[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12284-12285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY NO. 106-33

  Mr. SPECTER. 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 June 26, 2000, by the President of 
the United States: Investment Treaty with Nicaragua (Treaty Document 
No. 106-33).
  Further, I ask unanimous consent 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:
  With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to 
ratification, I transmit herewith the Treaty Between the Government of 
the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of 
Nicaragua Concerning the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of 
Investment, with Annex and Protocol, signed at Denver on July 1, 1995. 
I transmit also, for the information of the Senate, the report of the 
Department of State with respect to this Treaty.
  The bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with Nicaragua is the fifth 
such treaty signed between the United States and a country of Central 
or South America. The Treaty will protect U.S. investment and assist 
Nicaragua in its efforts to develop its economy by creating conditions 
more favorable for U.S. private investment and thereby strengthening 
the development of its private sector.
  The Treaty is fully consistent with U.S. policy toward international 
and domestic investment. A specific tenet of U.S. policy, reflected in 
this Treaty, is that U.S. investment abroad and foreign investment in 
the United States

[[Page 12285]]

should receive national treatment. Under this Treaty, the Parties also 
agree to customary international law standards for expropriation. The 
Treaty includes detailed provisions regarding the computation and 
payment of prompt, adequate, and effective compensation for 
expropriation; free transfer of funds related to investments; freedom 
of investments from specified performance requirements; fair, 
equitable, and most-favored-nation treatment; and the investor's 
freedom to choose to resolve disputes with the host government through 
international arbitration.
  I recommend that the Senate consider this Treaty as soon as possible, 
and give its advice and consent to ratification of the Treaty, with 
Annex and Protocol, at an early date.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
The White House, June 26, 2000.

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