[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 71 (Monday, May 20, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H5291-H5292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               COMMUNICATION FROM THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following 
communication from the Clerk of the House of Representatives:

                                               Washington, DC,

                                                     May 17, 1996.
     Hon. Newt Gingrich,
     The Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Speaker: Pursuant to the permission granted in 
     Clause 5 of Rule III of the Rules of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives, I have the honor to transmit a sealed 
     envelope from the White House on Friday, May 17th at 3:00 
     p.m. and said to contain a message from the President whereby 
     he notifies and transmits a Supplementary Agreement on Social 
     Security between the U.S.A. and Austria.
           With warm regards,
                                                   Robin H. Carle,
                             Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.

[[Page H5292]]



 SUPPLEMENTARY AGREEMENT BETWEEN UNITED STATES AND REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA 
ON SOCIAL SECURITY--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. 
                           DOC. NO. 104-217)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, without objection, referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means and ordered to be printed:

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 and 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 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 documents to the Congress.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, May 17, 1996.

                          ____________________