[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 18 (Monday, May 4, 1998)]
[Pages 751-752]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Transmitting the Convention on Combating Bribery 
of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions

May 1, 1998

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 Convention on Combating Bribery of 
Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (the 
``Convention''), adopted at Paris on November 21,

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1997, by a conference held under the auspices of the Organization for 
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Convention was signed 
in Paris on December 17, 1997, by the United States and 32 other 
nations.
    I transmit also, for the information of the Senate, interpretive 
Commentaries on the Convention, adopted by the negotiating conference in 
conjunction with the Convention, that are relevant to the Senate's 
consideration of the Convention. I transmit also, for the information of 
the Senate, the report of the Department of State with respect to the 
Convention.
    Since the enactment in 1977 of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 
(FCPA), the United States has been alone in specifically criminalizing 
the business-related bribery of foreign public officials. United States 
corporations have contended that this has put them at a significant 
disadvantage in competing for international contracts with respect to 
foreign competitors who are not subject to such laws. Consistent with 
the sense of the Congress, as expressed in the Omnibus Trade and 
Competitiveness Act of 1988, encouraging negotiation of an agreement 
within the OECD governing the type of behavior that is prohibited under 
the FCPA, the United States has worked assiduously within the OECD to 
persuade other countries to adopt similar legislation. Those efforts 
have resulted in this Convention that once in force, will require that 
the Parties enact laws to criminalize the bribery of foreign public 
officials to obtain or retain business or other improper advantage in 
the conduct of international business.
    While the Convention is largely consistent with existing U.S. law, 
my Administration will propose certain amendments to the FCPA to bring 
it into conformity with and to implement the Convention. Legislation 
will be submitted separately to the Congress.
    I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration 
to the Convention, and that it give its advice and consent to 
ratification.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
May 1, 1998.