Title: Combating Global Corruption Act of 2019
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Combating Global Corruption Act of 2019
This bill requires the Department of State to develop a program to combat corruption in foreign countries, in particular in countries that receive U.S. aid.
The State Department shall publish annually a tiered list of all countries. The first tier shall contain countries that meet the bill's prescribed minimum standards for combatting corruption, while the second tier shall contain countries that do not comply but are making efforts to do so. Third-tier countries do not meet the minimum anti-corruption standards and are making little to no effort to comply.
For a third-tier country that receives U.S. foreign aid, the State Department shall conduct corruption risk assessments for all U.S. aid programs in that country. It shall also implement various anti-corruption mechanisms in such programs, such as by requiring the disclosure of the beneficial ownership of contractors and partners involved in an aid program and requiring claw-back provisions to recover funds that are misappropriated by corrupt partners. For future aid programs to such countries, the State Department shall conduct its risk assessment and implement the required anti-corruption mechanisms before agreeing to provide assistance.
The State Department shall report to Congress annually about its anti-corruption efforts and integrate anti-corruption material into its existing training courses.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1309 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 2, 2019

     Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Young, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Rubio, Mr. 
 Blumenthal, and Mr. Merkley) 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 
   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.

    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 ``Combating Global Corruption Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
                    (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives;
                    (E) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (F) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) 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 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 
                corruption.
            (3) Corruption.--The term ``corruption'' means the exercise 
        of public power for private gain, including by bribery, 
        nepotism, fraud, or embezzlement.
            (4) 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.);
                    (B) the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et 
                seq.); or
                    (C) title 10, United States Code.
            (5) Grand corruption.--The term ``grand corruption'' means 
        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.
            (6) Petty corruption.--The term ``petty corruption'' means 
        the abuse of entrusted power by low- or mid-level public 
        officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens.

SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF TIERED RANKING LIST.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall annually publish, on 
a publicly accessible website, a tiered ranking of all foreign 
countries.
    (b) Tier 1 Countries.--A country shall be ranked as a tier 1 
country in the ranking published under subsection (a) if the government 
of such country is complying with the minimum standards set forth in 
section 4.
    (c) Tier 2 Countries.--A country shall be ranked as a tier 2 
country in the ranking published under subsection (a) if the government 
of such country is making efforts to comply with the minimum standards 
set forth in section 4, but is not achieving the requisite level of 
compliance to be ranked as a tier 1 country.
    (d) Tier 3 Countries.--A country shall be ranked as a tier 3 
country in the ranking published under subsection (a) if the government 
of such country is making de minimis or no efforts to comply with the 
minimum standards set forth in section 4.

SEC. 4. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF CORRUPTION AND 
              ASSESSMENT OF EFFORTS TO COMBAT CORRUPTION.

    (a) In General.--The government of a country is complying with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of corruption if the government--
            (1) has enacted laws and established government structures, 
        policies, and practices that prohibit corruption, including 
        grand corruption and petty corruption;
            (2) enforces the laws described in paragraph (1) by 
        punishing any person who is found, through a fair judicial 
        process, to have violated such laws;
            (3) prescribes punishment for grand corruption that is 
        commensurate with the punishment prescribed for serious crimes;
            (4) prescribes punishment for petty corruption that--
                    (A) provides a sufficiently stringent deterrent; 
                and
                    (B) adequately reflects the nature of the offense; 
                and
            (5) is making serious and sustained efforts to eliminate 
        corruption.
    (b) Factors for Assessing Government Efforts To Combat 
Corruption.--In determining whether a government is making serious and 
sustained efforts to eliminate corruption, the Secretary of State shall 
consider--
            (1) whether the government of the country vigorously 
        investigates and prosecutes acts of corruption and convicts and 
        sentences persons responsible for such acts that take place 
        wholly or partly within such country, including, as 
        appropriate, requiring incarceration of individuals convicted 
        of such acts;
            (2) whether the government of the country vigorously 
        investigates, prosecutes, convicts, and sentences public 
        officials who participate in or facilitate corruption, 
        including nationals of the country who are deployed in foreign 
        military assignments, trade delegations abroad, or other 
        similar missions, who engage in or facilitate severe forms of 
        corruption;
            (3) whether the government of the country has adopted 
        measures to prevent corruption, such as measures to inform and 
        educate the public, including potential victims, about the 
        causes and consequences of corruption;
            (4) what steps the government of the country has taken to 
        prohibit government officials from participating in, 
        facilitating, or condoning corruption, including the 
        investigation, prosecution, and conviction of such officials;
            (5) the extent to which the country provides access, or, as 
        appropriate, makes adequate resources available, to civil 
        society organizations and other institutions to combat 
        corruption, including reporting, investigating, and monitoring;
            (6) whether an independent judiciary or judicial body in 
        the country responsible for, and effectively capable of, 
        deciding corruption cases impartially, on the basis of facts 
        and in accordance with the law, without any restrictions, 
        improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats, or 
        interferences (direct or indirect) from any quarter or for any 
        reason;
            (7) whether the government of the country is assisting in 
        international investigations of transnational corruption 
        networks and in other cooperative efforts to combat grand 
        corruption, including cooperating with the governments of other 
        countries to extradite corrupt actors;
            (8) whether the government of the country recognizes the 
        rights of victims of corruption, ensures their access to 
        justice, and takes steps to prevent victims from being further 
        victimized or persecuted by corrupt actors, government 
        officials, or others;
            (9) whether the government of the country refrains from 
        prosecuting victims of corruption or whistleblowers due to such 
        persons having assisted in exposing corruption, and refrains 
        from other discriminatory treatment of such persons; and
            (10) such other information relating to corruption as the 
        Secretary of State considers appropriate.

