maffei: we continue to look into it. cruise ships is the one area where we have something that did that. chair cruz: some press coverage says the panama canal is nominally independent even though it provides a large share of the panamanian government's revenue. chairman sola, can you describe how the fmc views the canal in the panamanian government? are they distinct entities or a single government apparatus? mr. sola: our law is clear and comes from the reading act of 1920 that there is only one entity. it addition to that our predecessor at the federal maritime commission was formed in 1916 in direct result of the panama canal. the very first chairman of that was the first administrator of the canal. we look at it as one entity. mr. maffei: i might just add it is like the georgia ports authority in the state of georgia. the georgia ports of party is clearly -- the georgia ports authority is fully independent but ultimately georgia is responsible. chair cruz: panama was the first latin american country to join china's b

maffei: you are talking military experts. sen. sheehy: if he has driven the canal and i think the ever given jackknifed in the suez canal. that is a ship that turned sideways so if china chose to, how fast could they closed the canal to our usage? chair sola: they would do a similar thing but it would be an active terrorism because they have facilities. most of this discussion is the economic threats because of the belton road initiative and having these investments. i mean, it is not hard to close off a waterway. the panama canal is vulnerable in terms of infrastructure. this is not a fort or militarily reinforced location. now, you are getting to the end of my knowledge of that. it would not take long, that i do not know what it has to do with not -- it is not accelerated because they have people at the port unless you believe that they are in theory, easier to infiltrate those ports with chinese spies and it is other kinds of things that is out of my purview. sen. sheehy: i do not think it is. i think the reality is that canal

i would say going forward as commissioner maffei just discussed about the developing of a second reservoir and the u.s. army corps of engineers doing a feasibility review of that project as well as other projects that were mentioned, that seems to be a good path that seems to be a good path forward for the panama canal to 20 50 and beyond. sen. blunt rochester: it was recently started and time is of the essence. did you think the canal authority considered the obvious impacts from drought and its planning? >> we are going to break away for live coverage of the u.s. house briefly. you can continue watching on c-span.org or c-span now, the free video app. house lawmakers are holding a brief session, no votes are expected. speaker. the clerk: the spooker's rooms, washington, d.c. -- speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. january 28, 2025. i hereby appoint the honorable alease m. stefanik, to act as speaker pro temp on this day. signed, mike johnson, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, reverend john kell ok, christchurc