[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 15 (Monday, April 18, 1994)]
[Page 791]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to Congress on the Panama Canal Commission

April 12, 1994

To the Congress of the United States:

    As required by section 3522 of the National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 1993 (Public Law 102-484; 22 U.S.C. 3611 note), I 
transmit herewith the recommendations for changes to the Panama Canal 
Commission. I have determined that the adoption of these recommendations 
would facilitate and encourage the operation of the Canal through an 
autonomous entity under the Government of Panama after the transfer of 
the waterway on December 31, 1999, pursuant to the Panama Canal Treaty 
of 1977 and related agreements.
    In accordance with the law cited above, an extensive study of the 
governance and financial management structure of the Panama Canal 
Commission was conducted. The study and its recommendations were then 
considered and discussed among representatives of the Departments of 
State, Defense, the Treasury, Commerce, Transportation, and Justice, as 
well as the Panama Canal Commission. The study, and the process that 
followed it, formed the basis for my recommendations, which are 
contained in the attached document.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
April 12, 1994.