[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 16 (Monday, April 21, 1997)]
[Page 536]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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.
    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.