[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 21214]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 111-4

  Mr. DURBIN. As in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the 
injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted 
to the Senate on September 9, 2009, by the President of the United 
States:
  Protocol Amending the Tax Convention with France (Treaty Document No. 
111-4).
  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 its 
ratification, the Protocol Amending the Convention between the 
Government of the United States of America and the Government of the 
French Republic for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention 
of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital, signed 
at Paris on August 31, 1994, as Amended by the Protocol signed on 
December 8, 2004, signed January 13, 2009, at Paris, together with a 
related Memorandum of Understanding, signed January 13, 2009 (the 
``proposed Protocol''). I also transmit for the information of the 
Senate the report of the Department of State, which includes an 
overview of the proposed Protocol.
  The proposed Protocol provides for the elimination of withholding 
taxes on certain cross-border direct dividend payments and on cross-
border royalty payments.
  The proposed Protocol also provides for mandatory arbitration of 
cases that the competent authorities of the countries have been unable 
to resolve after a reasonable period of time. The proposed Protocol 
contains a comprehensive provision designed to prevent ``treaty 
shopping,'' which is the inappropriate use of a tax treaty by third-
country residents. It provides for the exchange of information between 
tax authorities of the two countries to facilitate the administration 
of each country's tax laws.
  I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to 
the proposed Protocol and give its advice and consent to ratification.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, September 9, 2009.

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