STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
In late January, President Clinton and Senate Majority Leader Lott agreed to establish a process to address concerns raised by members of the Republican Caucus regarding the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). During the last two and a half months, over 60 hours of negotiations have taken place on various issues related to the CWC. These negotiations began in a series of meetings conducted between the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Samuel R. Berger, and a nine-member Senate Task Force established by the Majority Leader. Following additional meetings at the senior staff level between the administration and Senator Lott's Task Force, a second phase of negotiations was conducted between the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jesse Helms, and its Ranking Minority Member, Senator Joe Biden. The discussions have focused on a package of "conditions" to be included in the Senate resolution of ratification on the CWC. These conditions are binding between the Senate and the President, but do not constitute amendments to the treaty itself. Yesterday, Senator Biden released a package of 23 conditions agreed to by himself and Senator Helms as a result of the process initiated by Senator Lott and the President in January. The agreed conditions underscore the extraordinary progress achieved since January in addressing virtually all of the issues raised in the debate over this treaty. Among the 23 are conditions that would: require the Secretary of Defense to maintain robust chemical and biological defenses for U.S. troops; ensure that instances of noncompliance will be subject to tough U.S. enforcement action; require the U.S., under Article X, to limit any assistance to countries of concern, such as Cuba and Iran, to medical antidotes and treatment; obligate the President to obtain assurances from our Australia Group allies that Article XI is fully consistent with maintaining strict export controls on dangerous chemicals; and ensure that nothing in the CWC requires any action by the U.S. prohibited by the Constitution. The administration is continuing discussions with Senator Lott on a few issues of particular importance, including search warrants and use of riot control agents in certain wartime situations. In those areas where agreement cannot be reached, the administration has proposed conditions that it believes address the underlying concern with regard to the operation and effectiveness of the treaty. The administration looks forward to the Senate joining these issues with debate and votes prior to April 29, the deadline for the U.S. joining the CWC as an original State Party. (end text) NNNN