711F.1914/622: Telegram
The Ambassador in Panama (Wilson) to the Secretary of State
[Received 2:52 p.m.]
1059. The President asked me to call on him yesterday afternoon. He said that the adjournment of Congress without the House having acted on the Panamanian Legislation was a great blow to him and would undoubtedly cause serious political difficulties for him. He [Page 619] said, however, that he wanted me to know and wanted my Government to know that this would not affect in any manner the policy of wholehearted cooperation on the part of his Government with the United States in defense and all other matters. Panama will continue to give the same complete cooperation which it has given heretofore.
The President said that he hoped very much that there would be no delay in submitting the Panamanian questions to the new Congress as soon as the latter convenes and that he was confident that the United States Government would make every appropriate effort to have this legislation enacted as soon as possible. He asked me to convey to President Roosevelt, to you, the Under Secretary, Mr. Bonsal and other officials of the State Department his great appreciation for the efforts that were made to obtain affirmative action.54
- The legislation was approved by Congress early in 1943 and signed by the President on May 3 (57 Stat. 74). The National Assembly of Panama then approved the whole agreement, and it became effective on May 11, 1943.↩