A Republican serving in the House of Representatives is set to introduce the bill that will take the U.S. one step closer to purchasing the Panama Canal.
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) will introduce the Panama Canal Repurchase Act on Thursday, according to a report in The Hill.
This falls in line with a goal of President-elect Donald Trump to put the U.S. back in control of the canal.
“President Trump is right to consider repurchasing the Panama Canal. China’s interest in and presence around the canal is a cause for concern,” Johnson said. “America must project strength abroad – owning and operating the Panama Canal might be an important step towards a stronger America and a more secure globe.”
The bill, if passed, allows the sitting president and the Secretary of State, to “initiate and conduct negotiations with appropriate counterparts of the Government of the Republic of Panama to reacquire the Panama Canal” per a draft of the bill.
The bill is set for introduction as the country mourns the passing of former President Jimmy Carter, the man Trump blames as he “foolishly gave it away, for One Dollar.”
The Carter-Torrijos Treaties was signed in 1977 and transferred control of the canal to Panama.
The bill also tells the president to submit a report to Congress within 180 days of its passage “detailing the progress of the negotiations” as well as the “potential challenges” and “anticipated outcomes.”
On Tuesday, Trump on Tuesday would not commit to taking control of the canal through use if the U.S. Military.
“I’m not going to commit to that. It might be that you have to do something,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. “Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country, it’s being operated by China, China. And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama, we didn’t give it to China.”
Any plans for the U.S. to acquire the Panama Canal as well as Greenland, another of Trump’s plans, are not done deals.
“I think he was speaking aspirationally,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said recently.
