503


*Senator James Allen, the subcommittee chairman, said that the Constitution granted Congress "exclusive powers" over the disposal of U.S. territory, so the Executive could not enter into agreements to dispose of U.S. property without the authorization of both the
 House and the Senate.
September 9-Gen. Omar Torrijos was welcomed back to Panama by
 crowds of government employees and labor and rural organization members who had been g-iven a holiday and instructed to attend
 welcoming festivities.
 September 10-The Washington Post reported that the new treaties
 would enhance Panama's economic outlook and ease the way for
 repayment of loans made by major U.S. banks.
September 11-According to the New York Times. Senate Majority
 Leader Robert Byrd stated that "anyone who thinks I'm going to call up the Panama Canal treaties before January or February is
 living in a dream world."
 September 11-Senator Howard Baker, Senate Minority Leader,
 stated, "I have decided not to decide on this issue for the moment because it is too important to make a snap judgment." His remarks
 were made on NBC-TV's "The Loyal Opposition."
September 12-A U.S. News and World Report feature noted that
 President Carter had proceeded with the elaborate treaty signin
 ceremony despite the advice of his top diplomatic advisers. Senator Howard Baker said prospects for Senate approval of the treaties were learly undecided at that time and that President Carter may have "overplayed his hand" with the Senate by holding the spectacular treaty signing.
September 12-Testifying before the House International Relations
 Committee, former Secretaries of State Henry A. Kissinger and Dean Rusk strongly endorsed the treaties. Kissinger predicted that congressional rejection of the treaties would result in the "unanimous hostility" of the Latin American nations toward the United States and -would seriously weaken President Carter's ability to
 make foreign policy.
September 12-At the Pentagon, Gem. George Brown, Chairman of
 the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed visiting newspaper editors. He warned that the United States would have to prepare for difficulties in Panama if the Senate failed to ratify the treaties and noted that the strategic value of the canal "rests in its use, not its ownership."1 September 13-The W1ashington Post reported that Teamsters President Frank Fitzsimmons had declared his opposition to the treaties. September 13-Panamanian officials reported that the Government of
 Panama had invited the Inter-American Commission on 1Human Rights to make an on-the-spot investigation of the human rights situation in Panama, and had invited the United Nations to send observers for the national plebiscite on the treaties scheduled for
 October 23.
September 14-Tn the Senate, a bipartisan group of 36 Senators delivered a 14 point criticism of the new treaties.
September 15-According to the Journal of Commerce, W. J. Amoss,
 Jr., President of Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., stated that the United States "should go ahead and approve the Panama Canal treaties."l A Christian Science Monitor article noted other business leaders