State shall imple4 ment appropriate training for anti-corruption points of 

5 contact designated under subsection (a). 

Æ 


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