Combating Global Corruption Act of 2021

II Calendar No. 88 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, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. COONS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. SINEMA, and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations JUNE 24, 2021 Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 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 com- bat 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 14 RS Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Global Cor- 4 ruption Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 8 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 9 mittees’’ means— 10 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 11 the Senate; 12 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 13 the Senate; 14 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 15 the Senate; 16 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 17 the House of Representatives; 18 (E) the Committee on Armed Services of 19 the House of Representatives; and 20 (F) the Committee on Appropriations of 21 the House of Representatives. 22 (2) CORRUPT ACTOR.—The term ‘‘corrupt 23 actor’’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 14 RS (A) any foreign person or entity that is a 1 government official or government entity re- 2 sponsible for, or complicit in, an act of corrup- 3 tion; and 4 (B) any company, in which a person or en- 5 tity described in subparagraph (A) has a sig- 6 nificant stake, which is responsible for, or 7 complicit in, an act of corruption. 8 (3) CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘corruption’’ 9 means the exercise of public power for private gain, 10 including by bribery, nepotism, fraud, or embezzle- 11 ment. 12 (4) GRAND CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘grand 13 corruption’’ means corruption committed at a high 14 level of government that— 15 (A) distorts policies or the central func- 16 tioning of the country; and 17 (B) enables leaders to benefit at the ex- 18 pense of the public good. 19 (5) PETTY CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘petty cor- 20 ruption’’ means the abuse of entrusted power by 21 low- or mid-level public officials in their interactions 22 with ordinary citizens. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 14 RS SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF TIERED RANKING LIST. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an- 2 nually publish, on a publicly accessible website, a tiered 3 ranking of all foreign countries. 4 (b) TIER 1 COUNTRIES.—A country shall be ranked 5 as a tier 1 country in the ranking published under sub- 6 section (a) if the government of such country is complying 7 with the minimum standards set forth in section 4. 8 (c) TIER 2 COUNTRIES.—A country shall be ranked 9 as a tier 2 country in the ranking published under sub- 10 section (a) if the government of such country is making 11 efforts to comply with the minimum standards set forth 12 in section 4, but is not achieving the requisite level of com- 13 pliance to be ranked as a tier 1 country. 14 (d) TIER 3 COUNTRIES.—A country shall be ranked 15 as a tier 3 country in the ranking published under sub- 16 section (a) if the government of such country is making 17 de minimis or no efforts to comply with the minimum 18 standards set forth in section 4. 19 SEC. 4. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF 20 CORRUPTION AND ASSESSMENT OF EFFORTS 21 TO COMBAT CORRUPTION. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The government of a country is 23 complying with the minimum standards for the elimi- 24 nation of corruption if the government— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 14 RS (1) has enacted laws and established govern- 1 ment structures, policies, and practices that prohibit 2 corruption, including grand corruption and petty 3 corruption; 4 (2) enforces the laws described in paragraph (1) 5 by punishing any person who is found, through a 6 fair judicial process, to have violated such laws; 7 (3) prescribes punishment for grand corruption 8 that is commensurate with the punishment pre- 9 scribed for serious crimes; 10 (4) prescribes punishment for petty corruption 11 that— 12 (A) provides a sufficiently stringent deter- 13 rent; and 14 (B) adequately reflects the nature of the 15 offense; and 16 (5) is making serious and sustained efforts to 17 eliminate corruption. 18 (b) FACTORS FOR ASSESSING GOVERNMENT EF- 19 FORTS TO COMBAT CORRUPTION.—In determining wheth- 20 er a government is making serious and sustained efforts 21 to eliminate corruption, the Secretary of State shall con- 22 sider— 23 (1) whether the government of the country vig- 24 orously investigates and prosecutes acts of corrup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 14 RS tion and convicts and sentences persons responsible 1 for such acts that take place wholly or partly within 2 such country, including, as appropriate, requiring in- 3 carceration of individuals convicted of such acts; 4 (2) whether the government of the country vig- 5 orously investigates, prosecutes, convicts, and sen- 6 tences public officials who participate in or facilitate 7 corruption, including nationals of the country who 8 are deployed in foreign military assignments, trade 9 delegations abroad, or other similar missions, who 10 engage in or facilitate severe forms of corruption; 11 (3) whether the government of the country has 12 adopted measures to prevent corruption, such as 13 measures to inform and educate the public, including 14 potential victims, about the causes and consequences 15 of corruption; 16 (4) what steps the government of the country 17 has taken to prohibit government officials from par- 18 ticipating in, facilitating, or condoning corruption, 19 including the investigation, prosecution, and convic- 20 tion of such officials; 21 (5) the extent to which the country provides ac- 22 cess, or, as appropriate, makes adequate resources 23 available, to civil society organizations and other in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 14 RS stitutions to combat corruption, including reporting, 1 investigating, and monitoring; 2 (6) whether an independent judiciary or judicial 3 body in the country responsible for, and effectively 4 capable of, deciding corruption cases impartially, on 5 the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, 6 without any restrictions, improper influences, in- 7 ducements, pressures, threats, or interferences (di- 8 rect or indirect) from any quarter or for any reason; 9 (7) whether the government of the country is 10 assisting in international investigations of transna- 11 tional corruption networks and in other cooperative 12 efforts to combat grand corruption, including co- 13 operating with the governments of other countries to 14 extradite corrupt actors; 15 (8) whether the government of the country rec- 16 ognizes the rights of victims of corruption, ensures 17 their access to justice, and takes steps to prevent 18 victims from being further victimized or persecuted 19 by corrupt actors, government officials, or others; 20 (9) whether the government of the country re- 21 frains from prosecuting victims of corruption or 22 whistleblowers due to such persons having assisted 23 in exposing corruption, and refrains from other dis- 24 criminatory treatment of such persons; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 14 RS (10) such other information relating to corrup- 1 tion as the Secretary of State considers appropriate. 