Boland Amendment

SHORTLY AFTER taking office on January 20, 1981, Republican President Ronald Reagan decided that he would do everything possible to overthrow the Sandinista pro-communist regime in Nicaragua. Reagan regularly sent requests to Congress seeking appropriations to support the rebel anti-communist Contras, and Congress complied for two years.

However, after it became known that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been mining the harbors in Nicaragua, Congress realized that if CIA explosives destroyed Soviet ships anchored nearby, an international incident of gigantic proportions could occur. Congress subsequently withdrew its support for funding the Contras. Undaunted, Reagan continued his quest to overthrow the leftist Sandinista regime. The activities of his administration created a major scandal and threatened his presidency.

In response to the president's activities in Nicaragua, on December 1, 1983, Congress passed the first Boland Amendment, attaching it to an omnibus appropriation bill for fiscal year 1983. The Boland Amendment, named after its chief sponsor Edward P. Boland (D-MA), prohibited the CIA, the Department of Defense, and other government agencies or entities that were involved in intelligence from using any funds whatsoever “for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Nicaragua or providing a military exchange between Nicaragua and Honduras.” The Boland Amendment passed both house of Congress. Without a line-item veto, Reagan had no choice but to accept the amendment or veto the entire appropriations bill.

He signed the Boland Amendment into law on December 21. Because Congress attached the Boland Amendment to defense appropriations, the restriction was effective only from December 1984 to December 1985.

Even before the Boland Amendment took effect, Reagan had already told National Security Adviser Robert “Bud” McFarlane, to keep the Contras together “body and soul.” The fact that the first Boland Amendment contained two significant loopholes made McFarlane's task easier. First, Congress had given the CIA permission to offer aid to the Contras as long as its stated purpose was something other than overthrowing the Sandinistas. Second, the Reagan administration had determined that it could use the National Security Council (NSC) rather than the CIA to conduct covert activities in Nicaragua and still obey the letter of the law. Four months later, the president was still assuring Congress that he was not trying to overthrow the Nicaraguan government at the same time that his administration was busily seeking ways to fund the covert activities. As 1985 drew to a close, Congress was determined to end all funding to the Contras and informed the president that the $24 million appropriation for humanitarian aid for 1985 would be the last appropriation.

On December 8, 1985, Congress passed the second Boland Amendment aimed at closing the loopholes of Boland one. It was structured to pick up when Boland one expired and to remain in effect until December 30, 1986. In the new amendment, Congress prohibited any government agency from offering military and paramilitary support for the Contras and banned the Reagan administration's practice of soliciting funds from third-party countries and private donors. During debate on Boland two, Representative Boland was asked if there were any exceptions to the ban, and he stated that there were none. Even humanitarian aid to the Contras was banned. Representative Dick Cheney (R-WY) called Boland two a “killer amendment,” specifically intended to make the Contras give up their fight.

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