Boland Amendment - Background

Background

During the early years of the Reagan administration, a civil war raged in Nicaragua, pitting the left-wing Sandinista elected government against CIA-financed Contra rebel groups. After the CIA carried out a series of acts of sabotage without Congressional intelligence committees being made aware beforehand, this led to the passage of the Boland Amendment by Congress 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. The Amendment gained traction due to a widespread opposition among the American public to funding the Contras: Holly Sklar and Peg Strobel's public opposition to Contra funding at the time of Reagan's re-election at a consistent "trend of two to one." 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 (NSC) to circumvent the Amendment. No court ever made a determination whether Boland covered the NSC, and because it was a prohibition rather than a criminal statute, no one could be indicted for violating it. Opponents alleged that the White House violated the amendment. Congress later resumed aid to the Contras, totaling over $300 million. The Sandinistas were voted out of power in 1990, and voted back in later years.

The Boland Amendment prohibited the federal government from providing military support "for the purpose of overthrowing the Government of Nicaragua." 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 conduct 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, USN, and his deputy, Lt. Colonel Oliver North, USMC, 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 the Senate in the 1986 elections. In public hearings of a joint House-Senate committee convened for purposes of investigating the affair, Democrats sought to prosecute LTC 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; later elections brought them back into power.