This bill directs the Comptroller General (the Government Accountability Office) to study sister city partnerships between United States communities and foreign communities in countries that scored 45 or less on Transparency International's 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index. The study must identify how foreign communities choose U.S. partners, list activities carried out in these partnerships, and describe economic and educational outcomes. It must report what information these partnerships make public, how U.S. communities protect freedom of expression, and what oversight steps they use to reduce risks like espionage or economic coercion.
The study must assess how transparent partnerships are about contracts and activities; whether partnerships create economic vulnerabilities or reduce freedom of expression in education; and whether they allow foreign nationals access to local institutions. The study also must consider whether foreign communities could use partnerships for strategic goals contrary to U.S. economic or national security interests, or to support human rights abuses, academic or industrial espionage, or other malign activities. The Comptroller General must complete a report for specified congressional committees within 6 months of starting the study. The report may include a classified annex if necessary.
If a city, county, or other local government in the United States has a sister city partnership with a foreign community in a country meeting the corruption-score threshold, that partnership could be examined as part of the GAO study. The study would collect information about partnership agreements, activities, and safeguards, and send findings and any recommendations to several congressional committees. The bill creates a requirement for a study and report; it does not itself change local rules or create new penalties.
No publicly available information on costs or funding is included in the bill text or metadata.
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