- Clark Amendment
-
U.S. Congressional opposition
to U.S. involvement inwars and interventions1812 North America House Federalists’ Address 1847 Mexican–American War Spot Resolutions 1917 World War I Filibuster of the Armed Ship Bill 1935–1939 Neutrality Acts 1935–1940 Ludlow Amendment 1970 Vietnam McGovern–Hatfield Amendment 1970 Southeast Asia Cooper–Church Amendment 1971 Vietnam Repeal of Tonkin Gulf Resolution 1973 Southeast Asia Case–Church Amendment 1973 War Powers Resolution 1974 Hughes–Ryan Amendment 1976 Angola Clark Amendment 1982 Nicaragua Boland Amendment 2007 Iraq House Concurrent Resolution 63 The Clark Amendment was an amendment to the U.S. Arms Export Control Act of 1976, named for its sponsor, Senator Dick Clark (D-Iowa). The amendment barred aid to private groups engaged in military or paramilitary operations in Angola.
Even after the Clark amendment became law, however, then-Director of Central Intelligence, George H. W. Bush, refused to concede that all U.S. aid to Angola had ceased.[1][2] According to foreign affairs analyst Jane Hunter, Israel stepped in as a proxy arms supplier for the United States after the Clark Amendment took effect.[3]
Visiting the Heritage Foundation on October 5, 1989, the ultimate beneficiary of the Clark Amendment's repeal, Jonas Savimbi's UNITA, praised the Heritage Foundation for its critical role in advocating the repeal of the amendment. "When we come to the Heritage Foundation," Savimbi said, "it is like coming back home. We know that our success here in Washington in repealing the Clark Amendment and obtaining American assistance for our cause is very much associated with your efforts. This foundation has been a source of great support. The UNITA leadership knows this, and it is also known in Angola."[4]
The Clark Amendment was repealed by the U.S. Congress in July 1985.
See also
- Boland Amendment
- Hughes-Ryan Amendment
- Angola-United States relations
References
- ^ Koh, Harold Hongju (1990). The National Security Constitution: Sharing Power After the Iran-Contra Affair. Yale University Press. ISBN.p. 52
- ^ Fausold, Martin L.; Alan Shank (1991). The Constitution and the American Presidency. SUNY Press. ISBN. Pages 186-187.
- ^ "In 1975 Israel followed Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's advice and helped South Africa with its invasion of Angola. Even after the passage the following year of the Clark Amendment forbidding U.S. covert involvement in Angola, Israel apparently considered Kissinger's nod a continuing mandate." Jane Hunter, Israeli Foreign Policy: South Africa and Central America, p.16, South End Press, 1987. Excerpts at "Israeli Foreign Policy: Weapons Manufacturing Industry"
- ^ "The Coming Winds of Democracy in Angola," by Jonas Savimbi, Heritage Foundation Lecture #217, Washington, D.C., October 5, 1989.
Categories:- United States federal defense and national security legislation
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.