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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 3, 2002

Message to Congress on U.S.-Netherlands Agreement

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.

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