SEC. 5. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after publishing the report 
required under section 3(a), and prior to obligation by any United 
States agency of foreign assistance to the government of a country 
ranked as a tier 3 country under section 3(d), the Secretary of State, 
in coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development (referred to in this Act as the ``USAID 
Administrator'') and the Secretary of Defense, as appropriate, shall--
            (1) conduct a corruption risk assessment and create a 
        corruption mitigation strategy for all United States foreign 
        assistance programs to that country;
            (2) require the inclusion of anti-corruption clauses for 
        all foreign assistance contracts, grants, and cooperative 
        agreements, which allow for the termination of the contract, 
        grant, or cooperative agreement without penalty if credible 
        indicators of corruption are discovered;
            (3) require the inclusion of appropriate clawback clauses 
        for all foreign assistance contracts, grants, and cooperative 
        agreements to recover United States taxpayer funds that have 
        been misappropriated from the prime contractor, grantee, or 
        cooperative agreement participant through corruption;
            (4) require the disclosure of the beneficial ownership of 
        all contractors, subcontractors, grantees, cooperative 
        agreement participants, and other organizations receiving 
        funding from the United States Government for foreign 
        assistance programs; and
            (5) establish a mechanism for investigating allegations of 
        misappropriated foreign assistance funds or equipment.
    (b) Exceptions and Waiver.--
            (1) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to 
        humanitarian assistance, disaster assistance, or assistance to 
        combat corruption.
            (2) Waiver.--The Secretary of State, on a program-by-
        program basis, may waive the requirement to delay foreign 
        assistance under subsection (a) if the Secretary of State 
        certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that such 
        waiver is important to the national security interests of the 
        United States.

SEC. 6. RESOURCES AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Annual Report.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall submit an 
        annual report to the appropriate congressional committees that 
        outlines the resources needed to meet the objectives and 
        reports under sections 3 through 5, including--
                    (A) intelligence data collection needs;
                    (B) personnel needs;
                    (C) information technology requirements; and
                    (D) a description of the bureaucratic structure of 
                the offices within the Department of State and the 
                United States Agency for International Development 
                (``USAID'') that are engaged in anti-corruption 
                activities.
            (2) Form.--The report submitted under paragraph (1) shall 
        be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
        annex.
    (b) Online Platform.--The Secretary of State and the USAID 
Administrator shall consolidate existing reports with anti-corruption 
components into one online, public platform, which shall--
            (1) include--
                    (A) the Human Rights Report;
                    (B) the Fiscal Transparency Report;
                    (C) the Investment Climate Statement reports;
                    (D) the International Narcotics Control Strategy 
                Report; and
                    (E) any other relevant public reports; and
            (2) link to third-party indicators used by the United 
        States Government to inform policy and programming, such as--
                    (A) the World Bank's Control of Corruption 
                Indicator;
                    (B) the World Bank's Actionable Governance Index 
                Data Portal;
                    (C) the International Finance Corporation's Doing 
                Business surveys;
                    (D) the International Budget Partnership's Open 
                Budget Index;
                    (E) the Global Integrity Index; and
                    (F) multilateral peer review anti-corruption 
                compliance mechanisms, such as the Organisation for 
                Economic Co-operation and Development's Working Group 
                on Bribery in International Business Transactions and 
                the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, done 
                at New York October 31, 2003, to further highlight 
                expert international views on country challenges and 
                country efforts.
    (c) Training.--To increase the ability of Department of State and 
USAID personnel to support anti-corruption as a foreign policy and 
development priority, and strengthen their ability to design, 
implement, and evaluate more effective anti-corruption programming 
around the world, including enhancing skills to better evaluate and 
mitigate corruption risks in assistance programs, the Secretary of 
State and the USAID Administrator shall incorporate anti-corruption 
components into existing Foreign Service and Civil Service training 
courses.
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