Message to the Congress Transmitting the Second Supplementary Canada-United States Social Security Agreement

To the Congress of the United States:

Pursuant to section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act (the "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 Supplementary Agreement Amending the Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada with Respect to Social Security (the Second Supplementary Agreement). The Second Supplementary Agreement, signed at Ottawa on May 28, 1996, is intended to modify certain provisions of the original United States-Canada Social Security Agreement signed at Ottawa March 11, 1981, which was amended once before by the Supplementary Agreement of May 10, 1983.

The United States-Canada Social Security Agreement is similar in objective to the social security agreements with Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Such bilateral agreements provide for limited coordination between the U.S. and foreign social security systems to eliminate dual social security coverage and taxation, and to help prevent the loss of benefit protection that can occur when workers divide their careers between two countries.

The Second Supplementary Agreement provides Canada with a specific basis to enter into a mutual assistance arrangement with the United States. This enables each Governments' Social Security agency to assist the other in enhancing the administration of their respective foreign benefits programs. The Social Security Administration has benefited from a similar mutual assistance arrangement with the United Kingdom. The Second Supplementary Agreement will also make a number of minor revisions in the Agreement to take into account other changes in U.S. and Canadian law that have occurred in recent years.

The United States-Canada Social Security Agreement, as amended, would continue to contain all provisions mandated by section 233 and other provisions that I deem appropriate to carry out the provisions of section 233, pursuant to section 233(c)(4) of the Act.

I also transmit for the information of the Congress a report prepared by the Social Security Administration explaining the key points of the Second Supplementary Agreement, along with a paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of the effect of the amendments on the Agreement. Annexed to this report is the report required by section 233(e)(1) of the Act on the effect of the Agreement, as amended, on income and expenditures of the U.S. Social Security program and the number of individuals affected by the amended Agreement. The Department of State and the Social Security Administration have recommended the Second Supplementary Agreement and related documents to me.

I commend the United States-Canada Second Supplementary Social Security Agreement and related documents.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

The White House, March 3, 1997.