[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 61 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 61

   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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   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.
                                 <all>