Sister City Transparency Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1184 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 APRIL 18, 2023 Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. CRAMER) 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 22:19 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1184 IS (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 1 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 2 mittees’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 4 the Senate; 5 (B) the Committee on Health, Education, 6 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 7 (C) the Committee on Armed Services of 8 the Senate; 9 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 10 the House of Representatives; 11 (E) the Committee on Education and the 12 Workforce of the House of Representatives; and 13 (F) the Committee on Armed Services of 14 the House of Representatives. 15 (2) FOREIGN COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘foreign 16 community’’ means any subnational unit of govern- 17 ment outside of the United States. 18 (3) SISTER CITY PARTNERSHIP.—The term 19 ‘‘sister city partnership’’ means a formal agreement 20 between a United States community and a foreign 21 community that— 22 (A) is recognized by Sister Cities Inter- 23 national; and 24 (B) is operating within the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1184 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 criteria by which foreign commu- 17 nities identify United States communities as 18 candidates for sister city partnerships, including 19 themes with respect to the prominent economic 20 activities and demographics of such United 21 States communities; 22 (B) the activities conducted within sister 23 city partnerships; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1184 IS (C) the economic and educational outcomes 1 of such activities; 2 (D) the types of information that sister 3 city partnerships make publicly available, in- 4 cluding information relating to contracts and 5 activities; 6 (E) the means by which United States 7 communities safeguard freedom of expression 8 within sister city partnerships; and 9 (F) the oversight practices that United 10 States communities implement to mitigate the 11 risks of foreign espionage and economic coer- 12 cion within sister city partnerships; 13 (2) assess— 14 (A) the extent to which United States com- 15 munities ensure transparency regarding sister 16 city partnership contracts and activities; 17 (B) the extent to which sister city partner- 18 ships involve economic arrangements that make 19 United States communities vulnerable to malign 20 market practices; 21 (C) the extent to which sister city partner- 22 ships involve educational arrangements that di- 23 minish the freedom of expression; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1184 IS (D) the extent to which sister city partner- 1 ships allow foreign nationals to access local 2 commercial, educational, and political institu- 3 tions; 4 (E) the extent to which foreign commu- 5 nities could use sister city partnerships to real- 6 ize strategic objectives that do not conduce to 7 the economic and national security interests of 8 the United States; 9 (F) the extent to which sister city partner- 10 ships could enable or otherwise contribute to 11 foreign communities’ malign activities globally, 12 including activities relating to human rights 13 abuses and academic and industrial espionage; 14 and 15 (G) the extent to which United States com- 16 munities seek to mitigate foreign nationals’ po- 17 tentially inappropriate use of visa programs to 18 participate in activities relating to sister city 19 partnerships; and 20 (3) review— 21 (A) the range of activities conducted within 22 sister city partnerships, including activities re- 23 lating to cultural exchange and economic devel- 24 opment; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1184 IS (B) how such activities differ between sis- 1 ter city partnerships; and 2 (C) best practices to ensure transparency 3 regarding sister city partnerships’ agreements, 4 activities, and employees. 5 (c) REPORT.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 7 after initiating the study required under subsection 8 (a), the Comptroller General shall submit a report to 9 the appropriate congressional committees that con- 10 tains the results of such study, including the find- 11 ings, conclusions, and recommendations (if any) of 12 the study. 13 (2) FORM.—The report required under para- 14 graph (1) may include a classified annex, if nec- 15 essary. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB