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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

USIS Washington File

24 June 1998

TEXT: CLINTON VETOES IRAN MISSILE PROLIFERATION SANCTIONS ACT

(Act "would undermine credibility of US nonproliferation policy")
(1780)
Washington -- The White House released two separate statements June 23
explaining President Clinton's reasons for vetoing the Iran Missile
Proliferation Sanctions Act.
"If enacted, it would damage the U.S. national interest, making it
harder to achieve the goals it is intended to serve," the President's
statement said.
"I am particularly concerned about the impact that the bill would have
on our on-going effort to work with the Russian government to stem the
flow of technology from that country to Iran's missile program. This
is a very real problem, to which this Administration has accorded the
highest priority over the past year and a half," the President said,
citing the work U.S. and Russian officials have done since then and
new legislation Russia has adopted recently to deal with the problem.
The sanctions bill, however, "will make it more difficult to continue
our work with the Russian government in this area," the President
said.
Clinton expanded on these ideas in a letter to the House of
Representatives, also released June 23. In this, he called the
sanctions legislation "indiscriminate, inflexible, and prejudicial" to
U.S. efforts to halt missile technology transfer.
"Such indiscriminate sanctioning would undermine the credibility of
U.S. nonproliferation policy without furthering U.S. nonproliferation
objectives," the letter to the House said. "Indeed, the sweeping
application of sanctions likely would cause serious friction with many
governments, diminishing vital international cooperation across the
range of policy areas -- military, political, and economic -- on which
U.S. security and global leadership depend."
The Iran Missile Sanctions Act, which was designed to sanction
"entities" that have aided Iran develop its missile capability, passed
by overwhelming majorities in the House (392-22) and Senate (90-4)
earlier this year. Two-thirds of both houses are needed to override a
presidential veto.
Unlike the Glenn Amendment sanctions which were imposed on India and
Pakistan because of their nuclear tests last month, the Iran Missile
Proliferation Sanctions Act does permit the President to waive the
sanctions for national security reasons.
Following are texts of the President's statement and his letter to the
House of Representatives:
(Begin statement)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 23, 1998
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Veto of H.R. 2709, the "Iran Missile Proliferation Act of 1998"
I have committed my Administration to an unceasing effort to halt the
transfer of missile technology to nations that conduct or condone
terrorism and otherwise violate international norms. The stated
purpose of H.R. 2709 -- the "Iran Missile Proliferation Act of 1998"
-- is to further this effort. To the contrary, if enacted, it would
damage the U.S. national interest, making it harder to achieve the
goals it is intended to serve. Therefore, I am vetoing this bill.
The battle against proliferation is most effective as a cooperative
enterprise. It will be successful if other, like-minded governments
join in enacting and enforcing the strictest possible export-control
policies. As my veto message makes clear, this bill mandates the
sweeping application of sanctions according to inflexible and
indiscriminate criteria. It would require the imposition of sanctions
based on an unworkably low standard of evidence. Sanctions could be
wrongly triggered against individuals and businesses worldwide,
including against companies that did not know the true end user of
their products. The sanctions are also disproportionate. A minor
violation would carry the same penalty as a major one. As a result,
the bill would generate tensions and discourage cooperation with the
very nations whose support we must enlist.
From my conversations with members of Congress, I sense a growing
awareness that the vast machinery of U.S. sanctions law has not served
our interests well and is in serious need of an overhaul. Adding yet
another flawed sanctions bill is not the way to start, especially
since this one is redundant. Existing law provides a sufficient basis
for imposing sanctions when we need them.
I am particularly concerned about the impact that the bill would have
on our on-going effort to work with the Russian government to stem the
flow of technology from that country to Iran's missile program. This
is a very real problem, to which this Administration has accorded the
highest priority over the past year and a half. As a result of my own
work with President Yeltsin, reinforced by the efforts of the Vice
President, the Secretary of State and other officials, the Russian
government recently has adopted new legal and administrative measures
to deal with this problem. While the hard work of implementation must
continue, we have seen concrete progress, which we seek to encourage,
not undercut.
This bill will make it more difficult to continue our work with the
Russian government in this area. Moreover, the imposition of
unilateral American sanctions could damage our interests in working
with the Russian government in other vital areas, such as arms
control, law enforcement, counter-narcotics and combating
transnational crime. This bill would hinder, not help, our overall
national interests.
(End statement)
(Begin letter to House of Representatives)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 23, 1998
TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2709, the "Iran
Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act of 1998."
