,i #aaeth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #bhbj ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,june #g1 #bjag ,mr4 ,suozzi 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,roskam1 ,mr4 ,meeks1 and ,mr4 ,hill7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs1 and in addition to the ,permanent ,select ,committee on ,intelligence1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to direct the ,secretary of ,state to establish within the ,department of ,state the ,office of ,anti-,corruption relating to ,illicit ,russian ,financial ,activities in ,europe1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,fight ,russian ,corruption ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,the ,russian ,federation uses corruption as a strategic tool to erode democratic governance from within and discredit the liberal democratic system1 thereby strengthening ,russia's sphere of influence4 7#b7 ,russia's ultimate goal is to dissolve the transatlantic union by capitalizing on and exacerbating existing tensions within ,european countries4 7#c7 ,in #bjaf1 the ,center for ,strategic and ,international ,studies 7,,csis7 and the ,centre for the ,study of ,democracy concluded that ,russia has cultivated an opaque network of patronage across the region that it uses to influence and direct decision-making4 ,russia seeks to gain influence over if not control of critical state institutions1 bodies1 and the economy and uses this influence to shape national policies and decisions4 7#d7 ,central and ,eastern ,european leaders1 including those from ,romania1 the ,czech ,republic1 ,latvia1 and ,poland1 have warned that ,russia engages in economic warfare by using politically motivated investments to advance its agenda1 and seeks to challenge the transatlantic orientation of ,central and ,eastern ,europe4 7#e7 ,while countries along ,russia's border1 especially the ,baltic countries1 ,ukraine1 and ,georgia1 are under threat from ,moscow's malign influence and military aggression1 corruption is also part of ,russia's hybrid warfare strategy to use direct and indirect action to coerce1 destabilize and exercise malign influence over other countries4 7#f7 ,much like a virus1 malign ,russian-fueled corruption inconspicuously penetrates a country through what appears to be a host of legitimate financial transactions4 7#g7 ,according to ,,csis1 the corruption1 often through opaque financial transactions1 infects various strategic sectors of host economies1 particularly energy1 media1 and financial sectors4 ,over time1 the host countries' institutions become compromised and can no longer self-police or resist ,russian influence1 thereby allowing ,russian control over the government4 7#h7 ,in ,france1 ,austria1 ,germany1 and the ,united ,kingdom1 ,russia directly supports entities that feed directly off lack of confidence and trust in democratic systems1 which enhances the popularity of extreme parties4 7#i7 ,the ,united ,states intelligence community concluded that ,russia deployed similar tactics in the #bjaf ,united ,states elections in order to erode public confidence and trust in the ,united ,states political system4 7#aj7 ,this strategy exploits the inherent openness and vulnerabilities within ,western capitalist systems4 ,to combat it1 the ,united ,states must support efforts of foreign partner countries to investigate corruption and strengthen fiscal transparency4 7#aa7 ,only through strengthening ,western governance and institutions will the ,united ,states and its partners thwart ,russian tactics of corruption and exploitation and prevent ,russia's virus-like corruption from eroding democracy in the ,united ,states4 #c4 ,office of ,anti-,corruption relating to ,illicit ,russian ,financial ,activities in ,europe ,title ,i of the ,state ,department ,basic ,authorities ,act of #aief 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #bfea;a et seq47 is amended by adding at the end the following new section3 #fd4 ,office of ,anti-,corruption relating to ,illicit ,russian ,financial ,activities in ,europe 7a7 ,establishment ,the ,secretary of ,state shall establish within the ,department of ,state the ,office of ,anti-,corruption relating to ,illicit ,russian ,financial ,activities in ,europe 7in this section referred to as the ,office74 7b7 ,head of office ,the head of the ,office shall be the ,director of ,anti-,corruption relating to ,illicit ,russian ,financial ,activities in ,europe 7in this section referred to as the ,director74 ,the ,director shall be appointed by ,secretary1 in consultation with the ,assistant ,secretary of ,state for ,european ,affairs4 7c7 ,functions ,the ,office shall carry out the following functions3 7#a7 ,in coordination with the intelligence community1 analyze financial networks of the ,russian ,federation that operate in ,european countries relating to investments in the real estate1 energy1 media1 infrastructure1 philanthropy1 civil society1 