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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 186 Introduced in House (IH)]

106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 186

   Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding a continued United 
 States security presence in the Panama Canal Zone and a review of the 
   contract bidding process for the Balboa and Cristobal canal ports.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 17, 1999

Mr. Rohrabacher (for himself, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, Mr. Cooksey, 
Mr. Norwood, Mr. Lewis of Kentucky, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Tiahrt, Mr. Hayes, 
 Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Goodlatte, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Burton of 
    Indiana, Mr. Weldon of Florida, Mrs. Biggert, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. 
 Traficant, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. 
McIntosh, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Sweeney, Mrs. Chenoweth, Mr. 
    DeMint, Mr. Tancredo, and Mr. Stearns) submitted the following 
     concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
   Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding a continued United 
 States security presence in the Panama Canal Zone and a review of the 
   contract bidding process for the Balboa and Cristobal canal ports.

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 of Permanent Neutrality, which also becomes 
        effective on December 31, 1999, the United States retains the right 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 who 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 into Latin America and the Caribbean, 
        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 Balboa and Cristobal 
        ports on the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the Panama Canal; 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, 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, 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;
            (2) the United States Government should request that the 
        new government of Panama investigate charges of corruption 
        related to the granting of the Panama Canal port leases by the 
        previous Balladares administration; 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.
                                 <all>
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