[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 22, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3261-S3262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 525--RECOGNIZING THE PROGRESS MADE BY STATES PARTIES 
TO THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION ON THE OCCASION OF THE SECOND REVIEW 
                               CONFERENCE

  Mr. BIDEN (for himself and Mr. Lugar) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 525

       Whereas, on April 24, 1997, the Senate gave its advice and 
     consent to the ratification of the Convention on the 
     Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and 
     Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, with 
     Annexes, done at Paris January 13, 1993 (commonly known as 
     the ``Chemical Weapons Convention'' and the ``CWC'') (T. Doc. 
     103-21);
       Whereas, the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force 
     on April 29, 1997;
       Whereas, since the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into 
     force, more than 27,000 metric tons of chemical weapons have 
     been destroyed, representing over 35 percent of the declared 
     chemical weapon stockpiles worldwide;
       Whereas 11 chemical weapons destruction facilities are 
     currently in operation in 5 countries;

[[Page S3262]]

       Whereas none of the 65 chemical weapons production 
     facilities declared by 12 States Parties are producing 
     chemical weapons, and all but 4 of the facilities have been 
     either verifiably destroyed or converted for peaceful 
     purposes in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention;
       Whereas, on July 11, 2007, Albania became the first State 
     Party to completely eliminate its entire stockpile of 
     chemical weapons, with assistance from the Nunn-Lugar 
     Cooperative Threat Reduction Program;
       Whereas membership in the Organization for the Prohibition 
     of Chemical Weapons now stands at 183 states, encompassing 98 
     percent of the world's population, up from 87 States Parties 
     when the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force;
       Whereas the First Special Session of the Conference of the 
     States Parties to Review the Operation of the Chemical 
     Weapons Convention was opened on April 28, 2003, and 113 
     States Parties participated in the First Review Conference; 
     and
       Whereas the Second Review Conference of the Chemical 
     Weapons Convention opened on April 7, 2008, in The Hague, 
     Netherlands: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) reaffirms its support for the purposes, operations, and 
     undertakings of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which have 
     served the interests of international peace and security and 
     the national security interests of the United States;
       (2) notes the progress that has been made by States Parties 
     to the Chemical Weapons Convention toward the elimination of 
     stockpiles of deadly chemical weapons in possessor states, 
     and urges continued progress toward that goal;
       (3) calls on all States Parties--
       (A) to continue their compliance with their obligations 
     under the Chemical Weapons Convention to permit the 
     monitoring and verification of the inactivation, and later 
     destruction or conversion, of all chemical weapons production 
     facilities, as well as the destruction of chemical weapons 
     stockpiles;
       (B) to submit and allow verification of the consistency of 
     industrial chemical declarations; and
       (C) to allow the effective monitoring of the non-diversion 
     of chemicals for activities prohibited under the Chemical 
     Weapons Convention; and
       (4) calls on all States Parties to adopt the necessary 
     laws, regulations, and enforcement practices to ban chemical 
     weapons activities, pursuant to Article VIII of the Chemical 
     Weapons Convention and United Nations Security Council 
     Resolution 1540 (2004), and to afford appropriate legal and 
     regulatory assistance to other countries so as to achieve 
     full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, 11 years ago this month, the Senate gave 
its advice and consent to U.S. ratification of the Chemical Weapons 
Convention, or CWC. Those of us who were here then remember all too 
well how contentious and difficult a task that was.
  Eleven years later, I have no doubt in my mind that the Senate did 
the right thing. The CWC clearly serves the national security interests 
of the U.S. It continues to enhance international peace and security.
  Since the CWC entered into force, 183 States have signed on to the 
treaty's commitment to forgo poison gas forever, and have subjected 
themselves to the treaty's verification procedures. States Parties to 
the CWC have destroyed over 27,000 tons of chemical weapons--over a 
third of the world's declared stockpiles--and 11 destruction facilities 
around the world are working to destroy even more. Sixty-five chemical 
weapons production facilities that, without a Chemical Weapons 
Convention, could have churned out still more poison gas are no longer 
carrying out that horrible work, and all but 4 of those former weapons 
production facilities have been verifiably destroyed or converted to 
peaceful purposes. Most importantly, there has been no use of chemical 
weapons by any country in the last 11 years, and no international 
support for the use of such weapons by terrorist groups.
  Under the able leadership of its Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio 
Pfirter, the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons runs a 
tight ship. It works with all States Parties to improve national 
declarations, to mount effective inspections, and to secure the 
adoption of effective national laws, regulations and procedures that 
criminalize and guard against the production or stockpiling of chemical 
weapons.
  The States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention are gathering 
over the next 2 weeks in The Netherlands for the Convention's Second 
Review Conference. Senator Lugar and I have introduced this resolution 
during the Review Conference in order to reaffirm the Senate's 
commitment to the goals of the CWC. We are proud of the progress that 
has been made so far, and we call upon all States Parties to continue 
to meet their commitments under the CWC and to do all they can to 
further the noble aims of the Convention.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this resolution.

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