II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2697 

To establish the position of the United States Ambassador for ASEAN. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2006 

Mr. LUGAR (for himself, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. KERRY, and Mr. OBAMA) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish the position of the United States Ambassador 

for ASEAN. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Ambas5 sador for ASEAN Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Association of Southeast Asian Nations 

9 (referred to in this Act as ‘‘ASEAN’’) was estab10 lished in 1967, with an initial membership of IndoVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:19 May 04, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2697.IS S2697

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•S 2697 IS

1 nesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and 

2 Thailand. 

3 (2) ASEAN is committed to accelerating eco4 nomic growth, social progress, cultural development 

5 and regional peace and stability. 

6 (3) The membership of ASEAN has expanded 

7 to 10 countries since its establishment in 1967. 

8 (4) The United States seeks to maintain and 

9 further develop a constructive and cordial relation10 ship with ASEAN. 

11 (5) The countries comprising ASEAN— 

12 (A) constitute the 3rd largest export mar13 ket for United States products; 

14 (B) have received nearly $90,000,000,000 

15 in direct investment from United States 

16 sources; and 

17 (C) are developing an integrated free trade 

18 area. 

19 (6) Trade between the United States and the 

20 countries comprising ASEAN totals approximately 

21 $130,000,000,000. 

22 (7) ASEAN continues to contribute to regional 

23 stability in East Asia and has partnered with the 

24 United States to combat global terror. 


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1 (8) In 2006, approximately 38,000 students 

2 from the countries comprising ASEAN were study3 ing in the United States. 

4 (9) The countries comprising ASEAN share a 

5 common concern with the United States regarding— 

6 (A) the spread of avian influenza and other 

7 diseases; and 

8 (B) environmental issues, such as the pres9 ervation of biodiversity and the prevention of il10 legal logging. 

11 (10) It is in the long-term interest of the 

12 United States to maintain and expand a relationship 

13 with ASEAN. 

14 (11) The United States does not have an Am15 bassador to ASEAN, which limits the ability of the 

16 United States and ASEAN to respond quickly and 

17 appropriately to events of mutual interest. 

18 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR FOR ASEAN. 

19 (a) APPOINTMENT.—There is established in the De20 partment of State the position of United States Ambas21 sador for ASEAN, who shall be appointed by the Presi22 dent, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. 

23 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East 


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1 Asia and the Pacific should be designated as the Ambas2 sador for ASEAN. 

Æ 


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