[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 26, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 112-1

  Mr. REID. Madam 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 January 26 of this year by 
President Obama:
  Protocol Amending Tax Convention with Swiss Confederation (Treaty 
Doc. No. 112-1).
  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 the advice and consent of the Senate to 
their ratification, the Protocol Amending the Convention between the 
United States of America and the Swiss Confederation for the Avoidance 
of Double Taxation with Respect to Taxes on Income, signed at 
Washington on October 2, 1996, signed on September 23, 2009, at 
Washington, as corrected by an exchange of notes effected November 16, 
2010 (the ``proposed Protocol'') and a related agreement effected by an 
exchange of notes on September 23, 2009 (the ``related Agreement''). I 
also transmit for the information of the Senate the report of the 
Department of State, which includes an Overview of the proposed 
Protocol and related Agreement.
  The proposed Protocol and related Agreement provide for more robust 
exchange of information between tax authorities in the two countries to 
facilitate the administration of each country's tax laws. They 
generally follow the current U.S. Model Income Tax Convention and the 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development standards for 
exchange of tax information. The proposed Protocol and related 
Agreement also provide for mandatory arbitration of certain cases that 
the competent authorities of each country have been unable to resolve 
after a reasonable period of time.
  I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to 
the proposed Protocol and related Agreement and give its advice and 
consent to their ratification.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, January 26, 2011.

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