[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 53 (Monday, May 4, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4220-S4221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous 
consent that the Injunction of Secrecy be removed from the following 
convention transmitted to the Senate on May 1, 1998, by the President 
of the United States: Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public 
Officials in International Business Transactions (Treaty Document No. 
105-43). I further ask that the convention be considered as having been 
read the first time; that it be referred with accompanying papers to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and that 
the President's message be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The message of the President is as follows:

[[Page S4221]]

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 Convention on Combating Bribery 
of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (the 
``Convention''), adopted at Paris on November 21, 1997, by a conference 
held under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation 
and Development (OECD). The Convention was signed in Paris on December 
17, 1997, by the United States and 32 other nations.
  I transmit also, for the information of the Senate, interpretive 
Commentaries on the Convention, adopted by the negotiating conference 
in conjunction with the Convention, that are relevant to the Senate's 
consideration of the Convention. I transmit also, for the information 
of the Senate, the report of the Department of State with respect to 
the Convention.
  Since the enactment in 1977 of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 
(FCPA), the United States has been alone in specifically criminalizing 
the business-related bribery of foreign public officials. United States 
corporations have contended that this has put them at a significant 
disadvantage in competing for international contracts with respect to 
foreign competitors who are not subject to such laws. Consistent with 
the sense of the Congress, as expressed in the Omnibus Trade and 
Competitiveness Act of 1988, encouraging negotiation of an agreement 
within the OECD governing the type of behavior that is prohibited under 
the FCPA, the United States has worked assiduously within the OECD to 
persuade other countries to adopt similar legislation. Those efforts 
have resulted in this Convention that once in force, will require that 
the Parties enact laws to criminalize the bribery of foreign public 
officials to obtain or retain business or other improper advantage in 
the conduct of international business.
  While the Convention is largely consistent with existing U.S. law, my 
Administration will propose certain amendments to the FCPA to bring it 
into conformity with and to implement the Convention. Legislation will 
be submitted separately to the Congress.
  I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to 
the Convention, and that it give its advice and consent to 
ratification.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, May 1, 1998.

                          ____________________