No More Ghost Money Act

Bill: 116-hr-324
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-13]
Introduced: 2019-01-08
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Afghanistan

Asia

Congressional oversight

Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad

Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information

Public contracts and procurement

Rule of law and government transparency
Latest action: action_date: 2019-01-08
text: Referred to the Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-01-08
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>No More Ghost Money Act</strong></p> <p>This bill prohibits any federal agency or federal government contractor from making a monetary payment to any official of a foreign country for the purposes of bribery, coercion, or any illegal activity that undermines the rule of law or corrupts a public official. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) shall report to Congress on all monetary payments made by the CIA to officials of the Government of Afghanistan on or after September 11, 2001. </p> <p>The President may waive such requirements if compliance would harm U.S. national security or members of the Armed Forces.</p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 324 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 8, 2019 Ms. Lee of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence , and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit monetary payments by the Federal Government to employees, officers, and elected officials of foreign countries for purposes of bribery, coercion, or any activity that is illegal or undermines the rule of law or corrupts a public officer or the office such officer represents, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the No More Ghost Money Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) On May 4, 2013, President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency regularly made cash payments to his office. (2) The corrupt practice of making such payments undermines the rule of law and undercuts a central strategic United States goal in Afghanistan: Establishing a credible and transparent Afghan government responsive to popular concerns. 3. Prohibition of payments to individuals affiliated with foreign governments (a) Prohibition Subject to section 5, no department or agency of the Federal Government or contractor to the Federal Government may make a monetary payment to an employee, officer, elected official, or representative of the government of a foreign country for the purposes of bribery, coercion, or any activity that is illegal or undermines the rule of law or corrupts a public officer or the office such officer represents. (b) Procedures The President shall establish procedures to carry out and enforce the prohibition under subsection (a). 4. Report on payments to individuals affiliated with the Government of Afghanistan Subject to section 5, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency shall submit to Congress a report on all monetary payments made by the Central Intelligence Agency to employees, officers, elected officials, or representatives of the Government of Afghanistan on or after September 11, 2001. Such report shall include— (1) a description of all payments made to employees, officers, elected officials, or representatives of the Government of Afghanistan on or after September 11, 2001, including any receipts provided by such employees, officers, elected officials, or representatives and, to the extent possible, copies of such receipts; (2) the legal basis for making such payments; (3) the strategic goals supported by such payments; and (4) the effectiveness of such payments in achieving such strategic goals. 5. National security waiver The President may waive a requirement of section 3 or 4 if the President certifies to Congress that fulfilling such requirement would harm the national security of the United States or members of the Armed Forces.