119-hr385

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 385 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 385

 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 Accountability Act.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 14, 2025

Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Keating, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, and 
 Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, 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 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 Accountability Act.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Combating Global Corruption Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Corrupt actor.--The term ``corrupt actor'' means--
        (A) any foreign person or entity that is a 
 government official or government entity responsible 
 for, or complicit in, an act of corruption; and
        (B) any company, in which a person or entity 
 described in subparagraph
        (A) has a significant stake, 
 which is responsible for, or complicit in, an act of 
 corruption.

    (2) Corruption.--The term ``corruption'' means the unlawful 
 exercise of entrusted public power for private gain, including 
 by bribery, nepotism, fraud, or embezzlement.

    (3) Significant corruption.--The term ``significant 
 corruption'' means corruption committed at a high level of 
 government that--
        (A) illegitimately distorts major decision-making, 
 such as policy or resource determinations, or other 
 fundamental functions of governance; and
        (B) involves economically or socially large-scale 
 government activities.

SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF TIERED RANKING LIST.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall annually publish, on 
a publicly accessible website, a tiered ranking of all foreign 
countries.

    (b) Tier 1 Countries.--A country shall be ranked as a tier 1 
country in the ranking published under subsection

    (a) if the government 
of such country is complying with the minimum standards set forth in 

section 4.
            (c) Tier 2 Countries.--A country shall be ranked as a tier 2 
country in the ranking published under subsection

    (a) if the government 
of such country is making efforts to comply with the minimum standards 
set forth in 

section 4, but is not achieving the requisite level of 
compliance to be ranked as a tier 1 country.
            (d) Tier 3 Countries.--A country shall be ranked as a tier 3 
country in the ranking published under subsection

    (a) if the government 
of such country is making de minimis or no efforts to comply with the 
minimum standards set forth in 

section 4.

SEC. 4. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF CORRUPTION AND 
 ASSESSMENT OF EFFORTS TO COMBAT CORRUPTION.

    (a) In General.--The government of a country is complying with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of corruption if the government--

    (1) has enacted and implemented laws and established 
 government structures, policies, and practices that prohibit 
 and generally deter corruption, including significant 
 corruption;

    (2) enforces the laws described in paragraph

    (1) by 
 punishing any person who is found, through a fair judicial 
 process, to have violated such laws;

    (3) prescribes punishment for significant corruption that 
 is commensurate with the punishment prescribed for serious 
 crimes; and

    (4) is making serious and sustained efforts to address 
 corruption, including through prevention.

    (b) Factors for Assessing Government Efforts To Combat 
Corruption.--In determining whether a government is making serious and 
sustained efforts to address corruption, the Secretary of State shall 
consider, to the extent relevant or appropriate, factors such as--

    (1) whether the government of the country has criminalized 
 corruption, investigates and prosecutes acts of corruption, and 
 convicts and sentences persons responsible for such acts over 
 which it has jurisdiction, including, as appropriate, 
 incarcerating individuals convicted of such acts;

    (2) whether the government of the country vigorously 
 investigates, prosecutes, convicts, and sentences public 
 officials who participate in or facilitate corruption, 
 including nationals of the country who are deployed in foreign 
 military assignments, trade delegations abroad, or other 
 similar missions, who engage in or facilitate significant 
 corruption;

    (3) whether the government of the country has adopted 
 measures to prevent corruption, such as measures to inform and 
 educate the public, including potential victims, about the 
 causes and consequences of corruption;

    (4) whether the government of the country has taken steps 
 to prohibit government officials from participating in, 
 facilitating, or condoning corruption, including the 
 investigation, prosecution, and conviction of such officials;

    (5) the extent to which the country provides access, or, as 
 appropriate, makes adequate resources available, to civil 
 society organizations and other institutions to combat 
 corruption, including reporting, investigating, and monitoring;

    (6) whether an independent judiciary or judicial body in 
 the country is responsible for, and effectively capable of, 
 deciding corruption cases impartially, on the basis of facts 
 and in accordance with the law, without any improper 
 restrictions, influences, inducements, pressures, threats, or 
 interferences (direct or indirect);

