US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

22 U.S.C. § 5604

Determinations regarding use of chemical or biological weapons

(a)

Determination by President

(1)

When determination required; nature of determination

Section 5605 of this titleWhenever persuasive information becomes available to the executive branch indicating the substantial possibility that, on or after , the government of a foreign country has made substantial preparation to use or has used chemical or biological weapons, the President shall, within 60 days after the receipt of such information by the executive branch, determine whether that government, on or after , has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law or has used lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals. applies if the President determines that that government has so used chemical or biological weapons.

(2)

Matters to be considered

In making the determination under paragraph (1), the President shall consider the following:
(A)
All physical and circumstantial evidence available bearing on the possible use of such weapons.
(B)
All information provided by alleged victims, witnesses, and independent observers.
(C)
The extent of the availability of the weapons in question to the purported user.
(D)
All official and unofficial statements bearing on the possible use of such weapons.
(E)
Whether, and to what extent, the government in question is willing to honor a request from the Secretary General of the United Nations to grant timely access to a United Nations fact-finding team to investigate the possibility of chemical or biological weapons use or to grant such access to other legitimate outside parties.
(3)

Determination to be reported to Congress

section 5605 of this titleUpon making a determination under paragraph (1), the President shall promptly report that determination to the Congress. If the determination is that a foreign government had used chemical or biological weapons as described in that paragraph, the report shall specify the sanctions to be imposed pursuant to .

(b)

Congressional requests; report

(1)

Request

The Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate (upon consultation with the ranking minority member of such committee) or the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives (upon consultation with the ranking minority member of such committee) may at any time request the President to consider whether a particular foreign government, on or after , has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law or has used lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals.

(2)

Report to Congress

Not later than 60 days after receiving such a request, the President shall provide to the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a written report on the information held by the executive branch which is pertinent to the issue of whether the specified government, on or after , has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law or has used lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals. This report shall contain an analysis of each of the items enumerated in subsection (a)(2).

Pub. L. 102–182, title III105 Stat. 1252(, §§ 306, 309(b)(3), , , 1259.)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 101–182, § 309(b)(3)Pub. L. 101–1821991—Subsec. (a)(1). , substituted “” for reference to the “date of the enactment of this title”, meaning the date of the enactment of title V of which was enacted . “”, the second time appearing, was substituted for “such date of enactment” for purposes of codification.

Executive Documents

Delegation of Functions

section 2797 of this titleFunctions of President under this section delegated to Secretary of State, with certain exceptions, by section 1(b) of Ex. Ord. No. 12851, , 58 F.R. 33181, set out as a note under .