III
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. RES. 54
Expressing the vital importance of the Panama Canal to the United States.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY4, 2025
Mr. L
EE(for himself, Mr. SCOTTof Florida, Mr. TUBERVILLE, and Mrs.
B
LACKBURN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Relations
RESOLUTION
Expressing the vital importance of the Panama Canal to
the United States.
Whereas early efforts of the Colombian Government and
French investors to construct a canal across Panama
were unsuccessful and resulted in bankruptcy by 1889;
Whereas, as a condition of United States Government sup-
port for Panama’s independence from Colombia, includ-
ing the positioning of United States troops in the then-
territory of Panama, the United States was to be assured
access to construct and control a canal in perpetuity, an
agreement that culminated in the Hay-Bunau-Varilla
Treaty, signed at Washington November 18, 1903;
Whereas the Panama Canal was never initiated, engineered,
or built by the Panamanian Government;
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Whereas the United States Government funded, pioneered,
and built the Panama Canal over a 10-year period from
1904 to 1914, at a cost of $375,000,000 and 10,000
lives, and raised the canal above sea level through con-
struction of a lock system;
Whereas, historically, the Panama Canal has been distinct
from the sovereign territory of Panama;
Whereas the Panama Canal serves as a vital connection be-
tween the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, connecting the
east and west coasts of the United States and providing
passage for more than 14,000 vessels in 2023;
Whereas, approximately 72 percent of vessels traveling
through the Panama Canal are traveling to or from
United States ports;
Whereas, without the Panama Canal, vessels would have to
pass through the notoriously dangerous Cape Horn, ex-
tending transit by nearly 8,000 miles;
Whereas, in 1977, President Carter surrendered United
States control over the Panama Canal in a series of trea-
ties with Panama known as the ‘‘Torrijos-Carter Trea-
ties’’;
Whereas one of those treaties, the Treaty Concerning the
Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama
Canal, signed at Washington September 7, 1977, other-
wise known as the ‘‘Neutrality Treaty’’, reserved the
right of the United States to use armed force to defend
the permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal;
Whereas, for nearly a decade, the People’s Republic of China
has steadily increased its footprint in the Panama Canal;
Whereas, in 2016, Panama ceded control of Margarita Is-
land, the Panama Canal’s largest Atlantic port, to the
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People’s Republic of China-affiliated Landbridge Group
in a $900,000,000 agreement;
Whereas, in 2018, Panama entered into a $1,400,000,000
agreement for the China Communications Construction
Company and the China Harbor Engineering Company to
construct the fourth bridge across the Panama Canal;
Whereas CK Hutchison Holdings, based in Hong Kong, man-
ages two of the Panama Canal’s five ports, including the
Balboa port along the Pacific and Cristobal port along
the Atlantic;
Whereas the rapid acceleration of Chinese influence in the
Panama Canal poses a high risk of intelligence-gathering
and surveillance by the People’s Republic of China;
Whereas Chinese law requires the assets of civilian firms to
be made available to support the armed forces of the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China;
Whereas the Panama Canal would serve as a logistics point
between the east and west coasts of the United States in
the event of a conflict involving United States Armed
Forces, cementing its value to homeland and hemispheric
defense; and
Whereas the ability of the People’s Republic of China to con-
trol major entry and exit points of the Panama Canal
would provide the People’s Republic of China with a sig-
nificant military advantage relevant to United States
Armed Forces in the event of a conflict: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the Senate— 1
(1) recognizes the ingenuity and labor of Ameri-2
cans that made the Panama Canal possible for fu-3
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ture generations, with special regard for those Amer-1
icans who lost their lives in pursuit of the Panama 2
Canal project; 3
(2) expresses that the Panama Canal is vital to 4
United States regional security, hemispheric hegem-5
ony, and economic interests; 6
(3) assesses that a pattern of Chinese-backed 7
investment in port infrastructure and canal oper-8
ations in Panama constitutes a violation of the Neu-9
trality Treaty; and 10
(4) urges the Trump administration to ensure 11
that the canal remains neutral and to take all appro-12
priate measures to enforce the Neutrality Treaty. 13
Æ
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