[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 95 (Thursday, July 16, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8381-S8382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     EXECUTIVE REPORTS OF COMMITTEE

  The following executive reports of committee were submitted:

       By Mr. HATCH, from the Committee on the Judiciary:
       Kim McLean Wardlaw, of California, to be United States 
     Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit.
       Jose de Jesus Rivera, of Arizona, to be United States 
     Attorney for the District of Arizona for the term of four 
     years.

  (The above nominations were reported with the recommendation that 
they be confirmed.)

       By Mr. HELMS, from the Committee on Foreign Relations:
       Treaty Doc. 105-43 Convention on Combating Bribery of 
     Foreign Public Officials in International Business 
     Transactions (Exec. Rept. 105-19)

   Text of the Committee-Recommended Resolution of Advice and Consent

       Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
     therein), That the Senate advise and consent to the 
     ratification of the Convention on Combating Bribery of 
     Foreign Public Officials in International Business 
     Transactions, adopted at Paris on November 21, 1997, by a 
     conference held under the auspices of the Organization for 
     Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), signed in Paris 
     on December 17, 1997, by the United States and 32 other 
     nations (Treaty Doc. 105-43), subject to the understanding of 
     subsection (a), the declaration of subsection (b), and the 
     provisos of subsection (c).
       (a) Understanding.--The advice and consent of the Senate is 
     subject to the following understanding, which shall be 
     included in the instrument of ratification and shall be 
     binding on the President:
       Extradition.--The United States shall not consider this 
     Convention as the legal basis for extradition to any country 
     with which the United States has no bilateral extradition 
     treaty in force. In such cases where the United States does 
     have a bilateral extradition treaty in force, that treaty 
     shall serve as the legal basis for extradition for offenses 
     covered under this Convention.
       (b) Declaration.--The advice and consent of the Senate is 
     subject to the following declaration:
       Treaty interpretation.--The Senate affirms the 
     applicability to all treaties of the constitutionally based 
     principles of treaty interpretation set forth in Condition 
     (1) of the resolution of ratification of the INF Treaty, 
     approved by the Senate on May 27, 1998, and Condition (8) of 
     the resolution of ratification of the Document Agreed Among 
     States Parties to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in 
     Europe, approved by the Senate on May 14, 1997.
       (c) Provisos.--The advice and consent of the Senate is 
     subject to the following provisos:
        (1) Enforcement and monitoring.--On July 1, 1999, and 
     annually thereafter for five years, unless extended by an Act 
     of Congress, the President shall submit to the Committee on 
     Foreign Relations of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House 
     of Representatives, a report that sets out:
        (A) Ratification.--A list of the countries that have 
     ratified the Convention, the dates of ratification and entry 
     into force for each country, and a detailed account of U.S. 
     efforts to encourage other nations that are signatories to 
     the Convention to ratify and implement it.
       (B) Domestic legislation implementing the convention.--A 
     description of the domestic laws enacted by each Party to the 
     Convention that implement commitments under the Convention, 
     and an assessment of the compatibility of the laws of each 
     country with the requirements of the Convention.
       (C) Enforcement.--An assessment of the measures taken by 
     each Party to fulfill its obligations under this Convention, 
     and to advance its object and purpose, during the previous 
     year. This shall include:
       (1) an assessment of the enforcement by each Party of its 
     domestic laws implementing the obligations of the Convention, 
     including its efforts to:
       (i) investigate and prosecute cases of bribery of foreign 
     public officials, including cases involving its own citizens;
       (ii) provide sufficient resources to enforce its 
     obligations under the Convention;
       (iii) share information among the Parties to the Convention 
     relating to natural and legal persons prosecuted or subjected 
     to civil or administrative proceedings pursuant to 
     enforcement of the Convention; and
       (iv) respond to requests for mutual legal assistance or 
     extradition relating to bribery of foreign public officials.
       (2) an assessment of the efforts of each Party to:

[[Page S8382]]

       (i) extradite its own nationals for bribery of foreign 
     public officials;
       (ii) make public the names of natural and legal persons 
     that have been found to violate its domestic laws 
     implementing this Convention; and
       (iii) make public pronouncements, particularly to affected 
     businesses, in support of obligations under this Convention.
       (3) an assessment of the effectiveness, transparency, and 
     viability of the OECD monitoring process, including 
     its inclusion of input from the private sector and non-
     governmental organizations.
       (D) Laws prohibiting tax deduction of bribes.--An 
     explanation of the domestic laws enacted by each signatory to 
     the Convention that would prohibit the deduction of bribes in 
     the computation of domestic taxes. This shall include:
       (i) the jurisdictional reach of the country's judicial 
     system;
       (ii) the definition of ``bribery'' in the tax code;
       (iii) the definition of ``foreign public official'' in the 
     tax code; and
       (iv) the legal standard used to disallow such a deduction.
       (E) Future negotiations.--A description of the future work 
     of the Parties to the Convention to expand the definition of 
     ``foreign public official'' and to assess other areas where 
     the Convention could be amended to decrease bribery and other 
     corrupt activities. This shall include:
       (1) a description of efforts by the United States to amend 
     the Convention to require countries to expand the definition 
     of ``foreign public official,'' so as to make illegal the 
     bribery of:
       (i) foreign political parties or party officials,
       (ii) candidates for foreign political office, and
       (iii) immediate family members of foreign public officials.
       (2) an assessment of the likelihood of successfully 
     negotiating the amendments set out in paragraph (1), 
     including progress made by the Parties during the most recent 
     annual meeting of the OECD Ministers; and
       (3) an assessment of the potential for expanding the 
     Convention in the following areas:
       (i) bribery of foreign public officials as a predicate 
     offense for money laundering legislation;
       (ii) the role of foreign subsidiaries and offshore centers 
     in bribery transactions; and
       (iii) private sector corruption and corruption of officials 
     for purposes other than to obtain or retain business.
       (F) Expanded membership.--A description of U.S. efforts to 
     encourage other non-OECD member to sign, ratify, implement, 
     and enforce the Convention.
       (G) Classified annex.--A classified annex to the report, 
     listing those foreign corporations or entities the President 
     has credible national security information indicating they 
     are engaging in activities prohibited by the Convention.
       (2) Mutual legal assistance.--When the United States 
     receives a request for assistance under Article 9 from a 
     country with which it has in force a bilateral treaty for 
     mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, the bilateral 
     treaty will provide the legal basis for responding to that 
     request. In any case of assistance sought from the United 
     States under Article 9, the United States shall, consistent 
     with U.S. laws, relevant treaties and arrangements, deny 
     assistance where granting the assistance sought would 
     prejudice its essential public policy interests, including 
     cases where the Responsible Authority, after consultation 
     with all appropriate intelligence, anti-narcotic, and foreign 
     policy agencies, has specific information that a senior 
     government official who will have access to information to be 
     provided under this Convention is engaged in a felony, 
     including the facilitation of the production or distribution 
     of illegal drugs.
       (3) Supremacy of the constitution.--Nothing in the 
     Convention requires or authorizes legislation or other action 
     by the United States of America that is prohibited by the 
     Constitution of the United States as interpreted by the 
     United States.

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