[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 45 (Monday, November 10, 2003)]
[Pages 1541-1542]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Transmitting the Convention on International 
Interest in Mobile Equipment and the Protocol on Matters Specific to 
Aircraft Equipment

November 5, 2003

To the Senate of the United States:

    I transmit herewith, for Senate advice and consent to ratification, 
the Convention on International Interest in Mobile Equipment and the 
Protocol on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment, concluded at Cape 
Town, South Africa, on November 16, 2001. The report of the Department 
of State and a chapter-by-chapter analysis are enclosed for the 
information of the Senate in connection with its consideration.
    The essential features of the Convention and Aircraft Protocol are 
the establishment of an international legal framework for the creation, 
priority, and enforcement of security and leasing interests in mobile 
equipment, specifically high-value aircraft equipment (airframes, 
engines, and helicopters), and the creation of a worldwide International 
Registry where interests covered by the Convention can be registered. 
The Convention adopts ``asset-based financing'' rules, already in place 
in the United States, enhancing the availability of capital market 
financing for air carriers at lower cost. The Convention's and 
Protocol's finance provisions are consistent with the Uniform Commercial 
Code with regard to secured financing in the United States.
    This new international system can significantly reduce the risk of 
financing, thereby increasing the availability and reducing the costs of 
aviation credit. As a result, air commerce and air transportation can 
become safer and environmentally cleaner through the acquisition of 
modern equipment facilitated by these instruments. The new international 
system should increase aerospace sales and employment, and thereby 
stimulate the U.S. economy.
    Negotiation of the Convention and Protocol has involved close 
coordination between the key Federal agencies concerned with air 
transportation and export, including the Departments of State, Commerce, 
and Transportation, as well as the EXIM bank,

[[Page 1542]]

and U.S. interests from manufacturing, finance, and export sectors.
    Ratification is in the best interests of the United States. I 
therefore urge the Senate to give early and favorable consideration to 
the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol, and that the Senate 
promptly give its advice and consent to ratification, subject to the 
seven declarations set out in the accompanying report of the Department 
of State.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 November 5, 2003.