Chemical Warfare Review Commission

The subject of chemical weapon production was a very sensitive one. In 1984, congress created the Chemical Warfare Review Commission to look at several issues related to the military s chemical warfare preparedness. This committee visited numerous sites, interviewed experts, reviewed policy, and examined intelligence reports. Among their findings, the commission concluded... 

Chemical Warfare Review Commission. Report of the Chemical Warfare Review Commission. Washington DC Chemical Warfare Review Commission. Washington, DC Government Printing Office 1985 50, 73. 

The Report of the Chemical Warfare Review Commission (June 1985 Chairman Walter J. Stoessel Jr) gave details of the types of chemical munition and delivery system in the US inventory. More generally, the US has published sufficient data to enable expert analysts to estimate US holdings of chemical weapons. See in particular Julian Perry Robinson, NATO Chemical Weapons Policy and Posture, p. 26. Andrew Cockbum, The Threat Inside the Soviet Military Machine,... 

Chemical Warfare Review Commission Did Not Comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Briefing Report to Congressional Requesters. (GAO/NSIAD-87-55-BR) January 1987. 

NRC (National Research Council) (1999). Review of the U.S. Army s Health Risk Assessments for Oral Exposure to Six Chemical Warfare Agents. Suhcommittee on Chronic Reference Doses for Selected Chemical-Warfare Agents, Committee on Toxicology, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Coimcil. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. 

B) Low Level Exposure of Agents The Commission also requests the Committee include within its Risk Management and Safety Review the incorporation of the latest information available on the impact of low-level exposure of agents. The Commission requests this review include, but not be limited to, the issues raised in DoD Strategy to Address Low-Level Exposures to Chemical Warfare Agents (May 1999). 

Commission. This Commission, established by Congress and appointed by the President in March 1985, was charged with reviewing the overall adequacy of the chemical warfare posture of the United States with particular emphasis on whether the US should produce binary chemical munitions . Its chairman was a former ambassador, Walter Stoessel, and its members were bipartisan. 

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