sports1 nongovernmental organization1 and other sectors4 7#b7 ,in coordination with the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 train ,united ,states liaison officers to serve in key ,united ,states diplomatic and consular posts in ,european countries to cooperate with foreign partners in the uncovering and prosecution of illicit ,russian financial activity4 7d7 ,report 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,office shall develop and submit to the appropriate congressional committees on an annual basis a report on the conduct and results of activities of the ,office carried out under subsection 7c7 during the prior year4 7#b7 ,form ,the report required under this subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form but may contain a classified annex4 7e7 ,personnel ,the ,secretary of ,state is authorized to accept details or assignments of any personnel on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis for the purpose of carrying out this section1 and the head of any ,federal agency is authorized to detail or assign personnel of such agency on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis to the ,secretary for purposes of carrying out this section4 7f7 ,appropriate congressional committees defined ,the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7#a7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs and the ,committee on ,financial ,services of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7#b7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations and the ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1 and ,urban ,affairs1 and the ,committee on ,finance of the ,senate4 4 #d4 ,foreign assistance and related matters 7a7 ,authority ,to provide foreign assistance 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of ,state is authorized to provide assistance to ,european countries to combat corruption4 7#b7 ,types of assistance ,assistance authorized to be provided under paragraph 7#a7 may include the following3 7,a7 ,support for activities described in paragraphs 7#a7 and 7#b7 of section #fd7;c7 of the ,state ,department ,basic ,authorities ,act of #aief 7as added by section #c of this ,act74 7,b7 ,support for and strengthening of foreign programs focused on investigative journalism and independence of the media environment to expose ,russian corruption4 7,c7 ,support for activities in ,europe relating to anti-corruption1 anti-propaganda1 and anti-,russian malign influence4 7b7 ,matters relating to ,,nato ,the ,secretary of ,state shall seek to work with the ,north ,atlantic ,treaty ,organization 7,,nato7 to carry out the following actions3 7#a7 ,elevate anti-corruption as an element of ,,nato's ,readiness ,action ,plan4 7#b7 ,task the ,,nato ,assistant ,secretary ,general for ,intelligence and ,warning with monitoring ,russian influence in ,,nato member states4 7#c7 ,prioritizing the combating of ,russian influence under the ,,nato-,european ,union framework4 7c7 ,,eu-,,us summit ,the ,secretary of ,state1 in coordination with the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 is authorized to host a summit between the ,united ,states and the ,european ,union on preventing undeclared1 cross-border money flows invested in strategic areas or economic sectors of ,european countries4 #e4 ,national ,intelligence ,estimate 7a7 ,in general ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,director of ,national ,intelligence shall develop and submit to the appropriate congressional committees a ,national ,intelligence ,estimate on the matters described in subsection 7b74 7b7 ,matters described ,the matters described in this subsection are the following3 7#a7 ,any purchases made in the #e-year period ending on the date of the enactment of this ,act by individuals and entities of key sectors in ,european countries1 particularly purchases that provide monopolistic control of a sector4 7#b7 ,a detailed analysis of the individuals and entities making such purchases1 including sources of revenue for each individual and entity and any links to the ,russian ,federation4 #f4 ,report ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,state and the ,secretary of ,treasury shall jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the implementation of this ,act4 #g4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,appropriate congressional committees ,the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs and the ,committee on ,financial ,services of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7,b7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations and the ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1 and ,urban ,affairs1 and the ,committee on ,finance of the ,senate4 7#b7 ,intelligence community ,the term intelligence community has the meaning given the term in section #c of the ,national ,security ,act of #aidg 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #cjjc74