Funky science and arms control

When the Senate finally got around to ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) late last month, the vote confirmed a deep split among Republican senators on arms control matters. They voted 29 yeas to 26 nays. Those 29 Republicans along with the support of all 45 Democrats gave the treaty more than the two-thirds majority needed for ratification (C&EN, April 28, page 9). The vote came after years of delay, several months of very intense public discussion, and two full days of Senate floor debate on a treaty aimed at eliminating chemical weapons worldwide. Much of this contentious discourse concerned the scientific and technical aspects of the pact. The decision the senators had to make was whether the U.S. would be better off inside or outside a treaty about to come into force regardless of what they did. After all the fuss and fury over the specifics of the treaty's workings, it was Sen. Kay ...