[Senate Executive Report 110-1]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                              Exec. Rept.
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                      110-1

======================================================================



 
  PROTOCOL TO THE TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION WITH 
                                DENMARK

                                _______
                                

                October 15, 2007.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Biden, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the 
                               following

                                 REPORT

                    [To accompany Treaty Doc. 108-8]

    The Committee on Foreign Relations to which was referred 
the Protocol to the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and 
Navigation Between the United States and Denmark of October 1, 
1951, signed at Copenhagen on May 2, 2001 (Treaty Doc. 108-8), 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon and 
recommends that the Senate give its advice and consent to 
ratification thereof.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page

  I. Purpose..........................................................1
 II. Background and Summary...........................................1
III. Entry Into Force.................................................2
 IV. Implementing Legislation.........................................2
  V. Committee Action.................................................2
 VI. Resolution of Advice and Consent to Ratification.................3

                               I. Purpose

    The Protocol to the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and 
Navigation with Denmark would provide a legal basis for issuing 
treaty-investor (E-2) visas to Danish investors who wish to 
enter the United States ``for the purpose of developing and 
directing the operations of an enterprise in which they have 
invested, or in which they are actively in the process of 
investing, a substantial amount of capital'' on a reciprocal 
basis. U.S. investors are already eligible for Danish visas 
that offer comparable benefits to those that would be accorded 
nationals of Denmark pursuant to an E-2 visa. With this 
Protocol, Danish investors would be eligible for E-2 visas.

                       II. Background and Summary

    The Protocol to the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and 
Navigation (FCN) with Denmark consists of three articles. 
Article I, the only substantive article, provides that 
nationals of either country shall be permitted, ``subject to 
the laws relating to the entry and sojourn of aliens, to enter 
the territories of the other Party and to remain therein for 
the purpose of developing and directing the operations of an 
enterprise in which they have invested, or in which they are 
actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of 
capital.'' This is a standard provision that can be found in a 
number of FCN treaties to which the United States is a party 
and is a precondition to the issuance of an E-2 visa pursuant 
to section 101(a)(15)(E)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(E)(ii), which permits the issuance 
of an E-2 visa only to a non-immigrant who is ``. . . entitled 
to enter the United States under and in pursuance of the 
provisions of a treaty of commerce and navigation between the 
United States and the foreign state of which he is a national . 
. . solely to develop and direct the operations of an 
enterprise in which he has invested, or of an enterprise in 
which he is actively in the process of investing, a substantial 
amount of capital.''
    The Protocol will facilitate Danish investment in the 
United States and will further cement a strong and growing 
economic and political relationship between the two countries. 
According to Department of Commerce statistics, Danish direct 
investment in the United States calculated on a historical-cost 
basis totaled over seven billion dollars in 2006 and U.S. 
investments in Denmark accounted for eleven percent of the 
total foreign direct investment in that country in 2005, making 
the United States the second-largest source of foreign 
investment in Denmark. Moreover, Denmark is a close ally of the 
United States. Denmark has worked with the United States in a 
variety of international fora, including NATO, the European 
Union, and the United Nations; has forces deployed in Iraq, 
Afghanistan, and Kosovo; is active in peacekeeping and 
stabilization operations; and is one of the largest per capita 
donors of foreign aid.

                         III. Entry Into Force

    In accordance with Article III, the Protocol will enter 
into force upon an exchange of instruments of ratification, and 
shall remain in force so long as the underlying Treaty of 
Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation Between the United States 
and Denmark of October 1, 1951 remains in force.

                      IV. Implementing Legislation

    No further implementing legislation is required for the 
Protocol. Current law, specifically section 101(a)(15)(E)(ii) 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act, suffices to implement 
the Protocol.

                          V. Committee Action

    The committee held a public hearing on the Protocol on July 
17, 2007 (a hearing print of this session will be forthcoming). 
Testimony was received from Mr. Wesley S. Scholz, Director of 
the Office of Investment Affairs, Department of State. On 
September 11, 2007, the committee considered the Protocol, and 
ordered it favorably reported by voice vote, with a quorum 
present and without objection.

          VI. Resolution of Advice and Consent to Ratification

    Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
therein),
    The Senate advises and consents to the ratification of the 
Protocol between the United States of America and the Kingdom 
of Denmark to the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and 
Navigation of October 1, 1951, signed at Copenhagen on May 2, 
2001 (Treaty Doc. 108-8).

                                  
