    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [September 27, 2006]
    [Pages 1710-1711]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Senate Transmitting the United States-European Union
    Agreement on Extradition
    September 27, 2006

    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 Agreement on Extradition between
    the United States of America and the European Union (EU), signed on June
    25, 2003, at Washington, together

    [[Page 1711]]

    with 22 bilateral instruments that subsequently were signed between the
    United States and European Union Member States in order to implement the
    Agreement with the EU, and an explanatory note that is an integral part
    of the Agreement. I also transmit, for the information of the Senate,
    the report of the Department of State with respect to the Agreement and
    bilateral instruments. The bilateral instruments with three EU Member
    States, Estonia, Latvia, and Malta, take the form of comprehensive new
    extradition treaties, and therefore will be submitted individually.
        A parallel agreement with the European Union on mutual legal
    assistance, together with bilateral instruments, will be transmitted to
    the Senate separately. These two agreements are the first law
    enforcement agreements concluded between the United States and the
    European Union. Together they serve to modernize and expand in important
    respects the law enforcement relationships between the United States and
    the 25 EU Member States, as well as formalize and strengthen the
    institutional framework for law enforcement relations between the United
    States and the European Union itself.
        The U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement contains several provisions that
    should improve the scope and operation of bilateral extradition treaties
    in force between the United States and each EU Member State. For
    example, it requires replacing outdated lists of extraditable offenses
    included in 10 older bilateral treaties with the modern ``dual
    criminality'' approach, thereby enabling coverage of such newer offenses
    as money laundering. Another important provision ensures that a U.S.
    extradition request is not disfavored by an EU Member State that
    receives a competing request for the person from another Member State
    pursuant to the newly created European Arrest Warrant. Finally, the
    Extradition Agreement simplifies procedural requirements for preparing
    and transmitting extradition documents, easing and speeding the current
    process.
        I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration
    to the Agreement and bilateral instruments.

                                                              George W. Bush

     The White House,

     September 27, 2006.

    Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    September 28. An original was not available for verification of the
    content of this message.