Tom Harkin

“ If the United States wishes to retain its position as a world leader, the Senate must provide its advice and consent to the ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention with urgency, and persuade other nations to follow our lead. ”

“ President, no treaty is 100 percent watertight, but the strength of the international monitoring regime, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, makes the manufacture of chemical weapons difficult to conceal, and the punishment provides a strong deterrent to developing this class of weapons.
Among all weapons of mass destruction--biological, chemical, and nuclear--chemical weapons are the most plausible and potent threat available to terrorists. These chemical weapons are relatively easy to make, and a dosage that can kill thousands is very easy to conceal. ”

“ Even during World War II, the vast majority of nations observed the Geneva Protocol, which banned the first-use of chemical weapons in war. However, the use of chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein against Iran and the Iraqi Kurdish population forced the world community to realize the danger of these weapons. The production of chemical weapons by nations facilitates the proliferation of these weapons to state sponsored terrorist groups. ”