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 Mr. LAXALT. But aside from the fact that he had a personal interest in the outcome of the transaction, which may not have been all that bad, we must remember that at that time Panama was a struggling' little crown colony of Colombia from which it had attempted nmany, many times, unsuccessfully, to obtain their independence. Because of' his intercession in coming here and his successfully negotiating that treaty, Panama for the first time attained its independence.
 Moreover, it must be remembered that after the treaty was negotiated here it was thereafter ratified by the Panamanian Governmen.t on' the Federal level as well as on the local level.
 Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Yes; with a pistol
 Mr. LAXALT. And it was considered throughout the country as a triumph for Panama.
 Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. As it were, with a pistol at its temple.
 Mr. LAXALT. Just as the Panama Government was taken in 1968 by General Torrij os.
 Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. No, on. The Senator seeks to confuse the issue .. Let us stick with the original history of how this rough-riding diplomacy occurred.
 Mr. LAXALT. I would suggest to the majority leader, and respectfully,. that history does not indicate that at all; that at the time when we, entered into the treaty here, negotiated it and had it ratified, it -was -welcomed by all IPanamanians. They had celebrations all over that little' country, and well they might, because at that time they -were a pest hole, ridden by disease, and this canal presented to them an economic salvation as well as a political independence from Colombia. I think history' would indicate that, rather than doing disservice to that little country,. we rendered them a great service.
 Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. As we look back-it is great to have hindsight-as we look back over the years which have transpired since, Vyes, one can say that we rendered a service to the people of Panama. -And' we did, by ridding the jungles in that area of malaria and yellow f ever. But at the time the governmental sanction of the treaties was, as it were,. at the point of a gun, because there was the threat. not only implicit but explicit, that "If you don't ratify these treaties, the United States will withdraw its military forces."
 And then what would have happened to the revolutionaries? Not only would the government have fallen, but the heads of those leaders of the revolution would have rolled in the streets.
 Mr. LAXALT. But is it not true that those revolutionaries at the time represented the Panamanian aspirations for freedom and' independence?
 Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. They represented the aspirations of some of the people.
 Mr. LAXALT. Of most of the people.
 Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Of some of the people.
 Mr. LAXALT. Of a vast majority.
 Mr. HATCH. Will the distinguished majority leader yield?
 Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. I would be delighted to.
 I believe the Senator from Nevada complained yesterday because hc(had been interrupted, during the reading of his eloquent speech, by Senators who wanted to ask questions. I welcome questions.