UN General Assembly
1989

The environment belongs to all of us. In this new world of freedom, the world's citizens must enjoy this common trust for generations to come. Global economic growth and the stewardship of our planet - both are critical issues. But as always, questions of war and peace must be paramount to the United Nations. We must move forward to limit and eliminate weapons of mass destruction. Five years ago, at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, I presented a United States draft treaty outlawing chemical weapons. Since then, progress has been made, but time is running out. The threat is growing. More than 20 nations now possess chemical weapons or the capability to produce them. And these horrible weapons are now finding their way into regional conflicts. That is simply unacceptable. For the sake of mankind, we must halt and reverse this threat.