Foreign Assistance Act of 1974

Foreign Assistance Act of 1974
Great Seal of the United States
Other short titles Foreign Assistance Act Amendments of 1974
Long title An Act to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and for other purposes.
Enacted by the 93rd United States Congress
Effective December 30, 1974
Citations
Public law 93-559
Statutes at Large 88 Stat. 1795
Codification
Acts amended Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
Titles amended 22 U.S.C.: Foreign Relations and Intercourse
U.S.C. sections amended 22 U.S.C. ch. 32 § 2151
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the Senate as S. 3394 by John Sparkman (D–AL) on April 29, 1974
  • Committee consideration by Senate Foreign Relations
  • Passed the Senate on December 4, 1974 (46–45)
  • Passed the House on December 11, 1974 (201–189, in lieu of H.R. 17234)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on December 17, 1974; agreed to by the Senate on December 17, 1974 (49–43) and by the House on December 18, 1974 (209–189)
  • Signed into law by President Gerald R. Ford on December 30, 1974

The Foreign Assistance Act of 1974 (Public law 93-559) , was an act of the 93rd United States Congress that added several amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Perhaps most famously, the act introduced an amendment that effectively eliminated aid and military funding for South Vietnam. Direct US involvement in Vietnam was already prohibited under the Case–Church Amendment, and the termination of US funding and indirect support for South Vietnam was a significant factor leading up to the Fall of Saigon.

Covert actions

The act also included the Hughes–Ryan Amendment, which required the President to report all covert operations of the CIA to congress within a set time limit, and placed limits on the funding of such operations. The act also included other amendments, including, among others, appropriation of funds to Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, and the suspension of funds to Turkey due to the conflict in Cyprus.[1][2][3]

Human rights

Section 502B of the Act, now codified as Title 22 United States Code Section 2304(a)(2) (sometimes abbreviated in legal texts as 22 USC §2304(a)(2)), prohibits the U.S. government from selling weapons or providing security assistance and even law enforcement assistance to countries that engage in a persistent pattern of human rights violations. It provides, in part, that, unless specific exceptions apply:

"...no security assistance may be provided to any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. Security assistance may not be provided to the police, domestic intelligence, or similar law enforcement forces of a country, and licenses may not be issued under the Export Administration Act of 1979 [50 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.] for the export of crime control and detection instruments and equipment to a country, the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights...[4]

The statute goes on define the term “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” as including:

"...torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person." (Codified at Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2304(d)(1), sometimes abbreviated as 22 USC § 2304(d)(1).)[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ S. 3394 at Congress.gov
  2. ↑ http://searchjustice.usdoj.gov/search?q=cache:UGivNDN17RgJ:www.justice.gov/crt/about/cor/byagency/dos2314.php+crt+cor+byagency+dos2314+site:www.justice.gov/crt&output=xml_no_dtd&client=default_frontend&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&site=default_collection&ie=UTF-8&access=p&oe=ISO-8859-1
  3. ↑ "United States: Foreign Assistance Act of 1974". American Society of International Law ~ International Legal Materials. 14 (1): 167–180. January 1975. JSTOR 20691387.
  4. ↑ Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute, USC §2304(a)(2)
  5. ↑ Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute, USC § 2304(d)(1)
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