1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fight Russian Corruption Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Russian Federation uses corruption as a strategic tool to erode democratic governance from within and discredit the liberal democratic system, thereby strengthening Russia’s sphere of influence. (2) Russia’s ultimate goal is to dissolve the transatlantic union by capitalizing on and exacerbating existing tensions within European countries. (3) In 2016, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) 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-making. Russia seeks to gain influence over if not control of critical state institutions, bodies, and the economy and uses this influence to shape national policies and decisions. (4) Central and Eastern European leaders, including those from Romania, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Poland, have warned that Russia engages in economic warfare by using politically motivated investments to advance its agenda, and seeks to challenge the transatlantic orientation of Central and Eastern Europe. (5) While countries along Russia’s border, especially the Baltic countries, Ukraine, and Georgia, are under threat from Moscow’s malign influence and military aggression, corruption is also part of Russia’s hybrid warfare strategy to use direct and indirect action to coerce, destabilize and exercise malign influence over other countries. (6) Much like a virus, malign Russian-fueled corruption inconspicuously penetrates a country through what appears to be a host of legitimate financial transactions. (7) According to CSIS, the corruption, often through opaque financial transactions, infects various strategic sectors of host economies, particularly energy, media, and financial sectors. Over time, the host countries’ institutions become compromised and can no longer self-police or resist Russian influence, thereby allowing Russian