[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15689]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE

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   SUPPLEMENTARY AGREEMENT AMENDING THE AGREEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY 
   BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC--PM 28

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with accompanying 
papers; 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)), I transmit herewith the Supplementary Agreement Amending 
the Agreement on Social Security between the United States of America 
and the Czech Republic (the ``Supplementary Agreement''). The 
Supplementary Agreement, signed at Prague on September 23, 2013, is 
intended to modify a certain provision of the Agreement on Social 
Security between the United States of America and the Czech Republic, 
with Administrative Arrangement, signed at Prague on September 7, 2007, 
and entered into force January 1, 2009 (the ``U.S.-Czech Social 
Security Agreement'').
  The U.S.-Czech Social Security Agreement as amended by the 
Supplementary Agreement is similar in objective to the social security 
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 Supplementary Agreement amends the U.S.-Czech Social Security 
Agreement to account for a new Czech domestic health insurance law, 
which was enacted subsequent to the signing of the U.S.-Czech Social 
Security Agreement in 2007. By including the health insurance law 
within the scope of the U.S.-Czech Social Security Agreement, this 
amendment will exempt U.S. citizen workers and multinational companies 
from contributing to the Czech health insurance system, when such 
workers otherwise meet all of the ordinary criteria for such an 
exemption.
  The U.S.-Czech Social Security Agreement, as amended, will continue 
to contain 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 required 
by section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act on the estimated number 
of individuals who will be affected by the Supplementary Agreement and 
its estimated cost effect. The Department of State and the Social 
Security Administration have recommended the Supplementary Agreement 
and related documents to me.
  I commend the Supplementary Agreement to the U.S.-Czech Social 
Security Agreement and related documents.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, October 6, 2015.

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