Political Quotes

“I wish to thank the managers of the Department of Defense authorization bill and the committees for their assistance and support of my amendment. Earlier this year, the Senate ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. This historic treaty puts into U.S. law a clear prohibition on the testing, production, and stockpiling of an entire class of terrible weapons of mass destruction, and we are now part of the international institutions which will enforce the treaty worldwide. Even with this clear ban, constituents have written me concerned that, without their consent, human test subjects are used to research chemical and biological weapons agents, or that the Government, with the consent of local elected officials and Congress, may conduct experiments on civilian populations. Very often, these concerns are based on reading existing provisions in the United States Code that appear to permit it. The provision in question, contained in title 50, United States Code, Chapter 32, Section 1520, is a relic of the cold war, and my amendment strikes it. Further, to make it clear that such testing is no longer permitted, this amendment spells out a clear, easily understood prohibition of the use of human test subjects in chemical and biological weapons research.”