Letters from Prominent Scientists

On Feb 24, 1997 a letter was sent to Senator Trent Lott containing the signature of 148 prominent chemists and biochemists who were members of the National Academy of Sciences.

The contents of the letter read:

Dear Senator Lott,

We, the undersigned scientists, urge you to work as a matter of national urgency to bring the Chemical Weapons Convention to a vote in the Senate before April 29 of this year. That is the date when the Convention will automatically enter into force, with or without the United States

Negotiated by the administrations of Presidents Reagan and Bush and signed by the United States under President Bush in January 1993, the Convention was formally submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification by President Clinton in November 1993. Since then it has been the subject of thirteen hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Armed Services and the Select Committee on Intelligence. The Secretaries of State and Defense, the Chairman of the Join Chiefs, the Director of Central Intelligence and the representatives of the Chemical Manufacturers Association have all testified strongly in favor of ratification. More than 65 countries, including all of our major allies, have ratified.

If the Senate fails to even vote on the CWC, after three administrations have been its leading architects and proponents, the United States will have surrendered by default its essential leadership in combating the proliferation of chemical weapons.

Respectfully,

Below is a list of all 148 signatories of the letter and links to a copy of each signed letter.

Julius Adler James L. Kinsey
Robert A. Alberty William Klemperer
*Sidney Altman Judith P. Klinman
Fred C. Anson Irving M. Klotz
W.O. Baker Edward D. Korn
John D. Baldeschwieler **Roger Kornberg
Robert L. Baldwin Daniel E. Koshland Jr.
Allen J. Bard Henry Lardy
Neil Bartlett Robert Lehman
Helmut Beinert Nelson J. Leonard
Howard C. Berg Stephen J. Lippard
R. Stephen Berry *William N. Lipscomb
Richard Bersohn Fred W. McLafferty
Jerome A. Berson Jerrold Meinwald
Klaus Biemann Thomas D. Meyer
Jacob Bigeleisen Josef Michl
Virgil Boekelheide William H. Miller
Jan L. Breslow Kurt Mislow
Leo Brewer *Mario J. Molina
*Herbert C. Brown C. Bradley Moore
Giulio L. Cantoni Manuel F. Morales
John A. Carbon Howard A. Nash
Herbert E. Carter *Daniel Nathans
Charles P. Casey Elizabeth F. Neufeld
*Thomas R. Cech *Marshall Nirenberg
David Chandler Harry F. Noller
Carolyn Cohen Leslie E. Orgel
Mildred Cohn Mary J. Osborn
Robert E. Connick Norman R. Pace
John D. Corbett Charles S. Paramenter
Stanley J. Cristol Robert G. Parr
James E. Dahlberg George W. Parshall
Samuel Danishefsky Ralph G. Pearson
Earl W. Davie Gregory A. Petsko
David R. Davies Kenneth S. Pitzer
Peter B. Dervan Charles M. Radding
William Doering Julius Rebek
Paul Doty Lester J. Reed
Harry G. Drickamer Stuart A. Rice
James L. Dye Frederic M. Richards
Isidore S. Edelman **Irwin A. Rose
Mary P. Edmonds *F. Sherwood Rowland
David Eisenberg William J. Rutter
Ernest L. Eliel Lewis H. Sarett
Mostafa A. El-Sayed Robert T. Sauer
David A. Evans Howard K. Schachman
John D. Ferry *Glenn T. Seaborg
*Edmond H. Fischer **K. Barry Sharpless
Marshall Fixman Robert G. Schulman
Marye Anne Fox Peter Schultz
Josef Fried Maxine F. Singer
Carl Frieden Robert L. Sinsheimer
Gerhart Friedlander Emil L. Smith
Joseph S. Fruton David B. Sprinson
Marshall Gates George R. Stark
E. Peter Geiduschek Donald F. Steiner
Martin Gellert Joan A. Steitz
*Walter Gilbert Thomas A. Steitz
Roy G. Gordon Walter H. Stockmayer
Lowell P. Hager Gilbert Stork
George S. Hammond Jack Strominger
*Dudley Herschbach Julian M. Sturtevant
George P. Hess Dean Stanley Tarbell
Robert L. Hill *Henry Taube
Mahlon Hoagland H. Edwin Umbarger
Bernard L. Horecker Peter H. von Hippel
Donald F. Hornig Salih J. Wakil
William P. Jencks Frederick T. Wall
Harold Johnston Cheves Walling
Isabella L. Karle James C. Wang
Martin Karplus Gregorio Weber
Joseph J. Katz Samuel I. Weissman
Walter Kauzmann F. H. Westheimer
Sung-Hou Kim Ralph S. Wolf

*Nobel Prize Winner at the time person signed the petition
**Won the Nobel Prize since signing the petition

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