Boland Amendment

The Boland Amendment was the name given to three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting US government assistance to the rebel Contras in Nicaragua. The first Boland Amendment was to the House Appropriations Bill of 1982, which was attached as a rider to the Defense Appropriations Act of 1983, named for the Massachusetts Democrat, Representative Edward Patrick Boland, who authored it. The appropriations bill was signed by President Ronald Reagan on December 21, 1982. The amendment outlawed US assistance to the Contras for the purpose of overthrowing the Nicaraguan government, while allowing assistance for other purposes.

Background

During the early years of the Reagan administration, a civil war raged in Nicaragua, pitting the Marxist Sandinista leaders of the Nicaraguan government against CIA-financed Contra rebels. When the CIA carried out a series of acts of sabotage without Congressional intelligence committees giving consent, or even being made aware beforehand, the Republican-controlled Senate became enraged, leading to the passage of the Boland Amendment and subsequent cutting off of appropriated funding for the Contras

The Boland Amendment, proposed by Edward Boland, was a highly limited ambiguous compromise because the Democrats did not have enough votes for a comprehensive ban. It covered only appropriated funds spent by intelligence agencies (such as the CIA). Some of Reagan's national security officials used non-appropriated money spent by the National Security Council to circumvent the Amendment. No court ever made a determination whether Boland covered the NSC, and no one was ever indicted for violating it. Opponents alleged that the White House violated the highly ambiguous amendment. Congress later resumed aid to the Contras, totaling over $300 million; the Sandinistas were voted out in 1990, after most of Nicaragua's infrastructure was systematically destroyed by the Contras.

The Boland Amendment prohibited the federal government from providing military support "for the purpose of overthrowing the Government of Nicaragua." The amendment was considered by many to be an unconstitutional interference with the President's ability to conduct foreign policy. It aimed to prevent CIA funding of rebels opposed to the Marxist provisional junta, the Boland Amendment sought to block Reagan administration support for the Contra rebels. The amendment was narrowly interpreted by the Reagan administration to apply to only U.S. intelligence agencies, allowing the National Security Council, not so labeled, to channel funds to the Contra rebels. In order to block this, the amendment was changed to prohibit any funds for military or paramilitary operations.

Administration officials argued that the Boland Amendment, or any act of Congress would not interfere with the president's conduction of foreign policy by restricting funds, as the president could seek funds from private entities or foreign governments. In this spirit, and despite the Boland Amendment, Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter and his deputy, Lt. Colonel Oliver North, secretly diverted to the Nicaraguan contras millions of dollars in funds received from a secret deal which some alleged had explicit presidential approval -- the sales of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Iran in spite of Reagan's public pledge not to deal with terrorists. In November, 1986, a pro-Syrian newspaper in Lebanon revealed the secret deal to the world. This came as Democrats won back control of Congress in the 1986 elections. In public hearings of a joint House-Senate committee convened for purposes of investigating the affair, Democrats sought to prosecute Col. North for his role. The final report published after the hearings blamed Reagan's passive style of leadership for allowing the conduct of foreign policy without involvement of any elected official. However, a later Congress repealed the Boland Amendment and resumed funding. Elections in Nicaragua subsequently ousted the Marxists from power.

Summary of House Amendment 461

House Amendment 461 to HR 2968 is summarized by the Thomas Bill Summary & Status (under Amendments) as

"An amendment to prohibit covert assistance for military operations in Nicaragua and to authorize overt interdiction assistance. The overt interdiction assistance consists of assistance furnished by the President on terms he may dictate to any friendly country in Central America to enable that country to prevent the use of its territory for the transfer of military equipment from or through Cuba or Nicaragua or any other country. The assistance must be overt. For this overt aid $30,000,000 is provided for FY'83 and $50,000,000 is provided for FY'84."

Congressional Research Service summary of actions funding restrictions of foreign military/paramilitary operations

"In 1984, controversy over U.S. assistance to the opponents of the Nicaraguan government (the anti-Sandinista guerrillas known as the “contras”) led to a prohibition on such assistance in a continuing appropriations bill. This legislative ban is summarized below.

The continuing appropriations resolution for FY1985, P.L. 98-473, 98 Stat. 1935-1937, signed October 12, 1984, provided that: “During fiscal year 1985, no funds available to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, or any other agency or entity of the United States involved in intelligence activities may be obligated or expended for the purpose or which would have the effect of supporting, directly or indirectly, military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua by any nation, group, organization, movement or individual.” This legislation also provided that after February 28, 1985, if the President made a report to Congress specifying certain criteria, including the need to provide further assistance for “military or paramilitary operations” prohibited by this statute, he could expend $14 million in funds if Congress passed a joint resolution approving such action." [Congressional Research Service, Congressional Use of Funding Cutoffs Since 1970 Involving U.S. Military Forces and Overseas Deployments, January 10, 2001, pg. 6.] [1]

See also

• Iran-Contra Affair
• Clark Amendment
• Hughes-Ryan Act

External links

• Thomas' summary for HR 2968 in the 98th Congress
• Government Accountability Office report B-201260
• Iran-Contra Hearings; Boland Amendments: What They Provided. New York Times