2 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS UNDER GLOBAL 3 MAGNITSKY HUMAN RIGHTS ACCOUNT- 4 ABILITY ACT. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi- 6 nation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall evaluate 7 foreign persons engaged in grand corruption in all coun- 8 tries identified as tier 3 countries under section 3 for the 9 imposition of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky 10 Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII 11 of Public Law 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note). 12 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 days 13 after publishing the list required by section 3(a), the Sec- 14 retary of State shall submit to the committees specified 15 in subsection (e) a report that includes— 16 (1) a list of foreign persons evaluated under 17 subsection (a); 18 (2) a list of foreign persons with respect to 19 which the President imposed sanctions pursuant to 20 that evaluation; 21 (3) the dates on which such sanctions were im- 22 posed; and 23 (4) the reasons for imposing such sanctions. 24 (c) FORM OF REPORT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 14 RS (1) IN GENERAL.—Each report required by 1 subsection (b) shall be submitted in unclassified 2 form but may include a classified annex. 3 (2) EXCEPTION.—The name of a foreign person 4 to be included in the list required by subsection 5 (b)(1) may be submitted in the classified annex au- 6 thorized by paragraph (1) only if the President— 7 (A) determines that it is vital for the na- 8 tional security interests of the United States to 9 do so; 10 (B) uses the annex in a manner consistent 11 with congressional intent and the purposes of 12 this Act; and 13 (C) not later than 15 days before submit- 14 ting the name in the classified annex, provides 15 to the committees specified in subsection (e) no- 16 tice of, and a justification for, including the 17 name in the classified annex despite any pub- 18 licly available credible information indicating 19 that the person engaged in an activity that 20 would subject the person to the imposition of 21 sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human 22 Rights Accountability Act. 23 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 14 RS (1) IN GENERAL.—The unclassified portion of 1 the report required by subsection (b) shall be made 2 available to the public, including through publication 3 in the Federal Register. 4 (2) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CONFIDENTIALITY 5 REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO VISA RECORDS.— 6 The President shall publish the list required by sub- 7 section (b)(1) without regard to the requirements of 8 section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality 9 Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect to confiden- 10 tiality of records pertaining to the issuance or re- 11 fusal of visas or permits to enter the United States. 12 (e) COMMITTEES SPECIFIED.—The committees speci- 13 fied in this subsection are— 14 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 15 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the 16 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee 17 on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 18 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 19 mittee on Financial Services, the Committee on For- 20 eign Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of 21 the House of Representatives. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 14 RS SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF EMBASSY ANTI-CORRUPTION 1 POINTS OF CONTACT. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an- 3 nually designate an anti-corruption point of contact at the 4 United States diplomatic post to each country identified 5 as tier 2 or tier 3 under section 3, or which the Secretary 6 otherwise determines is in need of such a point of contact. 7 The point of contact shall be the chief of mission or the 8 chief of mission’s designee. 9 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each anti-corruption point 10 of contact designated under subsection (a) shall be respon- 11 sible for coordinating and overseeing the implementation 12 of a whole-of-government approach among the relevant 13 Federal departments and agencies operating programs 14 that— 15 (1) promote good governance in foreign coun- 16 tries; and 17 (2) enhance the ability of such countries— 18 (A) to combat public corruption; and 19 (B) to develop and implement corruption 20 risk assessment tools and mitigation strategies. 21 (c) TRAINING.—The Secretary of State shall imple- 22 ment appropriate training for anti-corruption points of 23 contact designated under subsection (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S14.RS S14 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 14 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Global Cor- 2 ruption Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) CORRUPT ACTOR.—The term ‘‘corrupt actor’’ 6 means— 7 (A) any foreign person or entity that is a 8 government official or government entity respon- 9 sible for, or complicit in, an act of corruption; 10 and 11 (B) any company, in which a person or en- 12 tity described in subparagraph (A) has a signifi- 13 cant stake, which is responsible for, or complicit 14 in, an act of corruption. 15 (2) CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘corruption’’ means 16 the unlawful exercise of entrusted public power for 17 private gain, including by bribery, nepotism, fraud, 18 or embezzlement. 19 (3) SIGNIFICANT CORRUPTION.—The [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]