Patrick Leahy: “I am glad that the House of Representatives has, at long last, taken up and passed the Chemical Weapons Convention…”

“I am glad that the House of Representatives has, at long last, taken up and passed the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act, S. 610, that the Senate had passed and sent to the House more than a years ago. This measure was included in the omnibus spending bill passed by the House last night and by the Senate today. Over 10 years ago, in May 1988, as chairman of the then Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology and the Law, I convened hearings on High Tech Terrorism, including terrorism with chemical and biological weapons and terrorist attacks on computer infrastructure. We have made progress in those 10 years, but we need to do more. I was proud to have played a role in Senate ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention last year. This was a matter initiated under President Reagan, negotiated by President Bush, and signed on behalf of the United States by President Clinton. We also proceeded to pass implementing legislation, which addressed complex technical and constitutional issues and about which there was great potential for delay. We were able to overcome that delay, however, and reach a sound consensus with admirable speed. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee on April 17, 1997, and we held hearings and reported out the bill in just over a month. That bill passed the Senate on May 23, 1997. That shows what we can do here when we put our minds to it.”