[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 86 (Tuesday, June 25, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H3915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SECOND PROTOCOL TO THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
AND THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS ON SOCIAL SECURITY--MESSAGE FROM THE 
          PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 107-234)

  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 Second Protocol to the Agreement 
Between the United States of America and the Netherlands on Social 
Security (the ``Second Protocol''). The Second Protocol was signed at 
the Hague on August 30, 2001, and is intended to modify certain 
provisions of the original U.S.-Netherlands Agreement, signed December 
9, 1987, as amended by the Protocol of December 7, 1989 (the ``U.S.-
Netherlands Agreement'').
  The U.S.-Netherlands Agreement as amended by the Second Protocol is 
similar in objective to the social security agreements that are also in 
force with Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, 
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, 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 benefits that can occur when 
workers divide their careers between two countries. The U.S.-
Netherlands Agreement as amended by the Second Protocol contains all 
provisions mandated by section 233 and other provisions that I deem 
appropriate to carry out the purposes of section 233, pursuant to 
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 
Second Protocol with a paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of the 
provisions of the Second Protocol (Annex A). Also annexed to this 
report is the report required by section 233(e)(1) of the Social 
Security Act, a report on the effect of the Second Protocol on income 
and expenditures of the U.S. Social Security program and the number of 
individuals affected by the Second Protocol (Annex B), and a composite 
text of the U.S.-Netherlands Agreement showing the changes that will be 
made as a result of the Second Protocol. The Department of State and 
the Social Security Administration have recommended the Second Protocol 
and related documents to me.
  I commend the Second Protocol to the United States-Netherlands Social 
Security Agreement and related documents.
                                                      George W. Bush.  
The White House, June 25, 2002.

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