[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 52 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3749-S3750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REPORT RELATIVE TO THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION--MESSAGE FROM THE 
     PRESIDENT RECEIVED DURING THE ADJOURNMENT OF THE SENATE--PM 31

  Under the authority of the order of the Senate of January 7, 1997, 
the Secretary of the Senate on April 25, 1997, received a message from 
the President of the United States, together with an accompanying 
report; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

                 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 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

[[Page S3750]]

    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 determined 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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