22 U.S.C. § 3620: Authority of Ambassador…

Summary

The U.S. Ambassador to Panama must lead and coordinate the transfer of duties to Panama under the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty and related agreements. The Panama Canal Commission must run, manage, and maintain the Canal without being told what to do by the U.S. Chief of Mission. The Commission must still keep the Ambassador fully and currently informed about its activities. Other existing rules about the Commission continue to apply. After December 31, 1999, the Secretary of State may make agreements for the United States to provide administrative services and set up advance funding procedures for those services. The services can cover pension, disability, and medical benefits the Commission provides, and compensation for work injuries under federal workers’ compensation law.

Title 22, §3620

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Authority of Ambassador (b) Independence of Commission regarding its Panama Canal responsibilities

The United States Ambassador to the Republic of Panama shall have full responsibility for the coordination of the transfer to the Republic of Panama of those functions that are to be assumed by the Republic of Panama pursuant to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 and related agreements.

(c)Agreements for United States to provide post-transfer administrative services for certain employee benefits

(1)The Secretary of State may enter into one or more agreements to provide for the United States to furnish administrative services relating to the benefits described in paragraph (2) after December 31, 1999, and to establish appropriate procedures for providing advance funding for the services.

(2)The benefits referred to in paragraph (1) are the following:

(A)Pension, disability, and medical benefits provided by the Panama Canal Commission pursuant to section 3682 of this title.

(B)Compensation for work injuries covered by chapter 81 of title 5.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b)(1), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 96–70, Sept. 27, 1979, 93 Stat. 452, known as the Panama Canal Act of 1979, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 3601 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–261 added subsec. (c). 1997—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 105–85 substituted “section 3927” for “section 2680a”.

§3620 Authority of Ambassador; Independence of Commission Regarding Its Panama Canal Responsibilities