[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 159 (Wednesday, November 5, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14076-S14077]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY DOCUMENT 108-10

  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous 
consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following 
treaty transmitted to the Senate on November 5, 2003, by the President 
of the United States: Convention on International Interests in Mobile 
Equipment and Protocol to Convention on International Interests in 
Mobile Equipment (Treaty Document 108-10).
  I further ask that the treaty 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:

To the Senate of the United States:
  I transmit herewith, for Senate advice and consent to ratification, 
the Convention on International Interest in Mobile Equipment and the 
Protocol on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment, concluded at Cape 
Town, South Africa, on November 16, 2001. The report of the Department 
of State and a chapter-by-chapter analysis are enclosed for the 
information of the Senate in connection with its consideration.
  The essential features of the Convention and Aircraft Protocol are 
the establishment of an international legal framework for the creation, 
priority, and enforcement of security and leasing interests in mobile 
equipment, specifically high-value aircraft equipment (airframes, 
engines, and helicopters), and the creation of a worldwide 
International Registry where interests covered by the Convention can be 
registered. The Convention adopts ``asset-based financing'' rules, 
already in place in the United States, enhancing the availability of 
capital market financing for air carriers at lower cost. The 
Convention's and Protocol's finance provisions are consistent with the 
Uniform Commercial Code with regard to secured financing in the United 
States.
  This new international system can significantly reduce the risk of 
financing, thereby increasing the availability and reducing the costs 
of aviation credit. As a result, air commerce and air transportation 
can become safer and environmentally cleaner through the acquisition of 
modern equipment facilitated by these instruments. The new 
international system should increase aerospace sales and employment, 
and thereby stimulate the U.S. economy.
  Negotiation of the Convention and Protocol has involved close 
coordination between the key Federal agencies concerned with air 
transportation and export, including the Departments of State, 
Commerce, and Transportation, as well as the Eximbank, and U.S. 
interests from manufacturing, finance, and export sectors.
  Ratification is in the best interests of the United States. I 
therefore urge the Senate to give early and favorable consideration to 
the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol, and that the Senate 
promptly give its advice and consent to ratification, subject to the 
seven declarations set out in the

[[Page S14077]]

accompanying report of the Department of State.

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