I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2382 

To promote a return to democracy in Thailand. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2007 

Mr. KIRK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To promote a return to democracy in Thailand. 

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 ‘‘Thailand Democracy 

5 Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) On September 19, 2006, the military and 

9 police of the Kingdom of Thailand overthrew the 

10 elected government of Prime Minister Thaksin 

11 Shinawatra. At the time, the premier was in New 


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1 York City for a meeting of the United Nations Gen2 eral Assembly. 

3 (2) General Boonyaratkalin, leader of the mili4 tary coup, suspended the constitution and dissolved 

5 the Cabinet, both houses of Parliament, and the 

6 Constitutional Court of Thailand. 

7 (3) On September 21, 2006, the Department of 

8 State issued a statement saying, ‘‘There’s no jus9 tification for a military coup in Thailand or in any10 place else . . . we certainly are extremely dis11 appointed by this action. It’s a step backward for 

12 democracy in Thailand.’’. 

13 (4) Following the military coup, the United 

14 States suspended $24 million in bilateral assistance 

15 to the Thai Government. 

16 (5) Eight months after the military coup, de17 spite promises by the military leaders to the con18 trary, Thailand still has not drafted a permanent 

19 constitution, held a referendum, or called for elec20 tions. 

21 (6) On December 30, 2003, the President noti22 fied Congress that he designated the Kingdom of 

23 Thailand as a major non-NATO ally of the United 

24 States for purposes of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

25 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act. 


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1 (7) The benefits Thailand enjoys as a result of 

2 its major non-NATO ally status include— 

3 (A) allowing it to participate in certain 

4 counter-terrorism initiatives; 

5 (B) allowing it to purchase depleted ura6 nium anti-tank rounds; 

7 (C) giving it priority delivery of military 

8 surplus; 

9 (D) loaning it equipment and materials for 

10 cooperative research and development projects 

11 and evaluations; 

12 (E) permitting it to use United States fi13 nancing for the purchase or lease of certain de14 fense equipment; 

15 (F) giving it preferential treatment with 

16 respect to reciprocal training; 

17 (G) expediting its export processing of 

18 space technology; and 

19 (H) permitting its corporations to bid on 

20 certain Department of Defense contracts for 

21 the repair and maintenance of military equip22 ment outside the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF DESIGNATION OF THE KINGDOM 

2 OF THAILAND AS A MAJOR NON-NATO ALLY. 

3 (a) TERMINATION OF DESIGNATION.—The designa4 tion of the Kingdom of Thailand as a major non-NATO 

5 ally of the United States pursuant to paragraph (1) of 

6 section 517(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

7 (Presidential Determination No. 2004–16; 69 Fed. Reg. 

8 2053) shall be deemed to have been terminated by the 

9 President pursuant to paragraph (2) of such section irre10 spective of the requirement to notify Congress pursuant 

11 to such section. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall be effec14 tive for the period beginning on the date of the en15 actment of this Act and ending on the date on which 

16 the Secretary of State certifies to the appropriate 

17 congressional committees that the Government of 

18 Thailand has drafted a new constitution, held a na19 tional referendum to approve the new constitution 

20 and scheduled a date for national democratic elec21 tions to elect a new government under the new con22 stitution. 

23 (2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

24 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

2 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

3 of Representatives; and 

4 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

5 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 Senate. 

7 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec8 tion shall be construed to authorize the President to issue 

9 a separate designation of Thailand as a major non-NATO 

10 ally of the United States pursuant to section 517(a)(1) 

11 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for the period dur12 ing which subsection (a) is in effect. 

Æ 


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