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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 54 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

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 then-territory 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;
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 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
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the ingenuity and labor of Americans that 
        made the Panama Canal possible for future generations, with 
        special regard for those Americans who lost their lives in 
        pursuit of the Panama Canal project;
            (2) expresses that the Panama Canal is vital to United 
        States regional security, hemispheric hegemony, and economic 
        interests;
            (3) assesses that a pattern of Chinese-backed investment in 
        port infrastructure and canal operations in Panama constitutes 
        a violation of the Neutrality Treaty; and
            (4) urges the Trump administration to ensure that the canal 
        remains neutral and to take all appropriate measures to enforce 
        the Neutrality Treaty.
                                 <all>
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