Secretary of State highlights
treaty on first official trip
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright highlighted one of President Clinton’s top priorities,
the Chemical Weapons Convention, on a visit to Houston Feb. 7-8. Her first official trip
garnered strong support for the treaty from former President George Bush and his Secretary
of State James Baker.
President Bush said, “I ... strongly support ... efforts to get
this chemical weapons treaty approved. This should be beyond partisanship. ... I think it
is vitally important for the United States to be out front.... We don’t need chemical
weapons, and we ought to get out front and make clear that we are opposed to others having
them.”
Secretary Albright was in Houston to deliver a speech at Rice University, where she
addressed the James Baker Public Policy Institute Friday.
Former Secretary of State James Baker said, “I continue today to believe in a bipartisan
foreign policy. One example of that is the Chemical Weapons Convention, a treaty that was
negotiated under |
Presidents Reagan and Bush, and that is currently awaiting ratification
by the Senate.
“I support that Convention, for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with domestic
politics, and everything to do with the national interest. I support it because it will
make America and Americans more secure, in a world of terrorists and a world of rogue
states.”
In her address to the Baker Institute, Secretary Albright said: “The President
has asked the Senate to give its approval to a Convention intended to ban chemical weapons from the
face of the Earth. That agreement, known as the Chemical Weapons Convention, will enter
into force on April 29....
“The Convention makes it less likely that our armed forces
will ever again encounter chemical weapons on the battlefield; less likely that rogue
states will have access to the materials needed to build chemical arms; and less likely
that such arms will fall into the hands of terrorists or others hostile to our interests.
“The result will be a safer America and a safer world.” |
