[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 17 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
[Pages 582-584]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
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 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
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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, as provided under Part IV(A) of the
Annex on Implementation and Verification to the Convention, if, as
a result of the pro
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gram 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.