[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 21 (Monday, May 29, 2000)]
[Page 1189]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting the South Korea-United States 
Agreement on Social Security With Documentation

May 22, 2000

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 ``Act''), I transmit herewith the Agreement Between the 
United States of America and the Republic of Korea on Social Security, 
which consists of two separate instruments: a principal agreement and an 
administrative arrangement. The Agreement was signed at Washington on 
March 13, 2000.
    The United States-Korean Agreement is similar in objective to the 
social security agreements already in force with Austria, Belgium, 
Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, 
the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the 
United Kingdom. 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 loss of benefit protection that can occur when workers 
divide their careers between two countries. The United States-Korean 
Agreement contains all provisions mandated by section 233 and other 
provisions that I deem appropriate to carry out the purposes of section 
233, pursuant to section 233(c)(4) of the Act.
    I also transmit for the information of the Congress a report 
prepared by the Social Security Administration explaining the key points 
of the Agreement, along with a paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of the 
provisions of the principal agreement and the related administrative 
arrangement. Annexed to this report is the report required by section 
233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act, a report on the effect of the 
Agreement on income and expenditures of the U.S. Social Security program 
and the number of individuals affected by the Agreement. The Department 
of State and the Social Security Administration have recommended the 
Agreement and related documents to me.
                                            William J. Clinton
 The White House,
 May 22, 2000.