Bill > HR3843

This bill, the Countering Russian and Other Overseas Kleptocracy Act (CROOK Act), aims to promote international efforts in combating corruption, kleptocracy, and illicit finance by foreign officials and other foreign persons. The key provisions of the bill are: 1) It directs the Department of State to establish the Anti-Corruption Action Fund, which will be funded by 5% of fines and penalties imposed under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, to help foreign states fight public corruption and develop rule-of-law-based governance structures. 2) It requires the State Department to take primary responsibility in managing U.S. government efforts to fight foreign public corruption and establish an interagency task force to coordinate these efforts. 3) It mandates that each U.S. embassy designate an anti-corruption point of contact to coordinate the embassy's anti-corruption activities. 4) It requires the State Department to report to Congress on its anti-corruption activities and make various reports publicly available online. The bill also states the policy of the U.S. to leverage diplomatic engagement and foreign assistance to promote the rule of law and combat corruption globally, particularly in combating the use of corruption as a tool of malign influence by authoritarian governments like Russia.