Title: Combating Global Corruption Act of 2021
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Combating Global Corruption Act of 2021
This bill requires the Department of State to develop a program to combat corruption in foreign countries.
The State Department must annually report to Congress a tiered list of all foreign countries. The first tier shall contain countries that meet minimum standards for combating public corruption, while the second tier shall contain countries that do not yet meet these standards but are making significant efforts to do so. Third-tier countries do not meet the minimum anti-corruption standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.
The State Department must evaluate and report on foreign persons engaged in grand corruption in all third-tier countries for the imposition of specified sanctions.
The State Department must also designate an anti-corruption point of contact in the U.S. diplomatic post in each second- or third-tier country and where the State Department determines that such a point of contact is necessary. The point of contact shall be responsible for coordinating a whole-of-government approach to enhancing the ability of foreign countries to combat public corruption.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 14 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 14

 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 
 evaluate foreign persons engaged in grand corruption for inclusion as 
specially designated nationals under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
                          Accountability Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 22, 2021

 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 
   system of countries with respect to levels of corruption by their 
    governments and their efforts to combat such corruption, and to 
 evaluate foreign persons engaged in grand corruption for inclusion as 
specially designated nationals under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
                          Accountability Act.

    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 
2021''.

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) 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.
            (5) 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. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS UNDER GLOBAL MAGNITSKY HUMAN RIGHTS 
              ACCOUNTABILITY ACT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Secretary of the Treasury, shall evaluate foreign persons engaged in 
grand corruption in all countries identified as tier 3 countries under 
section 3 for the imposition of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky 
Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 
114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
    (b) Report Required.--Not later than 60 days after publishing the 
list required by section 3(a), the Secretary of State shall submit to 
the committees specified in subsection (e) a report that includes--
            (1) a list of foreign persons evaluated under subsection 
        (a);
            (2) a list of foreign persons with respect to which the 
        President imposed sanctions pursuant to that evaluation;
            (3) the dates on which such sanctions were imposed; and
            (4) the reasons for imposing such sanctions.
    (c) Form of Report.--
            (1) In general.--Each report required by subsection (b) 
        shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a 
        classified annex.
            (2) Exception.--The name of a foreign person to be included 
        in the list required by subsection (b)(1) may be submitted in 
        the classified annex authorized by paragraph (1) only if the 
        President--
                    (A) determines that it is vital for the national 
                security interests of the United States to do so;
                    (B) uses the annex in a manner consistent with 
                congressional intent and the purposes of this Act; and
                    (C) not later than 15 days before submitting the 
                name in the classified annex, provides to the 
                committees specified in subsection (e) notice of, and a 
                justification for, including the name in the classified 
                annex despite any publicly available credible 
                information indicating that the person engaged in an 
                activity that would subject the person to the 
                imposition of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky 
                Human Rights Accountability Act.
    (d) Public Availability of Report.--
            (1) In general.--The unclassified portion of the report 
        required by subsection (b) shall be made available to the 
        public, including through publication in the Federal Register.
            (2) Nonapplicability of confidentiality requirement with 
        respect to visa records.--The President shall publish the list 
        required by subsection (b)(1) without regard to the 
        requirements of section 222(f) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect to 
        confidentiality of records pertaining to the issuance or 
        refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States.
    (e) Committees Specified.--The committees specified in this 
subsection are--
            (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on 
        Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Foreign 
        Relations, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; 
        and
            (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on 
        Financial Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the 
        Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 6. 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 as tier 2 or tier 3 under section 3, 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).
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