Combating Global Corruption Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 53 To identify and combat corruption in countries, to establish a tiered list of countries with respect to levels of corruption by their governments and their efforts to combat such corruption, and to evaluate whether foreign persons engaged in significant corruption should be specially designated nationals under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Account- ability Act. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 24 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 2023 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 list of countries with respect to levels of corrup- tion by their governments and their efforts to combat such corruption, and to evaluate whether foreign persons engaged in significant corruption should be specially des- ignated nationals under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 53 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Global Cor- 2 ruption Act of 2023’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) CORRUPT ACTOR.—The term ‘‘corrupt 6 actor’’ means— 7 (A) any foreign person or entity that is a 8 government official or government entity re- 9 sponsible for, or complicit in, an act of corrup- 10 tion; and 11 (B) any company, in which a person or en- 12 tity described in subparagraph (A) has a sig- 13 nificant stake, which is responsible for, or 14 complicit in, an act of corruption. 15 (2) CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘corruption’’ 16 means the unlawful exercise of entrusted public 17 power for private gain, including by bribery, nepo- 18 tism, fraud, or embezzlement. 19 (3) SIGNIFICANT CORRUPTION.—The term ‘‘sig- 20 nificant corruption’’ means corruption committed at 21 a high level of government that— 22 (A) illegitimately distorts major decision- 23 making, such as policy or resource determina- 24 tions, or other fundamental functions of govern- 25 ance; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 53 IS (B) involves economically or socially large- 1 scale government activities. 2 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF TIERED RANKING LIST. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an- 4 nually publish, on a publicly accessible website, a tiered 5 ranking of all foreign countries. 6 (b) TIER 1 COUNTRIES.—A country shall be ranked 7 as a tier 1 country in the ranking published under sub- 8 section (a) if the government of such country is complying 9 with the minimum standards set forth in section 4. 10 (c) TIER 2 COUNTRIES.—A country shall be ranked 11 as a tier 2 country in the ranking published under sub- 12 section (a) if the government of such country is making 13 efforts to comply with the minimum standards set forth 14 in section 4, but is not achieving the requisite level of com- 15 pliance to be ranked as a tier 1 country. 16 (d) TIER 3 COUNTRIES.—A country shall be ranked 17 as a tier 3 country in the ranking published under sub- 18 section (a) if the government of such country is making 19 de minimis or no efforts to comply with the minimum 20 standards set forth in section 4. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 53 IS SEC. 4. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF 1 CORRUPTION AND ASSESSMENT OF EFFORTS 2 TO COMBAT CORRUPTION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The government of a country is 4 complying with the minimum standards for the elimi- 5 nation of corruption if the government— 6 (1) has enacted and implemented laws and es- 7 tablished government structures, policies, and prac- 8 tices that prohibit and generally deter corruption, in- 9 cluding significant corruption; 10 (2) enforces the laws described in paragraph (1) 11 by punishing any person who is found, through a 12 fair judicial process, to have violated such laws; 13 (3) prescribes punishment for significant cor- 14 ruption that is commensurate with the punishment 15 prescribed for serious crimes; and 16 (4) is making serious and sustained efforts to 17 address corruption, including through prevention. 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 address corruption, the Secretary of State shall con- 22 sider, to the extent relevant or appropriate, factors such 23 as— 24 (1) whether the government of the country has 25 criminalized corruption, investigates and prosecutes 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 53 IS acts of corruption, and convicts and sentences per- 1 sons responsible for such acts over which it has ju- 2 risdiction, including, as appropriate, incarcerating 3 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 significant 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) whether the government of the country has 17 taken steps to prohibit government officials from 18 participating in, facilitating, or condoning corrup- 19 tion, including the investigation, prosecution, and 20 conviction 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 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 53 IS stitutions to combat corruption, including reporting, 1 investigating, and monitoring; 2 (6) whether an independent judiciary or judicial 3 body in the country is 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 improper restrictions, influences, in- 7 ducements, pressures, threats, or interferences (di- 8 rect or indirect); 9 (7) whether the government of the country is 10 assisting in international investigations of 11 transnational corruption networks and in other coop- 12 erative efforts to combat significant corruption, in- 13 cluding, as appropriate, cooperating with the govern- 14 ments of other countries to 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 pro- 21 tects