III 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 54 

Expressing the vital importance of the Panama Canal to the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2025 

Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. TUBERVILLE, and Mrs. 

BLACKBURN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the vital importance of the Panama Canal to 

the United States. 

Whereas early efforts of the Colombian Government and 

French investors to construct a canal across Panama 

were unsuccessful and resulted in bankruptcy by 1889; 

Whereas, as a condition of United States Government support for Panama’s independence from Colombia, including the positioning of United States troops in the thenterritory of Panama, the United States was to be assured 

access to construct and control a canal in perpetuity, an 

agreement that culminated in the Hay-Bunau-Varilla 

Treaty, signed at Washington November 18, 1903; 

Whereas the Panama Canal was never initiated, engineered, 

or built by the Panamanian Government; 


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•SRES 54 IS 

Whereas the United States Government funded, pioneered, 

and built the Panama Canal over a 10-year period from 

1904 to 1914, at a cost of $375,000,000 and 10,000 

lives, and raised the canal above sea level through construction of a lock system; 

Whereas, historically, the Panama Canal has been distinct 

from the sovereign territory of Panama; 

Whereas the Panama Canal serves as a vital connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, connecting the 

east and west coasts of the United States and providing 

passage for more than 14,000 vessels in 2023; 

Whereas, approximately 72 percent of vessels traveling 

through the Panama Canal are traveling to or from 

United States ports; 

Whereas, without the Panama Canal, vessels would have to 

pass through the notoriously dangerous Cape Horn, extending transit by nearly 8,000 miles; 

Whereas, in 1977, President Carter surrendered United 

States control over the Panama Canal in a series of treaties with Panama known as the ‘‘Torrijos-Carter Treaties’’; 

Whereas one of those treaties, the Treaty Concerning the 

Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama 

Canal, signed at Washington September 7, 1977, otherwise known as the ‘‘Neutrality Treaty’’, reserved the 

right of the United States to use armed force to defend 

the permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal; 

Whereas, for nearly a decade, the People’s Republic of China 

has steadily increased its footprint in the Panama Canal; 

Whereas, in 2016, Panama ceded control of Margarita Island, the Panama Canal’s largest Atlantic port, to the 


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•SRES 54 IS 

People’s Republic of China-affiliated Landbridge Group 

in a $900,000,000 agreement; 

Whereas, in 2018, Panama entered into a $1,400,000,000 

agreement for the China Communications Construction 

Company and the China Harbor Engineering Company to 

construct the fourth bridge across the Panama Canal; 

Whereas CK Hutchison Holdings, based in Hong Kong, manages two of the Panama Canal’s five ports, including the 

Balboa port along the Pacific and Cristobal port along 

the Atlantic; 

Whereas the rapid acceleration of Chinese influence in the 

Panama Canal poses a high risk of intelligence-gathering 

and surveillance by the People’s Republic of China; 

Whereas Chinese law requires the assets of civilian firms to 

be made available to support the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China; 

Whereas the Panama Canal would serve as a logistics point 

between the east and west coasts of the United States in 

the event of a conflict involving United States Armed 

Forces, cementing its value to homeland and hemispheric 

defense; and 

Whereas the ability of the People’s Republic of China to control major entry and exit points of the Panama Canal 

would provide the People’s Republic of China with a significant military advantage relevant to United States 

Armed Forces in the event of a conflict: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the ingenuity and labor of Ameri3 cans that made the Panama Canal possible for fuVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Feb 05, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR54.IS SR54

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1 ture generations, with special regard for those Amer2 icans who lost their lives in pursuit of the Panama 

3 Canal project; 

4 (2) expresses that the Panama Canal is vital to 

5 United States regional security, hemispheric hegem6 ony, and economic interests; 

7 (3) assesses that a pattern of Chinese-backed 

8 investment in port infrastructure and canal oper9 ations in Panama constitutes a violation of the Neu10 trality Treaty; and 

11 (4) urges the Trump administration to ensure 

12 that the canal remains neutral and to take all appro13 priate measures to enforce the Neutrality Treaty. 

Æ 


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