[Senate Treaty Document 108-8]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
108th Congress Treaty Doc.
SENATE
1st Session 108-8
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PROTOCOL TO TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION WITH DENMARK
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
TRANSMITTING
PROTOCOL TO THE TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION BETWEEN
THE UNITED STATES AND DENMARK OF OCTOBER 1, 1951, SIGNED AT COPENHAGEN
ON MAY 2, 2001
September 2, 2003.--The Protocol was read the first time, and together
with the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
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The White House, September 2, 2003.
To the Senate of the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the
Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Protocol to the
Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation Between the
United States and Denmark of October 1, 1951, signed at
Copenhagen on May 2, 2001. I transmit also, for the information
of the Senate, the report of the Department of State with
respect to this protocol.
The protocol will establish the legal basis by which the
United States may issue treaty-investor (E-2) visas to
qualified nationals of Denmark, by supplementing the U.S.-
Denmark friendship, commerce, and navigation (FCN) treaty to
allow for entry and sojourn of investors, a benefit provided in
the large majority of U.S. FCN treaties. United States
investors are already eligible for Danish visas that offer
comparable benefits to those that would be accorded nationals
of Denmark under E-2 visa status.
The United States has long championed the benefits of an
open investment climate, both at home and abroad. It is the
policy of the United States to welcome market-driven foreign
investment and to permit capital to flow freely to seek its
highest return. Denmark also provides an open investment
climate. Visas for investors facilitate investment activity,
and thus directly support U.S. policy objectives.
I recommend that the Senate consider this protocol as soon
as possible, and give its advice and consent to ratification of
the protocol at an early date.
George W. Bush.
LETTER OF SUBMITTAL
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Department of State,
July 18, 2003.
The President,
The White House.
The President: I have the honor to submit to you the
Protocol to the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation
Between the United States and Denmark of October 1, 1951,
signed at Copenhagen on May 2, 2001. I recommend that this
protocol be transmitted to the Senate for its advice and
consent to ratification.
The protocol will establish the legal basis by which the
United States may issue treaty-investor (E-2) visas to
qualified nationals of Denmark by supplementing the U.S.-
Denmark friendship, commerce, and navigation (FCN) treaty to
allow for entry and sojourn of investors, a benefit provided in
the large majority of U.S. FCN treaties. United States
investors are already eligible for Danish visas that offer
comparable benefits to those that would be accorded nationals
of Denmark under E-2 visa status.
The United States has long championed the benefits of an
open investment climate, both at home and abroad. It is the
policy of the United States to welcome market-driven foreign
investment and to permit capital to flow freely to seek its
highest return. Denmark also provides an open investment
climate. Visas for investors facilitate investment activity,
and thus directly support U.S. policy objectives.
Danish direct investment in the United States totaled over
$5.9 billion at year-end 2000 (on a historical costs basis).
The U.S. direct investment in Denmark amounted to about $5.6
billion (on a historical costs basis) and U.S. investment
accounts for one-third of Denmark's total direct investment.
the u.s.-denmark protocol
The protocol is a precondition to the issuance of a treaty-
investor visa to a Danish national, inasmuch as section
101(a)(15)(E)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),
8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(15)(E)(ii), permits issuance of an E-2
visa only to a nonimmigrant who is
. . . entitled to enter the United States under and in
pursuance of the provisions of a treaty of commerce and
navigation between the United States and the foreign
state of which he is a national . . . solely to develop
and direct the operation of an enterprise in which he
has invested, or of an enterprise in which he is
actively in the process of investing, a substantial
amount of capital.
Although most U.S. FCN treaties contain a provision
qualifying the treaty partner's nationals for E-2 visas, the
U.S.-Denmark FCN does not. The protocol is intended to overcome
this deficiency.
The treaty protocol reflects language found in the INA, the
other U.S. FCNs and investment treaties generally. The
principal substantive article of the protocol provides that
[n]ationals of either Contracting Party shall be
permitted, subject to the laws relating to the entry
and sojourn of aliens, to enter the territories of the
other Party and to remain therein for the purpose of
developing and directing the operations of an
enterprise in which they have invested, or in which
they are actively in the process of investing, a
substantial amount of capital.
I support this protocol, and I favor its transmission to
the Senate at an early date.
Respectfully submitted,
Colin L. Powell.