Sec. 5910. Foreign corruption accountability sanctions and criminal enforcement
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Congress finds the following: When public officials and their allies use the mechanisms of government to engage in extortion or bribery, they impoverish their countries’ economic health and harm citizens. By empowering the United States Government to hold to account foreign public officials and their associates who engage in extortion or bribery, the United States can deter malfeasance and ultimately serve the citizens of fragile countries suffocated by corrupt bureaucracies.
The Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction’s 2016 report Corruption in Conflict: Lessons from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan included the recommendation, Congress should consider enacting legislation that authorizes sanctions against foreign government officials or their associates who engage in corruption. . The Secretary of State may impose the sanctions described in subparagraph
(B)with respect to any foreign person who is an individual the Secretary of State determines— engages in public corruption activities against a United States person, including— soliciting or accepting bribes; using the authority of the state to extort payments; or engaging in extortion; or conspires to engage in, or knowingly and materially assists, sponsors, or provides significant financial, material, or technological support for any of the activities described in clause (i). A foreign person who is subject to sanctions under this subsection shall be— inadmissible to the United States; ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation to enter the United States; and otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled into the United States or to receive any other benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq. ). The visa or other entry documentation of a foreign person who is subject to sanctions under this subsection shall be revoked regardless of when such visa or other entry documentation is issued. A revocation under subclause
(I)shall— take effect immediately; and automatically cancel any other valid visa or entry documentation that is in the foreign person’s possession. Sanctions described under subparagraph
(B)shall not apply to a foreign person if admitting the person into the United States— would further important law enforcement objectives; or is necessary to permit the United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United States, or other applicable international obligations of the United States. The Secretary of State may terminate the application of sanctions under this paragraph with respect to a foreign person if the Secretary of State determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 days before the termination of the sanctions that— the person is no longer engaged in the activity that was the basis for the sanctions or has taken significant verifiable steps toward stopping the activity; the Secretary of State has received reliable assurances that the person will not knowingly engage in activity subject to sanctions under this part in the future; or the termination of the sanctions is in the national security interests of the United States. The Secretary of State shall issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this paragraph. In this paragraph, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. The Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees, in accordance with subparagraph (B), a report that includes— a list of each foreign person with respect to whom the Secretary of State imposed sanctions pursuant to paragraph
(2)during the year preceding the submission of the report; the number of foreign persons with respect to which the Secretary of State— imposed sanctions under paragraph (2)(A) during that year; and terminated sanctions under paragraph (2)(D) during that year; the dates on which such sanctions were imposed or terminated, as the case may be; the reasons for imposing or terminating such sanctions; the total number of foreign persons considered under paragraph (2)C) for whom sanctions were not imposed; and recommendations as to whether the imposition of additional sanctions would be an added deterrent in preventing public corruption. The Secretary of State shall submit the initial report under subparagraph
(A)not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary of State shall submit a subsequent report under subparagraph
(A)on December 10, or the first day thereafter on which both Houses of Congress are in session, of— the calendar year in which the initial report is submitted if the initial report is submitted before December 10 of that calendar year; and each calendar year thereafter. Each report required by subparagraph
(A)shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. The name of a foreign person to be included in the list required by subparagraph (A)(i) may be submitted in the classified annex authorized by clause
(i)only if the Secretary of State— determines that it is vital for the national security interests of the United States to do so; and uses the annex in a manner consistent with congressional intent and the purposes of this subsection. The unclassified portion of the report required by subparagraph
(A)shall be made available to the public, including through publication in the Federal Register. The Secretary of State shall publish the list required by subparagraph (A)(i) without regard to the requirements of section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1202(f) ) with respect to confidentiality of records pertaining to the issuance or refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States. In this paragraph, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. The authority to impose sanctions under paragraph
(2)and the requirements to submit reports under paragraph
(3)shall terminate on the date that is 6 years after the date of enactment of this Act. Sanctions imposed under paragraph
(2)on or before the date specified in subparagraph (A), and in effect as of such date, shall remain in effect until terminated in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (2)(D). In this subsection: The term entity means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization. The term foreign person means a person that is not a United States person. The term United States person means a person that is a United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States. The term person means an individual or entity. The term public corruption means the unlawful exercise of entrusted public power for private gain, including by bribery, nepotism, fraud, or embezzlement. Chapter 46 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: The Attorney General shall make available to the public an accounting of any property relating to foreign government corruption that is forfeited to the United States under section 981 or 982. The accounting described under subsection
(a)shall be published on the website of the Department of Justice in a format that includes the following: A heading as follows: Assets stolen from the people of ______ and recovered by the United States , the blank space being filled with the name of the foreign government that is the target of corruption. The total amount recovered by the United States on behalf of the foreign people that is the target of corruption at the time when such recovered funds are deposited into the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund or the Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. The Attorney General shall update the website of the Department of Justice to include an accounting of any new property relating to foreign government corruption that has been forfeited to the United States under section 981 or 982 not later than 14 days after such forfeiture, unless such update would compromise an ongoing law enforcement investigation. . The table of sections for chapter 46 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 988. Accounting of certain forfeited property. . It is the sense of Congress that recovered assets be returned for the benefit of the people harmed by the corruption under conditions that reasonably ensure the transparent and effective use, administration and monitoring of returned proceeds.
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Sec. 5910
Foreign corruption accountability sanctions and criminal enforcement
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