    (7) whether the government of the country is assisting in 
 international investigations of transnational corruption 
 networks and in other cooperative efforts to combat significant 
 corruption, including, as appropriate, cooperating with the 
 governments of other countries to extradite corrupt actors;

    (8) whether the government of the country recognizes the 
 rights of victims of corruption, ensures their access to 
 justice, and takes steps to prevent victims from being further 
 victimized or persecuted by corrupt actors, government 
 officials, or others;

    (9) whether the government of the country protects victims 
 of corruption or whistleblowers from reprisal due to such 
 persons having assisted in exposing corruption, and refrains 
 from other discriminatory treatment of such persons;

    (10) whether the government of the country is willing and 
 able to recover and, as appropriate, return the proceeds of 
 corruption;

    (11) whether the government of the country is taking steps 
 to implement financial transparency measures in line with the 
 Financial Action Task Force recommendations, including due 
 diligence and beneficial ownership transparency requirements;

    (12) whether the government of the country is facilitating 
 corruption in other countries in connection with state-directed 
 investment, loans or grants for major infrastructure, or other 
 initiatives; and

    (13) such other information relating to corruption as the 
 Secretary of State considers appropriate.
            (c) Assessing Government Efforts To Combat Corruption in Relation 
to Relevant International Commitments.--In determining whether a 
government is making serious and sustained efforts to address 
corruption, the Secretary of State shall consider the government of a 
country's compliance with the following, as relevant:

    (1) The Inter-American Convention against Corruption of the 
 Organization of American States, done at Caracas March 29, 
 1996.

    (2) The Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public 
 Officials in International Business Transactions of the 
 Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, done at 
 Paris December 21, 1997 (commonly referred to as the ``Anti-
 Bribery Convention'').

    (3) The United Nations Convention against Transnational 
 Organized Crime, done at New York November 15, 2000.

    (4) The United Nations Convention against Corruption, done 
 at New York October 31, 2003.

    (5) Such other treaties, agreements, and international 
 standards as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS UNDER GLOBAL MAGNITSKY HUMAN RIGHTS 
 ACCOUNTABILITY ACT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Secretary of the Treasury, should evaluate whether there are foreign 
persons engaged in significant corruption for the purposes of potential 
imposition of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328; 22 
U.S.C. 2656 note) in all countries identified as tier 3 countries under 

section 3.

    (b) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after publishing the 
list required by 

section 3

    (a) and annually thereafter, the Secretary of 
State shall submit to the committees specified in subsection

    (e) a 
report that includes--

    (1) a list of foreign persons with respect to which the 
 President imposed sanctions pursuant to the evaluation under 
 subsection

    (a) ;

    (2) the dates on which such sanctions were imposed; and

    (3) the reasons for imposing such sanctions.
            (c) Form of Report.--Each report required by subsection

    (b) shall 
be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.
            (d) Briefing in Lieu of Report.--The Secretary of State, in 
coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, may provide a briefing 
to the committees specified in subsection

    (e) instead of submitting a 
written report required under subsection

    (b) , if doing so would better 
serve existing United States anti-corruption efforts or the national 
interests of the United States.

    (e) Committees Specified.--The committees specified in this 
subsection are--

    (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
 Appropriations, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
 Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and

    (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 
 Appropriations, the Committee on Financial Services, and the 
 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF EMBASSY ANTI-CORRUPTION POINTS OF CONTACT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall annually designate an 
anti-corruption point of contact at the United States diplomatic post 
to each country identified as tier 2 or tier 3 under 

section 3, or 
which the Secretary otherwise determines is in need of such a point of 
contact. The point of contact shall be the chief of mission or the 
chief of mission's designee.

    (b) Responsibilities.--Each anti-corruption point of contact 
designated under subsection

    (a) shall be responsible for enhancing 
coordination and promoting the implementation of a whole-of-government 
approach among the relevant Federal departments and agencies 
undertaking efforts to--

    (1) promote good governance in foreign countries; and

    (2) enhance the ability of such countries--
        (A) to combat public corruption; and
        (B) to develop and implement corruption risk 
 assessment tools and mitigation strategies.
            (c) Training.--The Secretary of State shall implement appropriate 
training for anti-corruption points of contact designated under 
subsection

    (a) .
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