[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 27 (Monday, July 8, 2002)]
[Page 1131]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting the Second Protocol to the 
Netherlands-United States Agreement on Social Security

June 25, 2002

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 Second Protocol to the Agreement 
Between the United States of America and the Netherlands on Social 
Security (the ``Second Protocol''). The Second Protocol was signed at 
The Hague on August 30, 2001, and is intended to modify certain 
provisions of the original U.S.-Netherlands Agreement, signed December 
9, 1987, as amended by the Protocol of December 7, 1989 (the ``U.S.-
Netherlands Agreement'').
    The U.S.-Netherlands Agreement as amended by the Second Protocol is 
similar in objective to the social security agreements that are also in 
force with Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, 
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, 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 benefits that can occur when 
workers divide their careers between two countries. The U.S.-Netherlands 
Agreement as amended by the Second Protocol 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).
    I also transmit for the information of the Congress a report 
prepared by the Social Security Administration explaining the key points 
of the Second Protocol with a paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of the 
provisions of the Second Protocol (Annex A). Also 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 Second Protocol on income and expenditures 
of the U.S. Social Security program and the number of individuals 
affected by the Second Protocol (Annex B), and a composite text of the 
U.S.-Netherlands Agreement showing the changes that will be made as a 
result of the Second Protocol. The Department of State and the Social 
Security Administration have recommended the Second Protocol and related 
documents to me.
    I commend the Second Protocol to the United States-Netherlands 
Social Security Agreement and related documents.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 June 25, 2002.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
July 3.