[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 20, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H2689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPLEMENTARY AGREEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY BETWEEN UNITED STATES AND 
 SWEDEN--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 
                                110-21)

  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 (42 U.S.C. 433(d)(1)), I 
transmit herewith the Supplementary Agreement on Social Security 
between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Sweden. The 
Supplementary Agreement was signed in Stockholm on June 22, 2004, and 
is intended to modify certain provisions of the original United States-
Sweden Agreement, which was signed May 27, 1985, and that entered into 
force January 1, 1987.
  The United States-Sweden Agreement, as revised by the Supplementary 
Agreement, remains similar in objective to the social security 
agreements that are also in force with Australia, Austria, Belgium, 
Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea, 
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, 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 United States-Sweden 
Agreement, as revised by the Supplementary Agreement, 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 
Supplementary Agreement with a paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of 
the provisions of the Supplementary Agreement. Annexed to this report 
is the report required by section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act 
on the effect of the Supplementary Agreement on income and expenditures 
of the U.S. Social Security program and the number of individuals 
affected by the Supplementary Agreement and a composite text of the 
United States-Sweden Agreement showing the changes that will be made as 
a result of the Supplementary Agreement. The Department of State and 
the Social Security Administration have recommended the Supplementary 
Agreement and related documents to me.
  I commend to the Congress the Supplementary Agreement to the United 
States-Sweden Social Security Agreement and related documents.
                                                      Geroge W. Bush.  
The White House, March 20, 2007.

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