Editing Jesse Helms (section)

===Torrijos–Carter treaties===
{{Main|Torrijos–Carter Treaties}}

Helms was a long-time opponent of transferring possession of the [[Panama Canal]] to [[Panama]], calling its construction an "historic American achievement".<ref name="Link 188">Link (2008), p. 188</ref> He warned that it would fall into the hands of [[Omar Torrijos]]'s "communist friends". The issue of transfer of the canal was debated in the 1976 presidential race, wherein then-President Ford suspended negotiations over the transfer of sovereignty to assuage conservative opposition. In 1977, President [[Jimmy Carter]] reopened negotiations, appointing [[Sol Linowitz]] as co-negotiator without Senate confirmation, and Helms and Strom Thurmond led the opposition to the transfer.<ref name="Carter, Panama, and China">{{cite news |first=James |last=Reston |author-link=James Reston |title=Carter, Panama, and China |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 24, 1977 |page=19 }}</ref> Helms claimed that Linowitz's involvement with [[Marine Midland]] constituted a conflict of interests, arguing that it constituted a [[bailout]] of American banking interests.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hastedt |first=Glenn P. |author2=Eksterowicz, Anthony J. |year=2001 |title=Perils of Presidential Transition |journal=Seton Hall Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations |volume=II |issue=1 |pages=67–85 |url=http://diplomacy.shu.edu/academics/journal/resources/journal_dip_pdfs/journal_of_diplomacy_vol2_no1/eksterowick.pdf |access-date=July 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908070635/http://diplomacy.shu.edu/academics/journal/resources/journal_dip_pdfs/journal_of_diplomacy_vol2_no1/eksterowick.pdf |archive-date=September 8, 2008 }}</ref> He filed two federal suits, demanding prior congressional approval of any treaty and then consent by both houses of Congress. Helms also rallied Reagan, telling him that negotiation over Panama would be a "second Schweiker" as far as his conservative base was concerned.<ref name="Link 188" />

When Carter announced, on August 10, 1977, the conclusion of [[Torrijos–Carter Treaties|the treaties]], Helms declared it a [[constitutional crisis]], cited the need for the support of United States' allies in Latin America, accused the U.S. of submitting to Panamanian blackmail, and complained that the decision threatened national security in the event of war in Europe. Helms threatened to obstruct Senate business, proposing 200 amendments to the revision of the United States criminal code, knowing that most Americans opposed the treaties and would punish congressmen who voted for them if the ratification vote came in the run-up to the election. Helms announced the results of an opinion poll showing 78% public opposition.<ref>{{cite news |first=Hedrick |last=Smith |author-link=Hedrick Smith |title=White House Opens Drive to Win Senate Approval of Canal Accord |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 12, 1977 |page=1 }}</ref> However, Helms's and Thurmond's leadership of the opposition made it politically easier for Carter,<ref name="Carter, Panama, and China" /> causing them to be replaced by the soft-spoken [[Paul Laxalt]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Clymer |title=Moderation is the Message for New Right Campaigners |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 26, 1978 |page=E4 }}</ref>