[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 52 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1895-H1896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION, 
   STOCKPILING AND USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION--
  MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. Doc. No. 105-77)

  The Speaker pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, without objection, referred to the 
Committee on International Relations and ordered to be printed:

To the Congress of the United States:
  In accordance with the resolution of advice and consent to 
ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, 
Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their 
Destruction, adopted by the Senate of the United States on April 24, 
1997, I hereby certify that:
  In connection with Condition (1), Effect of Article XXII, the United 
States has informed all other States Parties to the Convention that the 
Senate reserves the right, pursuant to the Constitution of the United 
States, to give its advice and consent to ratification of

[[Page H1896]]

the Convention subject to reservations, notwithstanding Article XXII of 
the Convention.
  In connection with Condition (7), Continuing Vitality of the 
Australia Group and National Export Controls: (i) nothing in the 
Convention obligates the United States to accept any modification, 
change in scope, or weakening of its national export controls; (ii) the 
United States understands that the maintenance of national restrictions 
on trade in chemicals and chemical production technology is fully 
compatible with the provisions of the Convention, including Article 
XI(2), and solely within the sovereign jurisdiction of the United 
States; (iii) the Convention preserves the right of State Parties, 
unilaterally or collectively, to maintain or impose export controls on 
chemicals and related chemical production technology for foreign policy 
or national security reasons, notwithstanding Article XI(2); and (iv) 
each Australia Group member, at the highest diplomatic levels, has 
officially communicated to the United States Government its 
understanding and agreement that export control and nonproliferation 
measures which the Australia Group has undertaken are fully compatible 
with the provisions of the Convention, including Article XI(2), and its 
commitment to maintain in the future such export controls and 
nonproliferation measures against non-Australia Group members.
  In connection with Condition (9), Protection of Advanced 
Biotechnology, the legitimate commercial activities and interests of 
chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical firms in the United States 
are not being significantly harmed by the limitations of the Convention 
on access to, and production of, those chemicals and toxins listed in 
Schedule 1 of the Annex on chemicals.
  In connection with Condition (15), Assistance Under Article X, the 
United States shall not provide assistance under paragraph 7(a) of 
Article X, and, for any State Party the government of which is not 
eligible for assistance under chapter 2 of part II (relating to 
military assistance) or chapter 4 of part II (relating to economic 
support assistance) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961: (i) No 
assistance under paragraph 7(b) of Article X will be provided to the 
State Party; and (ii) no assistance under paragraph 7(c) of Article X 
other than medical antidotes and treatment will be provided to the 
State Party.
  In connection with Condition (18), Laboratory Sample Analysis, no 
sample collected in the United States pursuant to the Convention will 
be transferred for analysis to any laboratory outside the territory of 
the United States.
  In connection with Condition (26), Riot Control Agents, the United 
States is not restricted by the Convention in its use of riot control 
agents, including the use against combatants who are parties to a 
conflict, in any of the following cases: (i) the conduct of peacetime 
military operations within an area of ongoing armed conflict when the 
United States is not a party to the conflict (such as recent use of the 
United States Armed Forces in Somalia, Bosnia, and Rwanda); (ii) 
consensual peacekeeping operations when the use of force is authorized 
by the receiving state, including operations pursuant to Chapter VI of 
the United Nations Charter; and (iii) peacekeeping operations when 
force is authorized by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the 
United Nations Charter.
  In connection with Condition (27), Chemical Weapons Destruction, all 
the following conditions are satisfied: (A) I have agreed to explore 
alternative technologies for the destruction of the United States 
stockpile of chemical weapons in order to ensure that the United States 
has the safest, most effective and environmentally sound plans and 
programs for meeting its obligations under the convention for the 
destruction of chemical weapons; (B) the requirement in section 1412 of 
Public Law 99-145 (50 U.S.C. 1521) for completion of the destruction of 
the United States stockpile of chemical weapons by December 31, 2004, 
will be superseded upon the date the Convention enters into force with 
respect to the United States by the deadline required by the Convention 
of April 29, 2007; (C) the requirement in Article III(1)(a)(v) of the 
Convention for a declaration by each State party not later than 30 days 
after the date the Convention enters into force with respect to that 
Party, on general plans of the State Party for destruction of its 
chemical weapons does not preclude in any way the United States from 
deciding in the future to employ a technology for the destruction of 
chemical weapons different than that declared under that Article; and 
(D) I will consult with the Congress on whether to submit a request to 
the Executive Council of the Organization for an extension of the 
deadline for the destruction of chemical weapons under the Convention, 
as provided under Part IV(A) of the Annex on Implementation and 
Verification to the Convention, if, as a result of the program of 
alternative technologies for the destruction of chemical munitions 
carried out under section 8065 of the Department of Defense 
Appropriations Act of 1997 (as contained in Public Law 104-208), I 
determine that alternatives to the incineration of chemical weapons are 
available that are safer and more environmentally sound but whose use 
would preclude the United States from meeting the deadlines of the 
Convention.

  In connection with Condition (28), Constitutional Protection Against 
Unreasonable Search and Seizure: (i) for any challenge inspection 
conducted on the territory of the United States pursuant to Article IX, 
where consent has been withheld, the United States National Authority 
will first obtain a criminal search warrant based upon probable cause, 
supported by oath or affirmation, and describing with particularity the 
place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized; and (ii) 
for any routine inspection of a declared facility under the Convention 
that is conducted on an involuntary basis on the territory of the 
United States, the United States National Authority first will obtain 
an administrative search warrant from a United States magistrate judge.
  In accordance with Condition (26) on Riot Control Agents, I have 
certified that the United States is not restricted by the Convention in 
its use of riot control agents in various peacetime and peacekeeping 
operations. These are situations in which the United States is not 
engaged in a use of force of a scope, duration and intensity that would 
trigger the laws of war with respect to U.S. forces.
  In connection with Condition (4)(A), Cost Sharing Arrangements, which 
calls for a report identifying all cost-sharing arrangements with the 
Organization, I hereby report that because the Organization is not yet 
established and will not be until after entry into force of the 
Convention, as of this date there are no cost-sharing arrangements 
between the United States and the Organization to identify. However, we 
will be working with the Organization upon its establishment to develop 
such arrangements with it and will provide additional information to 
the Congress in the annual reports contemplated by this Condition.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, April 25, 1997.

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