For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 2, 2003
Message to the Senate of the United States
To the Senate of the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to
ratification, I transmit herewith the Protocol to the Treaty of
Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation Between the United States and
Denmark of October 1, 1951, signed at Copenhagen on May 2, 2001. I
transmit also, for the information of the Senate, the report of the
Department of State with respect to this protocol.
The protocol will establish the legal basis by which the United
States may issue treaty-investor (E-2) visas to qualified nationals of
Denmark, by supplementing the U.S.-Denmark friend-ship, commerce, and
navigation (FCN) treaty to allow for entry and sojourn of investors, a
benefit provided in the large majority of U.S. FCN treaties. United
States investors are already eligible for Danish visas that offer
comparable benefits to those that would be accorded nationals of
Denmark under E-2 visa status.
The United States has long championed the benefits of an open
investment climate, both at home and abroad. It is the policy of the
United States to welcome market-driven foreign investment and to permit
capital to flow freely to seek its highest return. Denmark also
provides an open investment climate. Visas for investors facilitate
investment activity, and thus directly support U.S. policy objectives.
I recommend that the Senate consider this protocol as soon as
possible, and give its advice and consent to ratification of the
protocol at an early date.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 2, 2003.
# # #
|