[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 580]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                   ROOSEVELT'S PANAMA CANAL AND TAXES

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                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 23, 2013

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following. Disease. 
Death. Bankruptcy. That's how the Panama Canal got started. At the 
time, the nineteenth century, trade and economic activity boomed in 
this part of the world and with it, other nations tried to cash in. As 
the U.S., Britain and France competed to assert their influence in the 
region, they ran into one problem: land. They didn't have a way to ship 
goods from the Atlantic to the Pacific without making the treacherous 
and lengthy journey around the tip of Cape Horn in South America. All 
three nations knew there was a need for a shorter sea lane connecting 
the two oceans. Unfortunately, the French got there first.
  In 1881, the French sent veteran builder Ferdinand de Lesseps, who 
oversaw the successful construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt, to 
build a canal in Panama, then a province of Colombia. In the first nine 
years of construction, the French spent hundreds of millions of 
dollars, lost 20,000 workers to malaria and yellow fever and only 
completed eleven miles of the canal. The project went bankrupt and 
failed. The dream of a connection between east and west seemed all but 
dead . . . then came Teddy Roosevelt. The former Roughrider knew an 
opportunity when he saw one and seized upon it.
  The U.S. was emerging as a world power and Roosevelt saw that having 
a shorter route to the Pacific and beyond was a way to expand American 
Naval Power and Economic opportunity. Such foresight proved correct in 
WWII. Roosevelt quickly got to work, having his Secretary of State, 
John Hay negotiate the Hay-Herran Treaty to purchase land in the 
Colombia province of Panama. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty. But 
there was a big hiccup: the Colombians wanted more money and refused to 
approve the treaty.
  Roosevelt wasn't about to be duped and pour more money in the 
project, perhaps ending up like the French. He knew that the 
Panamanians wanted the U.S. to complete the 51-mile canal and he knew 
that they wanted independence. (Some claim that Roosevelt took 
advantage of the unrest and stirred up Panama's revolution against the 
Colombians, but that's for historians to debate). The U.S. did not get 
involved in the fight, but helped the Panamanians by sending the 
gunboat, the U.S.S. Nashville, and ten other warships from both the 
Atlantic and Pacific to show support. This is now known as ``gunboat 
diplomacy''. Panama's non-violent coup-de-tat was successful, and the 
nation of Panama was born. With that, the U.S. and Panama ratified a 
treaty and construction of the canal began. One revolution, $700 
million and ten years later the Panama Canal Zone--now U.S. Territory--
was completed in 1914.
  Fast forward 99 years. After President Carter returned the canal zone 
to Panama, it has since maintained control of the security and 
operation of the canal. Panama has undertaken a critically important 
expansion of the canal. One that will add a third channel and a new set 
of locks, allowing larger cargo ships to pass through. Approved in 
2006, this new expansion--dubbed PanamEx--will finally be completed 
next year. Surprisingly, no Panamanian chapter of the EPA held it up, 
and only a few environmental groups opposed. Perhaps it's a 
transportation miracle.
  Of course, Panama benefits from this widening and deepening of the 
canal, but so will the United States. The recent implementation of the 
U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement approved by Congress, along with this 
$5.25 billion canal expansion project, ensures that free trade between 
the U.S. and Panama will continue to grow. And, because of our 
geographic location, this expansion will ``expand Texas' position as a 
global gateway for the nation,'' according to the Panama Canal Working 
Group. That means a huge increase in exports from the gulf coast and 
our Great State, including the Port of Houston, to countries around the 
world.
  Trade in Texas and Houston drives our economy, and the engine for 
trade is ports. With that, we'll see more exports of dry and liquid 
bulk, agriculture products, coal, petrochemicals, military cargo, and 
consumer goods. Larger and wider vessels, like tankers carrying 
liquefied natural gas, will now be able to enjoy quick, reliable 
transit through the canal. That's good news for us here in Houston and 
good news for our State.
  Next year, we celebrate 100 years since Roosevelt's dream became a 
reality. Thanks to Teddy's dream, the U.S. built the canal and our 
economy and security have benefitted from the opportunities that it 
created. God bless Teddy. And that's just the way it is.

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