[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 70 (Friday, May 17, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5266-S5267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REPORT TO ACCOMPANY THE SUPPLEMENTARY SOCIAL SECURITY AGREEMENT BETWEEN 
   THE UNITED STATES AND AUSTRIA--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT--PM 147

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with an accompanying 
report; which was referred to the Committee on Finance:

To the Congress of the United States:
  Pursuant to section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act, as amended 
by the Social Security Amendments of 1977 (Public Law 95-216, 42 U.S.C. 
433(e)(1)), I transmit herewith the Supplementary Agreement Amending 
the Agreement Between the United States of America and the Republic of 
Austria on Social Security (the ``Supplementary Agreement''). The 
Supplementary Agreement, signed at Vienna on October 5, 1995, is 
intended to modify certain provisions of the original United States-
Austria Social Security Agreement, signed July 13, 1990.
  The United States-Austria Social Security Agreement is similar in 
objective to the social security agreements with Belgium, Canada, 
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg. The 
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the 
United Kingdom. Such bilateral agreements provide for limited 
coordination between the United States and foreign social security 
systems to eliminate dual social security coverage and taxation, and to 
help prevent the loss of benefit protection that can occur when workers 
divide their careers between two countries.
  The Supplementary Agreement, which would amend the 1990 Agreement to 
update and clarify several of its provisions, is necessitated by 
changes that have occurred in U.S. and Austrian law in recent years. 
Among other things, it would introduce a new method of computing 
Austrian benefits under the Agreement that will result in higher 
Austrian benefits for certain people who have divided their careers 
between the United States and Austria. Another provision in the 
Supplementary Agreement will allow U.S. citizens hired in Austria by 
U.S. Foreign Service Posts to be covered by the Austrian Social 
Security System rather than the U.S. system. The Supplementary 
Agreement will also make a number of minor revisions in the Agreement 
to take account of other changes in U.S. and Austrian law that have 
occurred in recent years.
  The United States-Austria Social Security Agreement, as amended, 
would

[[Page S5267]]

continue to contain all provisions mandated by section 233 and other 
provisions that I deem appropriate to carry out the provisions of 
section 233(c)(4).
  I also transmit for the information of the Congress a report prepared 
by the Social Security Administration explaining the key points of the 
Supplementary Agreement, along with a paragraph-by-paragraph 
explanation of the effect of the amendments on the Agreement. Annexed 
to this report is the report required by section 233(e)(1) of the 
Social Security Act on the effect of the Agreement on income and 
expenditures of the U.S. Social Security program and the number of 
individuals affected by the Agreement. The Department of State and the 
Social Security Administration have recommended the Supplementary 
Agreement and related documents to me.
  I commend the United States-Austria Social Security Agreement and 
related Agreement and related documents to the Congress.
                                                 William, J. Clinton.  
  The White House, May 17, 1996.

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