    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [April 17, 1997]
    [Pages 449-450]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on the Senate Decision To Bring the Chemical Weapons
    Convention to a Vote
    April 17, 1997

        I welcome today's unanimous agreement by the Senate to bring the
    Chemical Weapons Convention to a vote next week. This treaty--initiated
    by the Reagan administration, completed and signed by the Bush
    administration, submitted to the Senate by my administration--has been
    bipartisan from the beginning. Now, thanks to the good-faith efforts of
    Majority Leader Lott and Minority Leader Daschle--working closely with
    my national security team and key members of the Senate from both sides
    of the aisle--the Senate will be able to vote on the treaty before it
    goes into effect on April 29.
        Over the past 2\1/2\ months, we have all gone the extra mile to work
    through outstanding concerns about the treaty. As a result of
    negotiations Senator Lott and I established and discussions led by
    Senators Biden and Helms, we now have agreement on 28 conditions that
    will be included in the treaty's resolution of ratification when it goes
    to a vote, resolving virtually all of the issues that have been raised
    about the CWC.
        Just today, our negotiators reached agreement concerning the use of
    riot control agents like tear gas and to require warrants for any
    involuntary searches of an American business or facility under the
    treaty's inspection provisions. We still have five issues on which we
    fundamentally disagree, but we are now assured, thanks to today's
    agreement, that they will be decided by votes of the full Senate.
        These important developments reflect widespread, bipartisan, and
    growing support for the Chemical Weapons Convention. Yesterday, former
    Presidents Bush and Ford joined Secretary of State Albright in making a
    special appeal for ratification. Today at a congressional hearing,
    former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell strongly
    reiterated his endorsement of the treaty, which also has the support of
    every other Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the past two
    decades. And three former Secretaries of Defense--Harold Brown, Elliot
    Richardson, and Bill Perry--released a joint statement calling for the
    Senate to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention.
        All of these distinguished American leaders agree that by requiring
    countries around the world to destroy their chemical weapons
    stockpiles--as the United States already has decided to do--and to
    renounce developing or trading in chemical weapons in the future, the
    Chemical Weapons Convention will help make our troops safer while making
    it harder for rogue states and terrorists to acquire chemical weapons.

    [[Page 450]]

        This treaty literally was ``made in America,'' and it also is right
    for America. I urge every Member of the Senate to support the Chemical
    Weapons Convention when it comes to a vote next week.