{EXCERPT] WHITE HOUSE MESSAGE TO SENATE ON CFE
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
May 15, 1997
TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
I must, however, make clear my view of several of the Conditions
attached to the resolution of advice and consent to ratification,
including Conditions 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 11. These Conditions all
purport to direct the exercise of authorities entrusted exclusively to
the President under our Constitution, including for the conduct of
diplomacy and the implementation of treaties. The explicit limitation
on diplomatic activities in Condition 3 is a particularly clear
example of this point. As I wrote the Senate following approval of the
Chemical Weapons Convention, a condition in a resolution of
ratification cannot alter the allocation of authority and
responsibility under the Constitution. I will, therefore, interpret
the Conditions of concern in the resolution in a manner consistent
with the responsibilities entrusted to me as President under the
Constitution. Nevertheless, without prejudice to my Constitutional
authorities, I will implement the Conditions in the resolution.
Condition (9), which requires my certification that any agreement
governing ABM Treaty succession will be submitted to the Senate for
advice and consent, is an issue of particular concern not only because
it addresses a matter reserved to the President under our
Constitution, but also because it is substantively unrelated to the
Senate's review of the CFE Flank Document. It is clearly within the
President's authorities to determine the successor States to a treaty
when the original Party dissolves, to make the adjustments required to
accomplish such succession, and to enter into agreements for this
purpose. Indeed, throughout our history the executive branch has made
a large number of determinations concerning the succession of new
States to the treaty rights and obligations of their predecessors. The
ABM Succession MOU negotiated by the United States effectuated no
substantive change in the ABM Treaty requiring Senate advice and
consent. Nonetheless, in light of the exceptional history of the ABM
Treaty and in view of my commitment to agree to seek Senate approval
of the Demarcation Agreements associated with the ABM Treaty, I have,
without prejudice to the legal principles involved, certified,
consistent with Condition (9), that I will submit any agreement
concluded on ABM Treaty succession to the Senate for advice and
consent.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE, May 14, 1997.
(End text)
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