119-sres54

[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>