    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [April 25, 1997]
    [Pages 495-497]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress on the Chemical Weapons Convention
    April 25, 1997

    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

    [[Page 496]]

            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
            this 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,

    [[Page 497]]

            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.