[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13649]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  TRANSMITTING THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE SLOVAK 
REPUBLIC ON SOCIAL SECURITY, CONSISTING OF A PRINCIPAL AGREEMENT AND AN 
                    ADMINISTRATIVE AGREEMENT--PM 19

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with an accompanying 
report; which was referred to the Committee on Finance:

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 (Public Law 95-216, 42 U.S.C. 
433(e)(1)) (the ``Social Security Act''), I transmit herewith an 
Agreement on Social Security between the United States of America and 
the Slovak Republic (the ``United States-Slovak Republic Totalization 
Agreement''). The Agreement consists of two separate instruments: a 
principal agreement and an administrative arrangement. The Agreement 
was signed in Bratislava on December 10, 2012.
  The United States-Slovak Republic Totalization Agreement is similar 
in objective to the social security totalization agreements already in 
force with most European Union countries, Australia, Canada, Chile, 
Japan, Norway, and the Republic of Korea. 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 lost benefit protection that can occur 
when workers divide their careers between two countries. The United 
States-Slovak Republic Totalization Agreement contains all provisions 
mandated by section 233 of the Social Security Act and other provisions 
that I deem appropriate to carry out the purposes of section 233, 
pursuant to section 233(c)(4) of the Social Security Act.
  I also transmit for the information of the Congress a report prepared 
by the Social Security Administration explaining the key points of the 
United States-Slovak Republic Totalization Agreement, along with a 
paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of the provisions of the principal 
agreement and administrative arrangement. Annexed to this report is 
another report required by section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act 
on the effect of the United States-Slovak Republic Totalization 
Agreement on income and expenditures of the U.S. Social Security 
program and the number of individuals affected by the United States-
Slovak Republic Totalization Agreement.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, September 17, 2013.

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