Message to the Congress Transmitting the Austria-United States Social Security 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 Supplementary Agreement Amending the Agreement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Austria on Social Security (the "Supplementary Agreement"). The Supplementary Agreement, signed at Vienna on October 5, 1995, is intended to modify certain provisions of the original United States-Austria Social Security Agreement, signed July 13, 1990.

The United States-Austria Social Security Agreement is similar in objective to the social security agreements with Belgium, Canada, 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 United States 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 Supplementary Agreement, which would amend the 1990 Agreement to update and clarify several of its provisions, is necessitated by changes that have occurred in U.S. and Austrian law in recent years. Among other things, it would introduce a new method of computing Austrian benefits under the Agreement that will result in higher Austrian benefits for certain people who have divided their careers between the United States and Austria. Another provision in the Supplementary Agreement will allow U.S. citizens hired in Austria by U.S. Foreign Service Posts to be covered by the Austrian Social Security System rather than the U.S. system. The Supplementary Agreement will also make a number of minor revisions in the Agreement to take account of other changes in U.S. and Austrian law that have occurred in recent years.

The United States-Austria 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(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, along with a paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of the effect of the amendments of the Agreement. Annexed to this report is the report required by section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act on the effect of the Agreement on income and expenditures of the U.S. Social Security program and the number of individuals affected by the Agreement. The Department of State and the Social Security Administration have recommended the Supplementary Agreement and related documents to me.

I commend the United States-Austria Social Security Agreement and related documents to the Congress.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

The White House, May 17, 1996.