- 2 - 
"(2) Weapons, equipment or means of delivery designed to 
use such agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed 
conflict . " 
The "Report of the Secretary of State" dated June 21, 
1972, and transmitted to the Senate by the President on 
August 10, 1972 stipulates that; 
"Article I provides that biological agents or toxins 
justified for purposes covered by the terms 'prophylactic' and 
'protective' are not prohibited by this Convention. The word 
'prophylactic' refers to activities related to the protection 
of the human body from the effects of organisms or substances 
to which an individual might be directly exposed. It encompasses 
medical activities such as diagnosis, therapy and immunization, 
and related research. The term 'protective' applies to the 
development of such equipment as decontamination systems, protec- 
tive masks and clothing, air and water filtration systems, and 
detection and warning devices. Laboratory quantities of certain 
agents and toxins might well be required for research and testing 
in these areas. In order to avoid any possible ambiguity, it was 
made clear during the negotiation of this Convention that the terms 
'prophylactic' and 'protective' are hot intended to convey any 
broader meaning which would in any way permit possession of bio - 
logical agents or toxins for Weapons purposes on the theory that 
such weapons were for defensive warfare, retaliatioh or deterrence . " 
(emphasis added) 
The broad language of the Convention was intended to cover 
not only agents known at the time the Convention was negotiated, 
but also any that could later be developed through new scientific 
or technological developments. At the March 1980 Review Conference 
for the Convention, the Parties agreed that Article I had proved 
sufficiently comprehensive to have covered recent scientific 
and technological developments relevant to the Convention, including 
the development of recombinant DNA techniques. 
As permitted by the Convention, the United States maintains 
an active program in biological defense against potential biological 
weapons which is restricted to medical defense matters such as 
vaccines, prophylaxis and therapy, and rapid identification of 
causative agents, and a smaller program in rapid detection techno- 
logy to develop detection devices and systems to alert troops 
to adopt protective measures. In this program recombinant DNA 
techniques may be useful for the development of more effective 
vaccines of higher potency or of a more universal nature, of unique 
therapeutic drugs and biologies, and of more effective diagnostic 
reagents effective against a range of infectious diseases. This 
program does not, and will not, involve research to create and 
screen "new" organisms as potential biological warfare agents. Our 
research is, and will continue to be, limited to developing protective 
measures to recognized infectious diseases which pose a biological 
warfare hazard.. 
[ 784 ] 