H.R. 2709 would require sanctions to be imposed on foreign individuals
and companies if there is "credible information indicating that" they
transferred certain items or provided certain types of assistance that
contributed to Iran's missile program, or attempted more than once to
transfer such items or provide such assistance. These sanctions would
last at least 2 years and would prohibit sales of defense articles and
services; exports of certain dual-use items; and United States
Government assistance.
My Administration unequivocally supports the critical objectives of
fighting terrorism and taking steps to halt the transfer of missile
technology to nations whose foreign policy practices and
nonproliferation policies violate international norms. This
legislation, however, is indiscriminate, inflexible, and prejudicial
to these efforts, and would in fact undermine the national security
objectives of the United States. Taken together, the flaws in H.R.
2709 risk a proliferation of indiscriminate sanctioning worldwide.
Such indiscriminate sanctioning would undermine the credibility of
U.S. nonproliferation policy without furthering U.S. nonproliferation
objectives. Indeed, the sweeping application of sanctions likely would
cause serious friction with many governments, diminishing vital
international cooperation across the range of policy areas --
military, political, and economic -- on which U.S. security and global
leadership depend.
Specifically, H.R. 2709 would require the imposition of sanctions
based on an unworkably low standard of evidence: "credible information
indicating that" certain transfers or attempted transfers had
occurred. Such a low standard of evidence could result in the
erroneous imposition of sanctions on individuals and business entities
worldwide -- even in certain instances when they did not know the true
end user of the items. The bill would also hinder U.S. efforts to
enlist the support of other countries to halt the objectionable
activities by imposing an unreasonable standard for waiving the bill's
sanctions. In addition, the sanctions proposed by the legislation are
disproportionate. A minor violation (e.g., the transfer of a few grams
of aluminum powder) would carry the same penalty as a transfer of
major proliferation significance. This, too, undermines U.S.
credibility and increases foreign opposition to U.S. policy.
H.R. 2709 does not specifically refer to Russia, but it will affect
that country. The legislation does not allow flexibility sufficient to
reflect the progress made by the Russian government in formulating
policies and processes whose goal is to sever links between Russian
entities and Iran's ballistic missile program. At the urging of the
United States, President Yeltsin, the Prime Minister, Russian Security
Services Chief Kovalev, and Russian Defense Minister Sergeyev have all
made clear that proliferation of missiles and weapons of mass
destruction is a serious threat to Russia's security. They have called
for strict control of sensitive technologies and stressed the strict
penalties that will be imposed for violations of Russian law. On
January 22 of this year, the Russian government issued a "catch all"
executive order providing authority to stop all transfers of dual-use
goods and services for missiles and weapons of mass destruction
programs, and on May 15 published detailed regulations to implement
that order. They have recently developed and circulated a list of end
users of concern in Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Pakistan. In the
course of regular and active discussion of this issue with the Russian
government, the United States has raised problem cases involving
cooperation between Russian entities and the Iranian missile program.
We have seen progress in this area, and a number of these cases are no
longer active concerns.
Precisely because Russia needs to take effective enforcement steps to
control the flow of technology, the United States needs to be able to
work cooperatively with the Russian government to assure further
progress. H.R. 2709 would undercut the cooperation we have worked to
achieve with the Russian government without helping us solve the
problem of technology transfer. The legislation's unilateral nature
could also hurt our increasing cooperation with Russian government
agencies in other vital areas such as law enforcement,
counternarcotics, and combating transnational crime. Furthermore,
Russia would interpret this law as an infringement of its sovereignty,
affecting our ability to work with Russia on broader U.S. policy goals
and on regional and global issues.
Finally, Title I of H.R. 2709 is not needed. Existing law, such as the
missile technology control provisions of the Arms Export Control Act,
provides a sufficient basis for imposing sanctions to prevent missile
proliferation to Iran and elsewhere.
I also note that it is disappointing that the Congress attached Title
II, the "Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1997," to
this problematic and counterproductive bill. Because Chemical Weapons
Convention (CWC) implementation legislation has not been enacted, the
United States has not yet fully carried out its obligations under the
CWC. The CWC implementing legislation has strong bipartisan support,
and should be passed by the Congress as a free-standing bill without
further delay. I note, however, that sections 213(e)(2)(B)(iii),
213(e)(3)(B)(v), and 213(f) of Title II could interfere with certain
of my exclusive constitutional powers, and I urge the Congress to
correct these constitutional deficiencies.
For the reasons stated, I am compelled to return H.R. 2709 without my
approval.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 23, 1998.
(End letter to House of Representatives)




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