    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 12 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
    [Pages 362-363]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Message to the Congress Transmitting the Sweden-United States Social
    Security Agreement

    March 20, 2007

    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 (42 U.S.C. 433(d)(1)), I
    transmit herewith the Supplementary Agreement on Social Security between
    the United States of America and the Kingdom of Sweden. The
    Supplementary Agreement was signed in Stockholm on June 22, 2004, and is
    intended to modify certain provisions of the original United States-
    Sweden Agreement, which was signed May 27, 1985, and that entered into
    force January 1, 1987.
        The United States-Sweden Agreement, as revised by the Supplementary
    Agreement, remains similar in objective to the social security
    agreements that are also in force with Australia, Austria, Belgium,
    Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea,
    Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and
    the United Kingdom. Such bilateral agreements provide for limited
    coordination between the United States and foreign social

    [[Page 363]]

    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 United States-
    Sweden Agreement, as revised by the Supplementary 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).
        I also transmit for the information of the Congress a report
    prepared by the Social Security Administration explaining the key points
    of the Supplementary Agreement with a paragraph-by-paragraph explanation
    of the provisions of the Supplementary Agreement. Annexed to this report
    is the report required by section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act
    on the effect of the Supplementary Agreement on income and expenditures
    of the U.S. Social Security program and the number of individuals
    affected by the Supplementary Agreement and a composite text of the
    United States-Sweden Agreement showing the changes that will be made as
    a result of the Supplementary Agreement. The Department of State and the
    Social Security Administration have recommended the Supplementary
    Agreement and related documents to me.
        I commend to the Congress the Supplementary Agreement to the United
    States-Sweden Social Security Agreement and related documents.
                                                    George W. Bush
     The White House,
     March 20, 2007.