victims of corruption or whistleblowers from re- 22 prisal due to such persons having assisted in expos- 23 ing corruption, and refrains from other discrimina- 24 tory treatment of such persons; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 53 IS (10) whether the government of the country is 1 willing and able to recover and, as appropriate, re- 2 turn the proceeds of corruption; 3 (11) whether the government of the country is 4 taking steps to implement financial transparency 5 measures in line with the Financial Action Task 6 Force recommendations, including due diligence and 7 beneficial ownership transparency requirements; 8 (12) whether the government of the country is 9 facilitating corruption in other countries in connec- 10 tion with state-directed investment, loans or grants 11 for major infrastructure, or other initiatives; and 12 (13) such other information relating to corrup- 13 tion as the Secretary of State considers appropriate. 14 (c) ASSESSING GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO COMBAT 15 CORRUPTION IN RELATION TO RELEVANT INTER- 16 NATIONAL COMMITMENTS.—In determining whether a 17 government is making serious and sustained efforts to ad- 18 dress corruption, the Secretary of State shall consider the 19 government of a country’s compliance with the following, 20 as relevant: 21 (1) The Inter-American Convention against 22 Corruption of the Organization of American States, 23 done at Caracas March 29, 1996. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 53 IS (2) The Convention on Combating Bribery of 1 Foreign Public Officials in International Business 2 Transactions of the Organisation of Economic Co- 3 operation and Development, done at Paris December 4 21, 1997 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Anti-Brib- 5 ery Convention’’). 6 (3) The United Nations Convention against 7 Transnational Organized Crime, done at New York 8 November 15, 2000. 9 (4) The United Nations Convention against 10 Corruption, done at New York October 31, 2003. 11 (5) Such other treaties, agreements, and inter- 12 national standards as the Secretary of State con- 13 siders appropriate. 14 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS UNDER GLOBAL 15 MAGNITSKY HUMAN RIGHTS ACCOUNT- 16 ABILITY ACT. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi- 18 nation with the Secretary of the Treasury, should evaluate 19 whether there are foreign persons engaged in significant 20 corruption for the purposes of potential imposition of 21 sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Ac- 22 countability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 23 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note) in all countries identified 24 as tier 3 countries under section 3. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 53 IS (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 1 after publishing the list required by section 3(a) and annu- 2 ally thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 3 committees specified in subsection (e) a report that in- 4 cludes— 5 (1) a list of foreign persons with respect to 6 which the President imposed sanctions pursuant to 7 the evaluation under subsection (a); 8 (2) the dates on which such sanctions were im- 9 posed; and 10 (3) the reasons for imposing such sanctions. 11 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report required by sub- 12 section (b) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 13 include a classified annex. 14 (d) BRIEFING IN LIEU OF REPORT.—The Secretary 15 of State, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treas- 16 ury, may provide a briefing to the committees specified 17 in subsection (e) instead of submitting a written report 18 required under subsection (b), if doing so would better 19 serve existing United States anti-corruption efforts or the 20 national interests of the United States. 21 (e) COMMITTEES SPECIFIED.—The committees speci- 22 fied in this subsection are— 23 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 24 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 53 IS Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Com- 1 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 2 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 3 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Fi- 4 nancial Services, and the Committee on the Judici- 5 ary of the House of Representatives. 6 SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF EMBASSY ANTI-CORRUPTION 7 POINTS OF CONTACT. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an- 9 nually designate an anti-corruption point of contact at the 10 United States diplomatic post to each country identified 11 as tier 2 or tier 3 under section 3, or which the Secretary 12 otherwise determines is in need of such a point of contact. 13 The point of contact shall be the chief of mission or the 14 chief of mission’s designee. 15 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each anti-corruption point 16 of contact designated under subsection (a) shall be respon- 17 sible for enhancing coordination and promoting the imple- 18 mentation of a whole-of-government approach among the 19 relevant Federal departments and agencies undertaking 20 efforts to— 21 (1) promote good governance in foreign coun- 22 tries; and 23 (2) enhance the ability of such countries— 24 (A) to combat public corruption; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 53 IS (B) to develop and implement corruption 1 risk assessment tools and mitigation strategies. 2 (c) TRAINING.—The Secretary of State shall imple- 3 ment appropriate training for anti-corruption points of 4 contact designated under subsection (a). 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS