PANAMA CANAL THREAT -

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:S.CON.RES.61:

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Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding a continued United States security presence in Panama and a review of the contract bidding process for the Balboa and Cristobal port facilities... (Introduced in the Senate)
SCON 61 IS

106th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. CON. RES. 61

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

October 19, 1999

Mr. SESSIONS (for himself, Mr. LOTT, Mr. HELMS, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. KYL, Mr. THURMOND, and Mr. HUTCHINSON) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding a continued United States security presence in Panama and a review of the contract bidding process for the Balboa and Cristobal port facilities on each end of the Panama Canal. Whereas the 50-mile long Panama Canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is a key strategic choke point in the Western Hemisphere, is vital to United States and international economies, and remains a strategic passage for naval vessels; Whereas the 1977 Carter-Torrijos Treaty transfers ownership of the Panama Canal to the government of Panama and requires all United States military forces to leave by December 31, 1999; Whereas under the companion Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal the United States retains the right, and has a responsiblity, to protect and defend the Canal beyond the year 2000; Whereas narcotics-funded terrorist forces in Colombia have spread their bases and logistical operations into southern Panama; Whereas Panama does not have an army, navy, or air force, and the country's national police units lack adequate training, manpower, and equipment to deter heavily-armed hostile narcotics terrorist forces or to adequately defend the Canal against sabotage or terrorism from internal or external threats; Whereas the Russian Mafia, Chinese Triad criminal organizations, Cuban government entities, and certain groups from the Middle East, all of whom have been hostile to the United States, are active in Panama, conducting weapons smuggling, money laundering, and massive counterfeiting and piracy of United States products and intellectual property; Whereas systematic smuggling of illegal aliens from the People's Republic of China has been conducted with the involvement of high-level Panamanian officials; Whereas the communist People's Republic of China is making major political, economic, and intelligence inroads in Panama, posing a long-term threat to American security interests; Whereas the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa company, which has close ties to the People's Republic of China and has served as a conduit for funding and acquiring technology for the Chinese People's Liberation Army, has been granted a 25- to 50-year lease to control the only port facility on the Pacific end of the Panama Canal and another port facility on the Atlantic end; and Whereas Hutchison Whampoa was awarded control of the Canal ports, despite better offers made by consortia that included United States companies, through a contract bidding process that was widely regarded as secretive, corrupt, and unfair: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That it is a sense of the Congress that--(1) the United States Government should request that the new government of Panama, under the leadership of President Mireya Moscoso, investigate charges of corruption related to the granting of the Panama Canal port leases by the previous Balladares administration;(2) based on any finding of corruption related to the granting of those leases, the United States Government should request that the new government of Panama nullify the lease agreements for the Balboa and the Cristobal port facilities on each end of the Panama Canal and initiate a new bidding process that is both transparent and fair; and(3) the United States Government should negotiate security arrangements with the government of Panama that will protect the Canal and ensure the territorial integrity of the Republic of Panama.

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http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:H.J.RES.77:

106th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. J. RES. 77

Notifying the Government of Panama of the nullity of the Carter-Torrijos treaties and recognizing the validity of the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty with respect to control of the Panama Canal Zone.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 9, 1999

Mrs. CHENOWETH-HAGE introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

JOINT RESOLUTION

Notifying the Government of Panama of the nullity of the Carter-Torrijos treaties and recognizing the validity of the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty with respect to control of the Panama Canal Zone. Whereas the United States Canal in Panama, linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, is one of the most strategically important naval choke points in the world, essential to our national defense and vital to our economic well-being; Whereas occupation, damage, or destruction of this crucial waterway by a hostile power--whether an unfriendly Panamanian Government, terrorist organization, or other foreign government--could be calamitous to the United States in time of war and disastrous to our economy even in time of peace; Whereas the Republic of Panama does not have an army, navy, air force, or other military or police capability adequate for the defense of such a strategic asset; Whereas the communist government of the People's Republic of China has been pursuing an aggressive expansionist agenda in Panama, the Caribbean, and Latin America, while, at the same time carrying out a concerted and much-publicized campaign of bribery and espionage reaching to the highest offices of the United States; Whereas Hutchison Whampoa, a front company for the People's Liberation Army of China, utilizing corrupt practices, has acquired leases giving it control of the ports of Cristobal and Balboa at the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the Panama Canal, positioning the People's Republic of China for de facto control of the Canal; Whereas the People's Republic of China, through its agent, Hutchison Whampoa, is also in the process of taking over the Rodman Naval Station and other military facilities being abandoned by the United States, and has the exclusive authority to hire the pilots who control all traffic through the Canal; Whereas the People's Republic of China, a totalitarian regime, refers to the United States in its military literature and official Communist Party statements as its `main enemy' and has aligned itself with other communist regimes and terrorist states avowedly hostile to the United States; Whereas China expert Dr. Michael Pillsbury of the National Defense University testified to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in September 1997 that the Chinese military officials have written extensively of their nation's intention `to defeat the United States'; Whereas in spite of these manifest dangers, the Government of the United States is pursuing a policy of transferring possession, ownership, and control of the Panama Canal and Canal Zone, which includes the United States military bases, to the Government of Panama, in accordance with the 1977 Carter-Torrijos treaties, which were never legally ratified by either the United States or Panama; Whereas in their respective instruments of ratification, the United States and Panama did not agree to the same text of the treaties, and, in fact, each party stipulated to conditions that are in fundamental conflict with, and mutually exclusive of, the demands of the other; Whereas one of the most basic and universally accepted principles of international law concerning treaties holds that the parties must agree to the same written text, or there is no `meeting of the minds' and, thus no treaty; Whereas Article 20.2 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties states unequivocally that `a reservation requires acceptance by all the parties'; and whereas the `Restatement of the United States Foreign Relations Law' declares unambiguously that `If the other state has made a reservation . . . the Senate . . . will take it fully into account in acting on the treaty,' and, moreover, that `Senate consent to the acceptance of the reservation is required'; Whereas ratification of the Carter-Torrijos treaties by the United States Senate was contingent upon the DeConcini Reservation in the United States version guaranteeing the United States the right to use military force, with or without Panama's consent, to keep the Canal open; Whereas the United States Senate was not informed that the President of the United States had secretly agreed with the regime of Omar Torrijos in Panama not to include the essential DeConcini Reservation in Panama's text version; and, moreover, that the President of the United States added further to this illegal and unconstitutional action by secretly accepting Panama's counter-reservation, which explicitly repudiates the DeConcini Reservation and subjects United States right of military intervention to `principles of mutual respect and cooperation'; Whereas these discrepancies in the treaty texts involve the most substantive and fundamental contradictions imaginable affecting matters of the most serious import to both the United States and Panama, and, thus, render the ratifications by both parties invalid, null, and void; Whereas additional serious violations of legal norms and the Constitutions of both the United States and Panama also render the Carter-Torrijos treaties of transfer and neutrality null and void, and, therefore, of no legal standing; Whereas therefore, the original Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903 between the United States and Panama--under which the United States legally purchased the Canal Zone territory from Colombia, Panama, and private landowners, and then, at great cost, built the Panama Canal, which has proved to be an enormous boon to the whole world--remains legally in force; Whereas the 1903 Treaty between the United States and Panama grants the United States full sovereign rights over the Panama Canal and Canal Zone `in perpetuity', and the United States Supreme Court has ruled (1907) that the Canal Zone is indeed United States territory; Whereas even the terms of the invalid Carter-Torrijos Neutrality Treaty have been violated, rendering that treaty doubly void, in that Article V of the Neutrality Treaty specifies use of defense sites by Panama only, but Panama is leasing defense sites to a partner of the merchant marine arm of China's People's Liberation Army (Hutchison Whampoa); Whereas the President of the United States, in defiance of both law and the national security and economic interests of the United States, has proceeded, and is proceeding, with the complete transfer of this vital, sovereign territory of the United States to Panama; Whereas this transfer process is proceeding toward imminent completion on December 31, 1999; and Whereas treaties are legislative acts and, as officially noted in Jefferson's Manual and Rules of the House of Representatives, `Treaties being declared equally with the laws of the United States, to be the supreme law of the land, it is understood that an act of the legislature alone can declare them infringed and rescinded': Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That notice is given to the Government of Panama of the decree of nullity of the 1977 Carter-Torrijos treaties, and, further, that the United States recognizes the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903 has never been voided and remains legally binding.

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http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:H.CON.RES.231:

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone should be considered to be the sovereign territory of the United States. (Introduced in the House)
HCON 231 IH

106th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. CON. RES. 231

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone should be considered to be the sovereign territory of the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 16, 1999

Mr. PAUL submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone should be considered to be the sovereign territory of the United States. Whereas the ratification process and subsequent legality of the 1977 treaty between the United States and the Republic of Panama relating to the transfer of the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone has been called into question; Whereas the Panama Canal was built with United States money at a cost of approximately $430 million, and another $450 million is spent annually on maintenance and operations; and Whereas more than 5,000 lives were lost during the American era of construction of the Panama Canal: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the Panama Canal is and ought to remain U.S. property, and the Panama Canal Zone should be considered to be the sovereign territory of the United States.

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http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c107:./temp/~c1075l4eY5

Whereas the Panama Canal remains a vital economic and strategic asset to the United States, its allies, and the world; (Introduced in the House)

HCON 296 IH

107th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. CON. RES. 296

Urging the President to negotiate a new base rights agreement with the Government of the Republic of Panama in order for United States Armed Forces to be stationed in Panama for the purposes of defending the Panama Canal.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 20, 2001

Mr. BARR of Georgia (for himself, Mr. BACHUS, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. GOODE, and Mrs. MYRICK) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas the Panama Canal remains a vital economic and strategic asset to the United States, its allies, and the world;

Whereas the United States has maintained a military presence in the Republic of Panama since Panama gained its independence in 1903, ensuring the protection of the Canal and its unfettered operations;

Whereas the United States Armed Forces have depended upon the Panama Canal for rapid transit in times of global conflict, including during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Persian Gulf War;

Whereas the 1977 Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal provides that Panama and the United States have the joint responsibility to ensure that the Panama Canal will remain open and secure, and provides that each signatory, in accordance with their constitutional processes, shall defend the Canal against any threat to its neutrality and shall have the right to act against threats against the peaceful transit of vessels through the Canal;

Whereas the Government of Panama, in the bilateral Protocol of Exchange of instruments of ratification, agreed to consider negotiating future arrangements or agreements to maintain military forces necessary to fulfill the responsibility of both signatories to maintain the neutrality of the Canal;

Whereas the common interests of Panama and the United States have produced close relations between the two nations and a shared interest in protecting the Canal and its operations;

Whereas the attacks against the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001, have called for increased security at all key economic and strategic locations in the United States and abroad; and

Whereas the Panama Canal will continue to serve as a vital link in our military efforts to combat international terrorism and therefore, must remain safe and secure: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--

(1) the President should negotiate a new base rights agreement with the Government of the Republic of Panama--

(A) to permit stationing of United States Armed Forces in Panama; and

(B) to ensure that the Panama Canal remains open, secure, and neutral, consistent with the Panama Canal Treaty, the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal, and the resolutions of ratification thereto; and

(2) the President should ensure that United States military facilities which could be utilized for stationing of United States Armed Forces should be fully maintained and secured if the Government of Panama is willing to enter into good faith negotiations for a continued United States military presence in Panama.

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