[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 23, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3544-S3545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Foreign Policy Considerations

  Some people are concerned that the CWC has been oversold as a defense 
against the use of chemical weapons by terrorist groups. The Senator 
from North Carolina proposes, therefore, condition 19, by which the 
Senate will find that the CWC would not have stopped the Aum Shinrikyo 
Group in Japan and that future terrorist groups will likely seek 
chemical weapons. Both of these statements are probably quite accurate, 
and no harm is done by attaching them to the resolution of 
ratification.
  Condition 8 deals with the matter of so-called negative security 
assurances. Despite the fact that the United States decided long ago to 
destroy its chemical weapons stockpile, some are concerned that one 
impact of the CWC will be to undermine the ability of the United States 
to adequately retaliate against a state that used chemical weapons 
against us, if that state has received U.S. assurances to non-nuclear 
weapons states that the United States will not be the first to use 
nuclear weapons against them--Such assurances are known as negative 
security assurances--This condition requires the administration to 
submit a classified report on the impact of this new reality upon U.S. 
retaliatory options in such a case and upon the whole policy of 
negative security assurances.


                   u.s. chemical weapons destruction

  Condition 27 is the result of negotiations between the administration 
and the senior Senator from Kentucky. It is an important effort to 
ensure citizens concerned about the environment that the United States 
will do all it can to select the safest methods for the destruction of 
our own stockpile of chemical weapons.
  Condition 27 assures that the United States will be able, under CWC, 
to give full consideration to alternatives to incineration as the means 
to destroy U.S. chemical weapons pursuant to the convention. Since 
alternative means may be feasible only if we take the full time allowed 
by the CWC, which is more than the time allotted under current U.S. 
law, this condition states that the CWC time allotment may supersede 
that in section 1412 of Public law 99-145.
   Mr. President, this has been a lengthy explanation of what we are 
accepting in the 28 agreed conditions to the resolution of 
ratification. It is lengthy for a good reason: because the senior 
Senator from North Carolina and I have truly reached many elements of 
agreement, and because several of those agreements are truly 
significant. In addition, given the absence of a report from the 
Foreign Relations Committee, this statement is intended to create some 
legislative history for the 28 conditions on which the Senator from 
North Carolina and I have agreed.
  It is my sincere belief, Mr. President, that the adoption of these 28 
agreed conditions, will answer many of the most vexing concerns that 
have been raised by Members who find it difficult to decide how to vote 
on advice and consent to ratification. I hope that my colleagues will 
study carefully how much we have achieved.
  I trust they will understand that the remaining issues are ones on 
which we cannot accept the proposed conditions without killing U.S. 
ratification of the convention or seriously impeding its 
implementation. And finally, I urge my colleagues, in light of what we 
have accomplished thus far, to take the culminating step and support 
final passage of this historic resolution.

[[Page S3545]]

  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, to explain to the colleagues what is going to 
happen next, we are going to conclude debate this evening on the 
Chemical Weapons Convention and then reinitiate it tomorrow.
  We will begin tomorrow with the closed session which will be a 2-hour 
closed session in the Old Senate Chamber, and thereafter resume debate, 
including the motions to strike.

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