[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 139 (Thursday, October 14, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12646-S12647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 59--URGING THE PRESIDENT TO NEGOTIATE A 
 NEW BASE RIGHTS AGREEMENT WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF PANAMA IN ORDER FOR 
UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES TO BE STATIONED IN PANAMA AFTER DECEMBER 31, 
                                  1999

  Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire (for himself, Mr. Brownback, and Mr. 
Helms) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 59

       Whereas the Panama Canal remains a vital economic and 
     strategic asset to the United States, its allies, and the 
     world;
       Whereas the United States has maintained a military 
     presence in Panama since Panama gained its independence in 
     1903, ensuring the protection of the Canal and its unfettered 
     operations;
       Whereas the United States Armed Forces have depended upon 
     the Panama Canal for rapid transit in times of global 
     conflict, including during World War II, the Korean War, the 
     Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Persion Gulf 
     War;
       Whereas the 1977 Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality 
     and Operation of the Panama Canal provides that Panama and 
     the United States have the joint responsibility to ensure 
     that the Panama Canal will remain open and secure, and 
     provides that each signatory, in accordance with their 
     constitutional processes, shall defend the Canal against any 
     threat to its neutrality and shall have the right to act 
     against threats against the peaceful transit of vessels 
     through the Canal;
       Whereas the Government of Panama, in the bilateral Protocol 
     of Exchange of instruments of ratification, agreed to 
     consider negotiating future arrangements or agreements to 
     maintain military forces necessary to fulfill the 
     responsibility of both signatories to maintain the neutrality 
     of the Canal;
       Whereas the common interests of Panama and the United 
     States have produced close relations between the two nations 
     and a shared interest in protecting the Canal and its 
     operations;
       Whereas public opinion surveys in Panama consistently 
     demonstrate that an estimated 70 percent of the people of 
     Panama support a continued United States military presence in 
     Panama;
       Whereas Panama and the United States are both confronting 
     growing problems with illegal drug trafficking, money 
     laundering, and narcoterrorism in the Western Hemisphere, and 
     those problems threaten peace and security in the region;
       Whereas facilities now utilized by the United States Armed 
     Forces in Panama are essential to the coordination of any 
     counter-narcotic efforts in the region;
       Whereas the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), 
     a narco-trafficking terrorist organization, is operating from 
     Panamanian territory and poses a risk to the security of 
     Panama and to the stability of Latin America;
       Whereas the former United States Ambassador to Panama and 
     others have protested the lack of transparency and the 
     unorthodox bidding process in the granting of leases for the 
     port facilities at Balboa and Cristobal in 1997 during the 
     Administration of former Panamanian President Balladares; and
       Whereas the passage of Panama Law Number 5 and the lease 
     agreements for the port facilities at Balboa and Cristobal, 
     because of

[[Page S12647]]

     reputed affiliations between the leaseholder and the People's 
     Republic of China and the People's Liberation Army, have 
     created concern about the future security of the Canal and 
     its continued unfettered operations and the future 
     disposition of United States facilities in Panama: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the President should negotiate a new base rights 
     agreement with the newly inaugurated Government of Panama--
       (A) to permit stationing of United States Armed Forces in 
     Panama beyond December 31, 1999; and
       (B) to ensure that the Panama Canal remains open, secure, 
     and neutral, consistent with the Panama Canal Treaty, the 
     Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of 
     the Panama Canal, and the resolutions of ratification 
     thereto;
       (2) the President should ensure that United States military 
     facilities which could be utilized for stationing of United 
     States Armed Forces shall be fully maintained and secured if 
     the Government of Panama is willing to enter into good faith 
     negotiations for a continued United States military presence; 
     and
       (3) the President should consult with Congress throughout 
     the negotiations described in paragraph (1).
       Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy 
     of this concurrent resolution to the President.

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