Our goal is to make the world safer for Americans and to protect our allies and friends. We have now another opportunity to exercise leadership for those ends. And once again, we look to this Committee for help. The CWC will enter into force on April 29. Our goal is to ratify the agreement before then so that America will be an original party.
Chemical weapons are inhumane.
In considering the value of this treaty, we must bear in mind that today, keeping and producing chemical weapons are legal . The gas Saddam Hussein used to massacre Kurdish villagers in 1988 was produced legally . In most countries, terrorists can produce or procure chemical agents, such as sarin gas, legally . Regimes such as Iran and Libya can build up their stockpiles of chemical weapons legally . If we are ever to rid the world of these horrible weapons, we must begin by making not only their use, but also their development, production, acquisition and stockpiling illegal .