[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 28, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S319-S320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




STATEMENT OF JUSTIFICATION RELATIVE TO THE AUSTRALIA GROUP CHEMICAL AND 
           BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS NONPROLIFERATION REGIME--PM 61

  The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following 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:
  Consistent 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 pursuant to Condition 7(C)(i), Effectiveness of the Australia 
Group, that:
  Australia Group members continue to maintain equally effective or 
more comprehensive controls over the export of: toxic chemicals and 
their precursors; dual-use processing equipment; human, animal, and 
plant pathogens and toxins with potential biological weapons 
applications; and dual-use biological equipment, as that afforded by 
the Australia Group as of April 25, 1997; and
  The Australia Group remains a viable mechanism for limiting the 
spread of chemical and biological weapons-related materials and 
technology, and the effectiveness of the Australia Group has not been 
undermined by changes in membership, lack of compliance with common 
export controls and nonproliferation measures, or the weakening of 
common controls and nonproliferation measures, in force as of April 25, 
1997.
  The factors underlying this certification are described in the 
enclosed statement of justification.
                                                      George W. Bush.  
                                     The White House, January 28, 2004.

[[Page S320]]



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