The Nation - News from April 30, 1985

A White House commission is recommending that the United States destroy its entire stock of aging chemical weapons and replace them with a new type of nerve gases, sources said. The commission’s report will be released later this week by the Senate Armed Services Committee when the panel begins hearings on the document, said sources who asked not to be identified. The United States has not built any chemical weapons since 1969, but President Reagan has called for a renewal of the program because he said it is needed to offset what the Administration contends is a growing Soviet threat.