[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.