Senate To Mount Tough Fight Over Chemical Weapons Treaty

Critics of the convention, including Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jesse Helms, are vowing to put up a spirited battle as the treaty comes to the Senate for ratification this week.

The CWC calls for a global ban on developing, stockpiling and transferring chemical weapons such as poison gas.

Sixty-two countries, including India, have already ratified the global pact.

Both the United States and Russia are, however, yet to ratify it.

The treaty needs ratification by 65 countries if it is to go into effect.

US opponents argue that the treaty would cost American companies as much as a billion dollars a year

 

The treaty would force businesses to comply with a host of new regulations.

They also argue that the convention would compel corporations to permit inspections by foreign governments, opening up the possibility of industrial espionage.

We believe an honest assessment of the treaty will reveal that the costs to U S businesses, the loss of our economic freedom and compromising constitutionally protected American rights do not justify ratification, said Small Business Survival Committee (SBSC) president Karen Kerrigan.

Senate opponents got a boost in the arm with a joint letter opposing the treaty signed by about 40 former national security officials, including former defense secretaries Dick Cheney and Caspar Weinberger.

Last week, the chief executive officers of more than 50 major US chemical companies had signed a joint letter strongly endorsing the treaty.

Administration officials are lobbying for the treaty.

They argue that it would provide the best deterrent yet against deployment of chemical weapons by so-called rogue states. It will dramatically reduce the chance of American troops facing such weapons on the battlefield. and strengthen intelligence sharing with the international community, President Bill Clinton said in his weekly radio address.

The treaty may lose much of its validity if the US fails to ratify the pact. If we don't ratify, the Russians are unlikely to ratify. If the two countries with a combined total of 70,000 metric tons of declared chemical weapons stockpiles don't ratify the treaty, that would severely undermine its effectiveness, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency director John Holum said in a recent interview.

Critics, however argue that states such as Iraq, Syria and North Korea have not signed the convention, and will continue to pose a threat even as the signatories reduce their stockpiles.

The treaty needs a two-third majority for Senate ratification. Opponents are promising to drum up the 34 votes necessary to block ratification when the treaty goes to the Senate floor this week.