[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 25785]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                            S. Con. Res. 61

       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.

                          ____________________