To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to ensure that United States assistance programs promote good governance by assisting other countries to combat corruption throughout society and to promote transparency and increased accountability for all levels of government and throughout the private sector. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 20, 2000 Mr. GEJDENSON (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. ROTHMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations A BILL To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to ensure that United States assistance programs promote good governance by assisting other countries to combat corruption throughout society and to promote transparency and increased accountability for all levels of government and throughout the private sector. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the “International Anti-Cor 5 ruption and Good Governance Act of 2000”. 68-024 D-01--5 2 1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: (1) Widespread corruption endangers the stability and security of societies, undermines democracy, and jeopardizes the social, political, and economic development of a society. (2) Corruption facilitates criminal activities, such as money laundering, hinders economic devel 6 7 8 9 opment, inflates the costs of doing business, and un 10 dermines the legitimacy of the government and pub 11 lic trust. 12 (3) In January 1997 the United Nations Gen 13 eral Assembly adopted a resolution urging member states to carefully consider the problems posed by 14 15 the international aspects of corrupt practices and to 16 study appropriate legislative and regulatory measures to ensure the transparency and integrity of fi 19 (4) The United States was the first country to 20 criminalize international bribery through the enact 21 22 23 ment of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 and United States leadership was instrumental in the passage of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in 24 25 26 International Business Transactions. 3 1 (5) The Vice President, at the Global Forum on Fighting Corruption in 1999, declared corruption to 2 3 be a direct threat to the rule of law and the Sec 4 5 6 7 retary of State declared corruption to be a matter of profound political and social consequence for our efforts to strengthen democratic governments. (6) The Secretary of State, at the Inter-American Development Bank's annual meeting in March 2000, declared that despite certain economic achievements, democracy is being threatened as citi 8 9 10 11 zens grow weary of the corruption and favoritism of 15 (7) In May 1996 the Organization of American 16 States (OAS) adopted the Inter-American Conven 17 tion Against Corruption requiring countries to pro 18 19 vide various forms of international cooperation and assistance to facilitate the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of acts of corruption. 20 21 (8) Independent media, committed to fighting 22 corruption and trained in investigative journalism techniques, can both educate the public on the costs 23 24 of corruption and act as a deterrent against corrupt 25 officials. 4 1 (9) Competent and independent judiciary, founded on a merit-based selection process and 2 3 trained to enforce contracts and protect property 4 rights, is critical for creating a predictable and con 10 11 12 able, and transparent financial management and procurement policies and procedures, are essential to the promotion of good governance and to the combat of corruption. (11) Transparent business frameworks, includ 13 14 15 ing modern commercial codes and intellectual prop 16 erty rights, are vital to enhancing economic growth 17 and decreasing corruption at all levels of society. 18 (12) The United States should attempt to im promoting financial disclosure by public officials, political parties, and candidates for public 24 25 office, open budgeting processes, adequate and 4 (B) supporting the establishment of audit offices, inspectors general offices, and anti-cor 5 6 ruption agencies; 7 (C) promoting responsive, transparent, and accountable legislatures that ensure legislative 8 9 oversight and whistle-blower protection; (D) promoting judicial reforms that crim 10 11 inalize corruption and promoting law enforce 18 19 codes that incorporate international standards for business practices, and protection of intellectual property rights; and 20 21 (F) promoting free and fair national, state, 23 (b) PURPOSE.— The purpose of this Act is to ensure 24 that United States assistance programs promote good gov 25 ernance by assisting other countries to combat corruption |