Sister City Transparency Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4899 To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study to evaluate the activities of sister city partnerships operating within the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 16, 2020 Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study to evaluate the activities of sister city partnerships operating within the United States, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Sister City Trans- 4 parency Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4899.IS S4899 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4899 IS (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 1 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 2 mittees’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 4 the Senate; 5 (B) the Committee on Health, Education, 6 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 7 (C) the Committee on Armed Services of 8 the Senate; 9 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 10 the House of Representatives; 11 (E) the Committee on Education and 12 Labor of the House of Representatives; and 13 (F) the Committee on Armed Services of 14 the House of Representatives. 15 (2) FOREIGN COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘foreign 16 community’’ means any subnational unit of govern- 17 ment outside of the United States. 18 (3) SISTER CITY PARTNERSHIP.—The term 19 ‘‘sister city partnership’’ means a formal agreement 20 between a United States community and a foreign 21 community that— 22 (A) is recognized by Sister Cities Inter- 23 national; and 24 (B) is operating within the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4899.IS S4899 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4899 IS (4) UNITED STATES COMMUNITY.—The term 1 ‘‘United States community’’ means a State, county, 2 city, or other unit of local government in the United 3 States. 4 SEC. 3. STUDY OF SISTER CITY PARTNERSHIPS OPERATING 5 WITHIN THE UNITED STATES INVOLVING 6 FOREIGN COMMUNITIES IN COUNTRIES WITH 7 SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC SECTOR CORRUPTION. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 9 United States shall conduct a study of the activities of 10 sister city partnerships involving foreign communities in 11 countries receiving a score of 45 or less on Transparency 12 International’s 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index. 13 (b) ELEMENTS OF THE STUDY.—The study con- 14 ducted under subsection (a) shall— 15 (1) identify— 16 (A) the activities conducted within sister 17 city partnerships; 18 (B) the economic and educational out- 19 comes of such activities; 20 (C) the types of information that sister 21 city partnerships make publicly available, in- 22 cluding information relating to contracts and 23 activities; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4899.IS S4899 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4899 IS (D) the means by which United States 1 communities safeguard freedom of expression 2 within sister city partnerships; and 3 (E) the oversight practices that United 4 States communities implement to mitigate the 5 risks of foreign espionage and economic coer- 6 cion within sister city partnerships; 7 (2) assess— 8 (A) the extent to which United States com- 9 munities ensure transparency regarding sister 10 city partnership contracts and activities; 11 (B) the extent to which sister city partner- 12 ships involve economic arrangements that make 13 United States communities vulnerable to malign 14 market practices; 15 (C) the extent to which sister city partner- 16 ships involve educational arrangements that di- 17 minish the freedom of expression; 18 (D) the extent to which sister city partner- 19 ships allow foreign nationals to access local 20 commercial, educational, and political institu- 21 tions; 22 (E) the extent to which foreign commu- 23 nities could use sister city partnerships to real- 24 ize strategic objectives which do not conduce to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4899.IS S4899 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4899 IS the economic and national security interests of 1 the United States; 2 (F) the extent to which foreign commu- 3 nities could use sister city partnerships to con- 4 duct malign activities, including academic and 5 industrial espionage; and 6 (G) the extent to which United States com- 7 munities seek to mitigate foreign nationals’ po- 8 tentially inappropriate use of visa programs to 9 participate in activities relating to sister city 10 partnerships; and 11 (3) review— 12 (A) the range of activities conducted within 13 sister city partnerships, including activities re- 14 lating to cultural exchange and economic devel- 15 opment; 16 (B) how such activities differ between sis- 17 ter city partnerships; and 18 (C) best practices to ensure transparency 19 regarding sister city partnerships’ agreements, 20 activities, and employees. 21 (c) REPORT.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 23 after initiating the study required under subsection 24 (a), the Comptroller General shall submit a report to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4899.IS S4899 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4899 IS the appropriate congressional committees that con- 1 tains the results of such study, including the find- 2 ings, conclusions, and recommendations (if any) of 3 the study. 4 (2) FORM.—The report required under para- 5 graph (1) may include a classified annex, if nec- 6 essary. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4899.IS S4899 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS