PUBLIC LAW 102-190—DEC. 5, 1991 105 STAT. 1587 (1) the Panama Canal is a vital strategic asset to the United States and its allies; (2) the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Treaty, both signed on September 7, 1977, mandate that (A) no United States troops are to remain in Panama after December 31, 1999; (B) the Canal Zone is to be incorporated into Panama; (C) United States Panama-based communications facilities are to be phased out; (D) all United States training in Panama of Latin American soldiers is to be halted; and (E) management and operational control of the Canal is to be turned over to Panamanian authorities; (3) the government of President Guillermo Endara has demonstrated its determination to restore democracy to Peinama by quickly moving to implement changes in the nation's political, economic, and judicial systems; (4) friendly cooperative relations currently exist between the United States and the Republic of Panama; (5) the region has a history of unstable governments which pose a threat to the future operation of the Panama Canal, and the United States must have the discretion and the means to defend the Canal and ensure its continuous operation and availability to the military and commercial shipping of the United States and its allies in times of crisis; (6) the Panama Canal is vulnerable to disruption and closure by unforeseen events in Panama, by terrorist attack, and by air strikes or other attack by foreign powers; (7) the United States fleet depends upon the Panama Canal for rapid transit ocean to ocean in times of emergency, as demonstrated during World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Conflict, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Persian Gulf Conflict, thereby saving 13,000 miles and three weeks steaming effort around Cape Horn; (8) the presence of the United States Armed Forces offers a viable defense against sabotage or other threat to the Panama Canal; and (9) the 10,000 United States military personnel now based in Panama, including the headquarters of the United States Southern Command, cannot remain there beyond December 31, 1999, without a new agreement with Panama. OD) POLICY.—It is the sense of the Congress that the President— (1) should begin negotiations with the Government of
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