[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 75 (Thursday, June 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6270-S6271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 105-50 AND TREATY 
                          DOCUMENT NO. 105-51

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous 
consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following 
treaties transmitted to the Senate on June 11, 1998, by the President 
of the United States:
  1. Extradition treaty with Austria (Treaty Document No. 105-50.
  2. Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of 
Intercountry Adoption (Treaty Document No. 105-51).
  I further ask that the treaties be considered as having been read the 
first time; that they be referred, with accompanying papers, to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and that the 
President's messages be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The messages of the President are as follows:

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 Extradition Treaty Between the 
Government of the United States of America and the Government of the 
Republic of

[[Page S6271]]

Austria, signed at Washington on January 8, 1998.
  In addition, I transmit, for the information of the Senate, the 
report of the Department of State with respect to the Treaty. As the 
report explains, the Treaty will not require implementing legislation.
  This Treaty will, upon entry into force, enhance cooperation between 
the law enforcement communities of both countries. It will thereby make 
a significant contribution to international law enforcement efforts. 
This Treaty will supersede and significantly improve upon the Treaty 
between the Government of the United States and the Government of 
Austria for the extradition of fugitives from justice, signed at Vienna 
on January 31, 1930, and the Supplementary Extradition Convention 
signed at Vienna on May 19, 1934.
  The provisions in this Treaty follow generally the form and content 
of extradition treaties recently concluded by the United States.
  I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to 
the Treaty and give its advice and consent to ratification.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, June 11, 1998.
                                  ____

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 Protection of 
Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, adopted 
and opened for signature at the conclusion of the Seventeenth Session 
of the Hague Conference on Private International Law on May 29, 1993. 
Thirty-two countries, including the United States, have signed the 
Convention, 17 countries have ratified it, and one country has acceded 
to it. The provisions of the Convention are fully explained in the 
report of the Department of State that accompanies this message.
  The Convention sets out norms and procedures to safeguard children 
involved in intercountry adoptions and to protect the interests of 
their birth and adoptive parents. These safeguards are designed to 
discourage trafficking in children and to ensure that intercountry 
adoptions are made in the best interest of the children involved. 
Cooperation between Contracting States will be facilitated by the 
establishment in each Contracting State of a central authority with 
programmatic and case-specific functions. The Convention also provides 
for the recognition of adoptions that fall within its scope in all 
other Contracting States.
  The Convention leaves the details of its implementation up to each 
Contracting State. Implementing legislation prepared by the 
Administration will soon be transmitted for introduction in the Senate 
and the House of Representatives. Once implementing legislation is 
enacted, some further time would be required to put the necessary 
regulations and institutional mechanisms in place. We would expect to 
deposit the U.S. instrument of ratification and bring the Convention 
into force for the United States as soon as we are able to carry out 
all of the obligations of the Convention.
  It is estimated that U.S. citizens annually adopt as many children 
from abroad as all other countries combined (13,621 children in Fiscal 
Year 1997). The Convention is intended to ensure that intercountry 
adoptions take place in the best interests of the children and parents 
involved, and to establish a system of cooperation among Contracting 
States to prevent abduction of, and trafficking in children. We have 
worked closely with U.S. adoption interests and the legal community in 
negotiating the provisions of the Convention and in preparing the 
necessary implementing legislation.
  I recommend that the Senate give its advice and consent to 
ratification of this Convention, subject to the declaration described 
in the accompanying report of the Department of State.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, June 11, 1998.

                          ____________________